Celebration of Movement, Transportation, & Play
Move Redmond 2023 Open Streets Festival: Celebration of Movement, Transportation, & Play
By Kelli Refer
This past Saturday Move Redmond hosted the third annual Open Streets Festival and with over 40 community partners, local businesses and entertainers, it was bigger than ever. Even with all of the bubbles, children playing and people talking the streets near Downtown park felt, well surprisingly quiet. As it turns out our streets aren’t loud and stressful because of people, but rather cars. When we remove cars from the street we open up a whole lot of possibilities. People can linger, parents can let small children bike safely, we can dance to the music and connect with neighbors.
Move Redmond’s Open Street Festival is an event that focuses on celebrating the possible. What do we carve out space for when we reallocate parking places? What can happen when we give people information and inspiration to connect with a new community group, to meet a neighbor and chat over a tasty treat?
In non-profit work it is often important to chart the outcomes and impacts of what you are doing. What is the deliverable? How did it achieve the Mission? While I can count attendees (about 1,000 people) and participating vendors (40). What I can’t count, I’d argue, is far more important. And the fact is with an open streets event you don’t always know what will happen because of it. I can’t say for certain that twenty people were inspired to bike along Eastrail or fourteen families started taking the bus because they learned about Washington’s Free Youth Transit.
I hope those things happen, but for me this event is more about the joy that comes from the lived experience of transforming a place for just a few hours. There is power in turning an intersection from a place you go through to a place you choose to stay because your friend is playing music or your favorite Zumba instructor is inspiring you to dance. There is a lot of good that can come when people connect and share ideas. Who knows who was inspired to take action with Eastside for All or get involved with Liveable Kirkland. Who knows who found community through IACS or was inspired to garden with Muddy Boots Farm.
Streets make up the majority of public space in our cities, so instead of having every single square foot of our streets dedicated to vehicle throughput, what if we start to reimagine some of that space for community connection? Third places are defined as a place you go that isn’t home and isn’t work. Parks are great third places and I have to say that Downtown Redmond Park is an exceptionally great third place, it has bathrooms, water fountains, places to play, shady trees, areas to sit and gather, grass to play on a stage for performances. I love expanding the park to be a little bit bigger – to turn the street into another third place and seamlessly connect people to the businesses and housing across the street.
My biggest hope is that the open streets festival leaves people feeling calm, joyful and proud of the many communities they are a part of, deeply rooted to a sense of place. And maybe that momentum and inspiration shifts their perspective just a little bit and who knows what actions that will inspire? The possibilities are endless.
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Advocacy
November 3, 2023
Election day is right around the corner! Every vote carries the power to elect leaders who represent the people’s diverse needs and address critical issues that affect our communities. Voting for city officials is crucial as these public leaders make decisions on issues like education, transportation policies, infrastructure, urban planning, and more that impact our everyday lives.
We desperately need our elected leaders to value our time and prioritize the kinds of investments that make getting around so much more accessible to everyone. An accessible, frequent and reliable transportation system that works for non-drivers is fully within the realm of the possible. It takes political will and a strong backbone to align our transportation budgets with the needs of non-drivers and trust that prioritizing non-drivers will actually improve the transportation system for all people
On September 20th Move Redmond organized our annual Walk & Talk. This year we started the walk at the Downtown Redmond Transit Center and explored the connections to the Downtown Redmond Link Extension. Our focus for the walk was the connections to the new light rail station for people who walk, bike, and take transit to access light rail. Our goal for the walk and talk is to bring together representatives from local agencies and community members to experience walking together. We were thankful to be joined by King County Councilmember Sarah Perry, representatives from Sound Transit, King County Metro, WSDOT and the City of Redmond. In this blog post, we will share quotes and reflections from participants.
Move Redmond 2023 Open Streets Festival: Celebration of Movement, Transportation, & Play
Safer Streets
August 28, 2023
This past Saturday Move Redmond hosted the third annual Open Streets Festival and with over 40 community partners, local businesses and entertainers, it was bigger than ever. Even with all of the bubbles, children playing and people talking the streets near Downtown park felt, well surprisingly quiet. As it turns out our streets aren’t loud and stressful because of people, but rather cars. When we remove cars from the street we open up a whole lot of possibilities. People can linger, parents can let small children bike safely, we can dance to the music and connect with neighbors.
East Link Starter Line: Inches Away from Approval!
Frequent, Reliable, & Affordable Transportation Options
August 16, 2023
The Sound Transit Board will be making a final vote on passing the Eastside Starter Line at the August 24th Sound Transit Board meeting. This is a key moment to testify in any way possible in support of the East Link Starter Line. Active involvement of community members and advocates has played a pivotal role in influencing the decision-making process and ultimately contributing to the successes and achievements we have made thus far on the East Link Starter Line.
Eastside Starter Line: Connecting two rapidly growing communities on the Eastside
Frequent, Reliable, & Affordable Transportation Options
July 7, 2023
Running the Eastside Starter Line will increase opportunities for people to use transit by providing frequent access to work, school, healthcare, and economic opportunities. 9 out of 10 people who work in Redmond don’t live in Redmond. People move regionally, crossing city and county borders to go about their daily life and meet their needs. When transit is a frequent and reliable option, it increases mobility options for everyone, especially the 1 in 4 Washingtonians who don’t have a driver’s license
Sound Transit's Operation and Maintenance Facility East Building a Foundation of Reliable Transit
Frequent, Reliable, & Affordable Transportation Options
June 21, 2023
This Ride Transit Month the Move Redmond team had an amazing opportunity to tour Sound Transit’s Operation and Maintenance Facility East (OMFE) in Bellevue. Our team was joined by Mayor Birney and Amy Tsai, chief policy advisor for the City of Redmond. We left the tour with a deeper appreciation of all of the people and behind-the-scenes maintenance required to keep transit functional for riders.
Transit Trekking: Explore, Engage, and Embrace the Journey!
Frequent, Reliable, & Affordable Transportation Options
June 7, 2023
Move Redmond recently met with Kim Huntress Inskeep, a Seattle-based transportation advocate and founder of Transit Trekker. Huntress Inskeep is creating The Transit Trekker Manual aims to help nondrivers and people who want to drive less have easier access to the outdoors while simultaneously advocating to expand rural and regional transit service.