February 01, 2015
Be a part of the 2nd Annual WalkSTC - YOUR Downtown Photo Exhibit! Walking allows you to see things that are a blur if you’re driving. You’re able to walk down alleyways, see the details of buildings and meet those folks that help to make up the colourful mosaic of our city.
September 18, 2013
Downtown St.Catharines is an area rich with heritage, culture and characters from all walks of life. WalkSTC and Mahtay Cafe are joining forces on a photo exhibit to showcase this unique part of our city. Walk STC - YOUR Downtown is an opportunity for you to share how you see downtown’s architecture, people and its hidden gems.
W[YC] is a platform to create your own pedestrian wayfinding signs. In January 2012, Matt Tomasulo of CityFabric and a small group of like-minded folks put up signs at three intersections in Raleigh, North Carolina (called WalkRaleigh) that showed how many minutes by foot it was to walk from place to place. After WalkRaleigh was featured on the BBC, folks from all over the globe started contacting Matt about bringing the project to their own community. Matt launched Walk [Your City] as a way to share his project. Since Walk [Your City] was Kickstarted in May 2012, over a hundred different projects have popped-up around the globe, and continue to do so with the new W[YC] sign-building wizard.
Downtown St. Catharines is one of the most walkable cities in North America, scoring 98% in walkability according to walkscore.com. There’s a perception in St. Catharines that it’s a long walk from one end of downtown to the other, or from downtown to Montebello Park or to Rodman Hall or to the Merritt Trail. Yet, many of us don't think twice about walking from one end of a shopping mall to the other and back again to our car.
WalkSTC is about more than getting exercise. It's about creating a sense of community as people walk and discover their neighbourhoods. Inspired by guerrilla wayfinding project WalkRaleigh and using the Walk [Your City]™ platform, WalkSTC was developed in partnership with arnoldi:mcpherson, Form & Affect and the City of St. Catharines Downtown Development and Revitalization Committee.
Tag your Instagram pics of downtown St. Catharines with #WalkSTC and we'll show them here.
When people walk, they feel more a part of their community. They feel connected to the places where they live, work and play and more aware of the environment.
Walkable communities also help drive the local economy, boosting efforts to revitalize city centres, promote tourism and create jobs in businesses which service active modes like walking and cycling.
When we walk instead of driving short distances we help keep the air and water clean and we do our bodies a big favour too. Just 30 minutes a day cuts the risk of diabetes, heart disease, stroke, cancer and obesity.
