How a Walk Audit Can Build Community and Momentum

Gioia Calabretta is one of the leaders of Livable Lynchburg, a Local Conversation in Virginia. She is also Strong Towns’ graphic design intern. She and Norm discuss a walk audit she recently participated in, as well as her unique viewpoint as both a Local Conversation leader and Strong Towns staff member.

• Click here for the transcript. (Lightly edited for readability.)

  Norm Van Eeden Petersman 0:00

  Norm. Hello and welcome to Bottom-Up Shorts. I'm Norm with Strong Towns. After meeting so many of our Strong Towns members and other advocates within our communities, I would say "I want to tell you about so and so." That's the idea of these Bottom-Up Shorts: quick introductions to folks that are taking action where they live and really doing some remarkable things within their communities. Today, meet Gioia Calabretta, a recent college grad and one of the leaders of Livable Lynchburg, a Local Conversation in Virginia. She's also our summer graphic design intern. When Gioia shared a photo from a recent walk audit that she helped to organize and participated in, it was clear that she's diving into local life with energy and creativity. She's out there experimenting, building relationships, and helping to bring Strong Towns ideas to life right where she is. Gioia, welcome to Bottom-Up Shorts.

  Gioia Calabretta 0:55

  Hey. Norm. Thanks so much for having me on.

  Norm Van Eeden Petersman 0:58

  I'm glad you are. Why don't you talk about that walk audit. What was it like, and what would you tell others if they were thinking about doing the same?

  Gioia Calabretta 1:14

  Yeah, absolutely. So often, we talk about how people who are doing the Strong Towns thing on the ground feel very alone and like it's just them versus the world. But I showed up to that walk -- our Local Conversation didn't organize it, so I just attended. And to just show up and see so many other people who are already doing the work, people in my town who I'd never met before but were already saying all the things that I had thought, was so comforting. It was such a great feeling. Like the National Gathering is, the time to meet your movement, but I met it on a random Monday in my town, and I didn't even know these people were doing those things. So I think that was the biggest encouragement, not even technical things from the walk audit, just meeting those people and making those connections.

  Norm Van Eeden Petersman 2:09

  I love that. And I love that meeting your movement on a random Monday is actually a part of boosting our sense of optimism, our sense that we can see more change occur in steps, and then more rapidly as as we begin to apply these thoughts. And when you recently graduated from university, you also shared some of your thoughts about the differences between living on a very walkable campus and then also navigating a community where that's not featured as much. Can you share more about that? Because I thought it was a really powerful piece that you wrote, coming from four years of observation and sort of contemplating these things.

  Gioia Calabretta 2:50

  Absolutely. I've always had these thoughts about walkability and community and what a town I would want to live in would look like. I had never really got to experience them, except for a couple times in the summer or on vacations. But living on campus for three years, I actually got to live that lifestyle where I'd only take out my car once or twice a week on weekends, which I loved. It was perfect for me. Now I'm kind of on the other side. I wrote about how everyone on my college campus talked about how, "Oh yeah, sure, you had it during college, but don't get used to it because that's not how it's really going to be," which I say yes and no to. I've graduated and now I live and die almost by the car because I'm in a neighborhood that's mostly single use. So I understand why they would say things like that, but I'm still not ready to just accept that. So I'm doing this whole Local Conversation thing because I want to make that more of a reality, where it's not just "Okay, great. I experienced a walkable community for three years, and now I'm never going to experience it again." I actually believe that I could bring those attributes to where I live. So it's been a tension, definitely, to live somewhere walkable, and now not living somewhere walkable. I'm having to relearn how to have a lifestyle that's actually suitable to me. Like, I'm not walking as much, I'm not seeing people as much, so I'm having to be much more intentional and having to actually bring that to my community instead of just having it right there. I'm actually gonna have to do a little bit more and work hard for it. So one thing is that my neighborhood is completely single use, but at the end of our neighborhood, we have a tiny little strip mall. And people walk up and down to it every single day, which is incredible because otherwise nobody would walk in our neighborhood, probably. So my thing now is championing for a sidewalk in our neighborhood. So even though I'm not really living that walkable city life, I'm still trying to do what I can to kind of make it happen on my end.

  Norm Van Eeden Petersman 4:58

  And there are the core building blocks, that stretch of sidewalk that's just really valuable to allow more vulnerable users to come out, children or elderly folks that would say, "Oh, if it's safer, I can definitely come and use that," and making that happen. I want to touch on the fact that you've started going through the Local Conversation leaders training course and working through the various materials. I feel like you're a guinea pig with a clipboard, because now that you're internal to the team, you're also able to provide John and I and others on our team with insights into what that training process is like, and what it's been like to step in and become a Local Conversation leader. Can you talk about that experience and maybe some of the things that challenged you and surprised you?

