This pandemic’s been a tough time for musicians. Clubs are closed, and gigs are cancelled. But our friends at Baltimore’s Creative Alliance had a lightbulb moment. They thought: These musicians that we usually book on our stage, what if we start booking them on stoops and porches? They’d be outdoors, the crowds would be small, just the neighbors on the block. People would be masked up and socially distant. But it’d be a little moment of community, and it’d give these musicians some work. They called the series, Sidewalk Serenades. And it ended up bringing little spontaneous moments of genuine joy to Baltimore neighborhoods during a really dark time. Out of the Blocks decided to book some of these Sidewalk Serenades on different blocks around the city. And we recorded them for this special episode.  Mask up & head out with us for some great live music and neighborhood togetherness!

Extended Sidewalk Closures at W. Lawrence Avenue between the CTA Tracks and N. Winthrop Avenue for Station Excavation, Utility Adjustment, Sidewalk Reconstruction & Decorative Paver Installation.

There will be a partial sidewalk closure and parking lane closure on N Broadway near W Bryn Mawr to allow crews to install new decorative sidewalk pavers as part of streetscape improvements in the project area.

Daily Sidewalk and Parking Lane Closures at N. Clark Street between W. Roscoe Street and approx. 250ft south for substation wall construction.

Update Dates and Impacts with Parking Lane and Partial Sidewalk Closure at 5600 – 5605 N. Broadway

New Dates, Daily Sidewalk and Parking Lane Closures at N. Clark Street between W. Roscoe Street and approx. 250ft south for Substation Wall Construction.

Updated Dates Parking Lane and Partial Sidewalk Closure at 5600 – 5605 N. Broadway for Decorative Sidewalk Paver Installation.

Parking Lane and Sidewalk Closure at W. Newport Avenue between N. Clark Street and 927 W. Newport Avenue - N. Clark Street between W. Roscoe Street and W. Newport Avenue for Street Reconstruction & Utility Connection.

Daily Sidewalk Closure and Parking Lanes at W. Lawrence Avenue between the CTA Tracks and N. Winthrop Avenue for decorative paver installation.

Updated Dates Parking Lane and Sidewalk Closure for - W. Newport Avenue between N. Clark Street and 927 W. Newport Avenue - N. Clark Street between W. Roscoe Street and W. Newport Avenue

N Clifton will be closed to auto traffic between N Broadway and W Lawrence to allow crews to dissemble the construction gantry system.

Extended Sidewalk Closure at W. Hollywood Avenue at the CTA Tracks for Sidewalk Reconstruction.

NEW DATES EXTENDED SIDEWALK CLOSURE - W. Hollywood Avenue at the CTA Tracks for Sidewalk Reconstruction.

With a population of just 1,400, the new Councilors say it could take years to raise the money for some of these projects.

The post Gordonsville’s two new town councilors want to fix sidewalks, build a park and address issues with the town’s water supply appeared first on Charlottesville Tomorrow.

Medicaid can now pay for medical and mental health care delivered on the sidewalk. This will transform how care for unhoused people can be given in the states that take advantage of the policy change.

Sidewalk Labs officially pulled out of Toronto after years of controversy, hacker bribed a Roblox worker to reveal user account data, Telus’ revenue falls by nearly 20 per cent year over year.   Sidewalk Labs pulls the plug on smart city project The tug-of-war for Toronto’s infamous Sidewalk Labs’ smart city project ended yesterday when…

A man decorates a bistro table outside his restaurant amid the coronavirus pandemic in Atlanta on April 27. As states reopen, some are allowing restaurants to add outdoor seating in streets and parking lots.; Credit: Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty Images

Small businesses are essential to cities and towns across the country. They create jobs, they create a sense of place — think of New York City without bodegas, Portland, Ore., without bike shops, or your town without its dance studio or hardware store — but they also create sales, income, and property tax revenues.

"[It's] super important that we make it very easy for people to keep their purchases local," said Karina Ricks, director of the Department of Mobility and Infrastructure in Pittsburgh, Pa.

Cities like Pittsburgh must make it possible to return to the streets and shop without losing the safety of physical distancing, said Ricks. If only so many people are allowed into a store at one time, how can others line up outside? If restaurants operate at 25 percent capacity, where will expectant diners wait?

"It's going to require us to reimagine our streets," she said. "How much of our streets can we turn over?"

Many cities have already removed cars from streets to allow more people to walk and bike. They'll need even more space if people are allowed to go to shops and restaurants again, said Brent Toderian, the former chief planner for Vancouver, Canada who now leads his own company, TODERIAN UrbanWORKS.

"All of it requires more space between buildings, more life between buildings," he said. "If we try to do all that without inconveniencing the cars, we will fail."

