My storymap, Changing Walnut Street explores the recent redesign of Walnut Street in West Philly after repaving in 2023.
A significant change on a street like Walnut that many people travel through is bound to turn heads. Walnut was due for repaving, but why did they do it in this way? This storymap walks through the reasons why a street might change, the principles fueling a redesign, and the groups that make it happen. The story map is incomplete, with the unfinished part being the critical aspect of community engagement and its importance to this project and, more generally, all planning decisions. A more robust draft would explore this in more depth and provide more visual references for the design of the street and the work of the organizations mentioned in the storymap. It would also go more into detail about the positive effects of a similar traffic calming project on Chestnut Street.
Overall, the goal is to break down the planning process and not only the details and reason for the change, but also the groups like OTIS who are behind them. Particularly for residents of Philadelphia who are interested in getting more involved with changes in their communities, this storymap would ideally be an accessible resource where people can familiarize themselves with the process using a project that actually works in Philly.