  Gioia Calabretta 5:41

  I've been in leadership roles, but not like this, where you're really working with the community to make tangible things happen, and you have to work with the people that make it work. For, let's say art or a school assignment or something, I could just stay up all night and figure it out. But with this, I have to make eye contact and shake hands and meet people and make things happen. So it's a totally different ball game that I feel like I'm still learning. And very often I really like step by step points of someone saying, "You do this process and then it'll work out." Whereas that's not how this works. It's chaotic, but smart. And so often I'm like, "Wait, but I want the order." So I'm having to learn how to make the order out of the chaos. I'm doing the boots on the ground with the Local Conversations, and I'm figuring out where there's gaps in some of the process, and I'm in a really great position where I can just turn around to you guys and say, "Hey guys, I think this might be an oversight," or "I think this is an opportunity where we could do more." So it's difficult to be the guinea pig, but it's also very good to know that I actually have something I can contribute. So it's super great that I can just see things and say, "Okay, how can we optimize this? How can we make this process easier for the next person? What guide can we build up?" So it's been a lot of learning the whole way. I'm not sure it's going to be something that's like back burner, super easy anytime soon, but I think it is going to be pretty fulfilling while I see that momentum moving. Which I already sort of did on that Monday. I was talking to people, and after maybe an hour of being there, stuff was already happening. We had already had a day planned where we were going to take care of some of the issues. I had already met people who ran a community center. We were talking about meeting there. So even though there's not a script, which I often feel comfortable with, it's still been really great to do things that are kind of difficult and maybe outside my comfort zone, and then take a step back and go, oh wow. I just accomplished something I wouldn't have done ordinarily. I would have probably just sat back, but now that I was pushed into the fray, I've done something, and I can really be proud of it.

  Norm Van Eeden Petersman 8:06

  A random Monday, just picking up on that theme as well. I think sometimes I have had it where we've tried to get people to show up for a very contentious public hearing, to try to push some project over the finish line and get a sufficient number of votes from Council. And then there's the open ended question of what's actually going to happen? Like, will this development actually proceed, or is it going to die by 1000 different cuts? That being people's first exposure to that type of activity in the community can sometimes be kind of alarming. You're like, "Whoa, I did not expect to be here and get yelled at because I'm a renter" or, you know, get into the crosshairs of somebody. So I think there's something so wonderful about many of the methods that we endorse and encourage, which is go for a walk. Nearby to you, in West Virginia, Edward Erfurt's group is doing Walks About Nothing, where people are just taking the opportunity to meet, move around, and then conversations ensue. And I think that actually is one of those things that helps with it being an entry point into this. Not everybody is going to have to be manning the barricades and taking up torches. There's actually another approach. It starts with that humble observation about where we're struggling, trying to identify the next smallest thing that we can do with this, and your thoughts about some of the opportunities that lie just below the surface. You know, "Hey, we have a community center. We have a place that you could meet. If you want to have a conversation about what makes our community livable, that is definitely there." I think that's amazing. Can you share a little bit about your own background? There must be things going on at either your dinner table or in your hallway at your university that have contributed to you saying, "Hey, I want to do this."