In Tampa, Fla., officials will allow restaurants to add tables to streets in front of their establishments. In an Atlanta, Ga. suburb parking lots are the new dining room. Ricks wonders if one-way sidewalks could limit people's exposures to one another the way one-way aisles do in grocery stores. She said some Pittsburgh streets may open to cars only at certain times of the day, or speeds could be dramatically reduced. That way, street parking could be dedicated for walking, biking, or cafe tables while an adjacent travel lane for cars remains.

"I don't have the answers right now, but it's something that we're actively looking at," she said, citing a new city task force that will investigate the issue.

Public space always influences health outcomes and can produce health risks, said Keshia Pollack Porter, a professor at John Hopkins University's Bloomberg School of Public Health. Whatever "normal" cities think they're returning to, this is a chance to evaluate how the public realm worked before, she said.

"We know that there are significant inequities," she said, pointing to pedestrian and cyclist fatalities that continue to rise, and communities that have lacked access to safe streets for decades.

In a post-pandemic world, with even fewer dollars for infrastructure and transportation, officials must be more careful than ever, said Toderian.

"Where we put our money based on our assumed narratives around what people will want to do — drive more, take public transit less — will create self-fulfilling prophecies," he said, and could exacerbate that other existential threat, climate change.

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

Vault lights in the sidewalks were useful ways to light the rooms down below.

Botanists identify wild plants with sidewalk chalk to help draw attention to nature and discourage pesticide use.

30A Media (www.30a.tv) recently signed an agreement with Sidewalks Entertainment to distribute their large archive of celebrity interviews.

Live music takes to the streets with “Live at the Five and Dime,” a series of intimate sidewalk concerts presented by the University of Arkansas Music Departmenton the downtown Bentonville Square. “It’s a really great opportunity to infringe on people’s environment. That’s honestly where [music] belongs,” upright bassist Garrett Jones says about incorporating passers-by. “Art’s all around you on a day-to-day basis. Music is up the same alley.” Spearheaded by Alan Gosman, the department's associate chair, this intimate outreach effort features a local musicians performing a wide array of sounds including jazz, classical, Latin, and more. The intimate concerts are a collaboration with The Walmart Museum and Downtown Bentonville Inc. “Live at the Five and Dime” performances continue throughout the summer on Wednesdays from 6-8 p.m. in front of the Walmart Museum in Bentonville, with the Jake Hertzog Trio set to perform Aug. 21. Speaking of jazz, there's now a program to offically study it

Montlake resident Aaron Hooley said he has made 50 to 60 metal sculptures and has raised $13,500 so far — and he has no plans to stop.

RANT to all of the walkers who continue to complain about runners who pass “too close by.” It’s hard to go around you when you and your friends, or you and your dog, are taking up the entire path and leave no room for anyone else. If you and your friends, or you and your […]

A returned credit card, a social distancing foul, helpful Seattleites and more Rants & Raves submitted by Seattle Times readers.

Why all the secrecy?

If you follow the news in Toronto or if you’re interested in technology, you’ve probably heard of Sidewalk Toronto by now. It’s a joint project of Sidewalk Labs, a sister company of Google, and Waterfront Toronto. This is the tech giant’s first foray into urban development and infrastructure, with Toronto hosting the pilot project. In […]

The post Civic Tech: We tried to get a copy of the Sidewalk Toronto agreement appeared first on Torontoist.

Highland Park resident Olivia Arthur calls it "art for social distancing — a drive-by gallery for neighbors." The goal: Bring some joy to quarantine.

Denver Newsroom, May 7, 2020 / 06:01 pm (CNA).- A young Catholic artist has drawn an image of the Blessed Virgin Mary on her parents' driveway bringing religious art to her local community during the quarantine.

The Diocese of Fargo posted on Facebook May 4 an image of Our Lady of Lourdes drawn by Maria Loh, a 17-year old who grew up in Fargo. She said it was an enjoyable experience to share her faith and art with her neighborhood.

“Being able to interact with people when they walked by was very moving in a way because a lot of people have never really seen sidewalk art done like that locally. So being able to share in that kind of experience, it was very, very good,” she told CNA.

Loh has recently been inspired by chalk art and pastels, which, she said, have vibrant and beautiful colors. She has drawn on the sidewalks a few times, including two images of Mary - Madonna of the Lillies and the Pieta by William Adolphe-Bouguereau.

Her most recent chalk drawing was Our Lady of Lourdes by Hector Garrido - an image she had seen as a magnet on her grandparents' refrigerator growing up. The picture has always been an inspiration, she said, noting that she decided to replicate it after Our Lady of Lourdes Shrine in France had temporarily closed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“I heard that the shrine had been temporarily closed off to the public, and I remember … thinking that's really sad because especially in this time, we’re really looking for healing in more ways than one, like physically and mentally and spiritually,” she said.

“It really felt like people wouldn't be able to go to experience that. So I felt like drawing this image of Our Lady of Lourdes would be a good way to remind people that Our Lady is still with us even if we can’t go to her shrine.”

Loh, the oldest of five, has been involved with art projects and drawing for her entire life. She said, growing up in a Catholic family, she has been inspired by her faith and the religious art in churches.

