Get Involved
All events to be held at:
Blackstone Valley Visitor Center - 175 Main Street, Pawtucket
MONDAY, OCTOBER 17 - 4 PM - 6PM
Making Our Community More Walkable and Bikeable
How can we make it easy for all generations – from kids to seniors – to get more exercise? One way is by making physical changes to neighborhoods and roads that will enable people to walk and bike as they go about their daily activities – getting to school and work, going to the playground or ball field, running errands. After touring our community, an expert will lead a discussion about ways that Pawtucket could make biking and walking safer and more enjoyable.
Workshop leader: Mike Lydon, The Street Plans Collaborative
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 2 - 4 PM - 6PM
Parks and Recreation
From tot lots and playgrounds to ball fields and parks to walking trails and bike paths to canoe launches . . . Pawtucket has a good number of recreational resources. Does our network of resources meet the needs and interests of all generations and physical abilities? Are any parts of the City underserved? Are our parks and playgrounds easy to get to? Well maintained? How can we do more with the resources we already have?
Workshop leader: Peter Flinker, Dodson Associates
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 10 - 4 PM - 6PM
Making It Easier to Get Healthy Food
For some of us it’s our busy lifestyle and meals grabbed on the run, for some who don’t drive it can be the distance to a grocery store, for some it’s the cost of food in tough economic times . . . whatever the reason, many people find themselves eating too few fruits and vegetables, too many high-calorie meals and soft drinks. What steps can we take as a community to make it easier for all of us to get healthy food?
Workshop leaders: Katherine Brown, Southside Community Land Trust
Kathleen Gorman, URI Feinstein Center for a Hunger Free America
Nathan Kelly, The Horsley Witten Group
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 17 - 4 PM - 6PM
Encouraging transportation choices by completing our streets
Many Pawtucket citizens don’t have access to a car or would rather walk, bike or use public transit to get to work or school and to run daily errands. However, they are often unable to do so safely and easily because our roads are currently designed only with cars in mind. Complete Streets are designed to allow all users -- walkers and bicyclists, young and old, public transit users and automobile drivers – to get to work, school and the store safely, easily and efficiently. How could this approach be used in Pawtucket?
Workshop Leader: John Flaherty, Grow Smart Rhode Island
DECEMBER 1ST, 5TH, AND 8TH:
Healthy Places Summit
Help us roll up our sleeves and start digging into the different neighborhoods of Pawtucket with ideas for healthier living. A team of facilitators will guide you through exercises that put these ideas on the ground. Whether you’re looking for sidewalk improvements, bike lanes, a new playground, an urban garden or some other idea that can improve the health of our residents…this is the event where we get it “on the map”. Although each workshop will build on the ideas developed in the one before it, you can still jump in at any time.