“I see our faith as so precious... Especially in the form of the Eucharist - the actual body and blood of Christ, I've seen that we are very blessed to have that in our faith. It's something that has impacted a lot of my life growing up,” she said.

While she was working on the piece, Loh said, a majority of passersby did not know who the lady in the image was. She expressed hope that the picture would help remind people of Mary and the beauty of the Church, which, she said, is a powerful attraction to the faith.

“One thing that I hope this kind of art and image will evoke is a desire to come to know who Mary is and how rich our faith is. … All the beautiful art that can be seen in Catholic churches, especially like in Rome, there's almost a transcendental beauty to them that draws people into the faith to come to know things that they've never dreamed of before,” she said.

As Loh finishes her junior year of high school, she expressed the possibility of art school after graduation, but, while she is still uncertain of the future, said art will not be dropped anytime soon.

“I can definitely see [art school] being a possibility. I’ll have to spend some time, especially with God trying to figure out what he wants me to do. But, I don't think art is going out of my life anytime soon,” she said.

Denver Newsroom, May 7, 2020 / 06:01 pm (CNA).- A young Catholic artist has drawn an image of the Blessed Virgin Mary on her parents' driveway bringing religious art to her local community during the quarantine.

The Diocese of Fargo posted on Facebook May 4 an image of Our Lady of Lourdes drawn by Maria Loh, a 17-year old who grew up in Fargo. She said it was an enjoyable experience to share her faith and art with her neighborhood.

“Being able to interact with people when they walked by was very moving in a way because a lot of people have never really seen sidewalk art done like that locally. So being able to share in that kind of experience, it was very, very good,” she told CNA.

Loh has recently been inspired by chalk art and pastels, which, she said, have vibrant and beautiful colors. She has drawn on the sidewalks a few times, including two images of Mary - Madonna of the Lillies and the Pieta by William Adolphe-Bouguereau.

Her most recent chalk drawing was Our Lady of Lourdes by Hector Garrido - an image she had seen as a magnet on her grandparents' refrigerator growing up. The picture has always been an inspiration, she said, noting that she decided to replicate it after Our Lady of Lourdes Shrine in France had temporarily closed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“I heard that the shrine had been temporarily closed off to the public, and I remember … thinking that's really sad because especially in this time, we’re really looking for healing in more ways than one, like physically and mentally and spiritually,” she said.

“It really felt like people wouldn't be able to go to experience that. So I felt like drawing this image of Our Lady of Lourdes would be a good way to remind people that Our Lady is still with us even if we can’t go to her shrine.”

Loh, the oldest of five, has been involved with art projects and drawing for her entire life. She said, growing up in a Catholic family, she has been inspired by her faith and the religious art in churches.

“I see our faith as so precious... Especially in the form of the Eucharist - the actual body and blood of Christ, I've seen that we are very blessed to have that in our faith. It's something that has impacted a lot of my life growing up,” she said.

While she was working on the piece, Loh said, a majority of passersby did not know who the lady in the image was. She expressed hope that the picture would help remind people of Mary and the beauty of the Church, which, she said, is a powerful attraction to the faith.

“One thing that I hope this kind of art and image will evoke is a desire to come to know who Mary is and how rich our faith is. … All the beautiful art that can be seen in Catholic churches, especially like in Rome, there's almost a transcendental beauty to them that draws people into the faith to come to know things that they've never dreamed of before,” she said.

As Loh finishes her junior year of high school, she expressed the possibility of art school after graduation, but, while she is still uncertain of the future, said art will not be dropped anytime soon.

“I can definitely see [art school] being a possibility. I’ll have to spend some time, especially with God trying to figure out what he wants me to do. But, I don't think art is going out of my life anytime soon,” she said.

Residents rebelled over plans to collect and use their data, among other things.

'It has become too difficult to make the 12-acre project financially viable'

Sidewalk Labs, a Google-affiliated company, is abandoning its plan to build a high-tech neighbourhood on Toronto’s waterfront, citing what it calls unprecedented economic uncertainty.

Nobody is actually asking the question, because pedestrians don't matter, do they?

It's like a moving High Line, and is still a very good idea.

One would think this would be obvious, that sidewalks are for people, not cars.

It is a wonderful wooden and digital world, but will it ever happen?

The proposal for redeveloping Toronto's waterfront into a green, sustainable, urban tech hub is controversial.

Docked electric cars can be worse than dockless scooters for pedestrians, but the UEone is a step in the right direction.

One might think that promoting walking as an alternative to driving might be good for cities clogged with cars full of overweight people.

It is appalling that in much of America, they are considered a frill.

Putting money into non-motorized transportation is just the thin edge of the Agenda 21 wedge.

If you need to be out and about during physical distancing, please mind your sidewalk manners.

A new study finds that dockless cars cause more problems than dockless bikes and scooters.

More specific measures relating to the program will be published in next few weeks.