  Gioia Calabretta 10:05

  So my dad is a civil engineer. He started out in architecture. He's probably had like five different majors during his course of college. So don't just box him into civil engineer, because he would be very unhappy about that. He's really a renaissance man. My mom is the same way, we're kind of very interdisciplinary. That's what I graduated with, interdisciplinary studies. So definitely doing the jack of all trades thing is kind of our MO. Also, both my parents are Italian, and so they have either grown up with or experienced or have relatives who are living in a totally different development pattern. And so that's very much in recent memory for them. For me, sprawl is really all I grew up with. It's kind of all I experienced. So I didn't really have that in my recent memory, but I saw it through them, and I heard it in their stories. Like my dad talking about the route he would take to school and then the soccer fields right after that, my mom talking about the street with benches in Italy where each group would have their own bench. And we went there two years ago, and she pointed out her bench to me. So those are things that really made an impression on me, because I didn't have anything like that at all. I just got carpooled everywhere, that wasn't my lifestyle at all. So I got into this vein through stories that they would tell me, movies and TV shows like The Goonies and Stranger Things where you see these kids walking around and biking and being independent. But none of these thoughts were fully formed or verbalized until in high school. I had to write a senior thesis, and I didn't know what I wanted to talk about, and I decided I just want to rage against something. And so I thought, "Why don't we just rage against cities? They're bad, they're terrible." I wasn't really advocating for rural living or anything. I just kind of figured I would punch into something and have a good time. But my headmaster ended up giving me a book called "Til we have built Jerusalem" by Philip Bess. He didn't really talk about New Urbanism or walkable cities tons, that wasn't even really the main point of his book. But he just happened to brush by it in a few of the chapters and it caught my eye. He said things that had never fully come to in my mind. And I thought, "Wait a minute, this is really striking a chord." So I quickly picked up all that I could while writing this thesis, and all I could think was, "I'm not crazy. These thoughts I've had, I'm not going crazy." Like, going back to my article, this isn't just something untenable where someone has to wag their finger at me and say, "You know what, you need to grow up. That's just not how things are." Someone was finally saying, "No, you're right, your gut feeling is right." So that's kind of how I got into everything. I came the CNU route and then Strong Towns was further down the pipeline for me. So I came in. Everyone was doing architecture and urban planning, and that just wasn't really my thing. My dad was pushing me out of architecture. He didn't think I would be good in it. And I trusted him, so I said, "Okay, sure." And so I thought, "You know what? CNU has a great message, but it's not actually being seen as widely as it could. This isn't picking up momentum as it should be. These are great concepts, so they need better packaging for it." And I've already been an arts interdisciplinary problem solving the whole thing. So I ended up majoring in graphic design, and I thought, "This is how I can best serve this thought process. If I can package it and make it attractive and persuasive, then we'll reach more people, then we'll get momentum. Then I can actually hopefully get a couple good years in this walkable city thing before I get too old." Which isn't true at all; I still can age in place. That would be great. But then I got into Strong Towns, and you guys get that the media is important, and you put a lot of effort and muscle behind this. And really, I talk to other people, like in emerging new urbanists or at CNU, and they're like, "Yeah, Strong Towns does a really good job. Yeah, their content is really good." That led to the most recent shift in my thought process. I first started thinking, "Okay, they have a great message where they need more media to put it out. This is why it's not really getting taken up." But you guys have great media. There's tons of people out there who are doing great things. So now I've kind of thought, okay, people are doing that. It's happening. I think we've passed that mark. Now people need to just go put their hands on this in their community. They actually need to go pick up the trash, repeal the minimums, do the actual work where they live, and that's how this is gonna happen. And so many people are already doing it. People in my community are already doing it, and I didn't even know. So that's been my latest rendition. I don't want to even talk about the thing anymore. I just want to do it.

  Norm Van Eeden Petersman 15:09

  Yeah. And it's that spirit of not being possessive of these ideas, or possessive of any of the credit for it. You know, in time, the Strong Towns organization could go away if we actually saw that the general Strong Towns approach was being implemented in all of these communities, and it just became commonplace within our spaces. I really love that. And I think this leads right into my last question that I love to ask, which is, what is it that gives you hope in your place?

  Gioia Calabretta 15:38

  Like I said with the walk audit, it was just meeting people who are already doing it. At the National Gathering, everyone said, "Oh, I'm scared to go back home, and I think I'm gonna feel very alone." And I thought, "No, I'm gonna grit my teeth, and I won't feel alone." And then I came back and I went, "Oh no, it feels like Gioia versus the whole world again." But then I went to this walk audit, and I'm hearing people who are already part of good, established organizations saying words like parking minimums and bump outs. And I was like, "You guys know these words that I think about." There's one specific thing from the walk audit that I'm ecstatic about. There's two elementary and middle schools right there where we were walking, so the walkability of that place was very important. And some of the places were not very good. The intersections for pedestrians were very long and, you know, the classics. But there was one area they said, "Hey guys, let's just stop." It was pretty inconspicuous. Nothing interesting. They said, "Over here, this used to be a massive turn for cars where they would just swoop in." And looking around, I just see a sidewalk. It's just a squared off nice area. But then they said that someone -- I don't know who, I have to track this person down -- striped it with tactical urbanism, and then it actually got put in place. The other day, I saw it on a satellite image. It was massive for cars, but someone stepped in and literally just fixed it. It didn't have to be like a 10 year long battle. So I think that was really inspiring and encouraging to me. I'm not doing all these things for the first time. It's not not Gioia versus the world. There's people who are already doing these things. I just have to meet them and link arms. The momentum is already there. It feels like I'm starting it from scratch, but that's just not true. The movement is already moving. I just almost have to catch up.

  Norm Van Eeden Petersman 17:39

  Yeah, yeah. But that catching up and then, like you said, putting your hands on these things is so valuable. Gioia, it's been a pleasure and a treat to be able to chat with you. I've really have enjoyed this. And folks, if you want to connect with Gioia, she's on LinkedIn. Is there anywhere else that you'd like people to either track your work or track down items that you've worked on?

  Gioia Calabretta 17:59

  Maybe just follow Livable Lynchburg.

  Norm Van Eeden Petersman 18:02

  Check out Livable Lynchburg. That is a great suggestion. With that, thank you so much for listening to this episode of Bottom-Up Shorts. Really grateful for this opportunity to share these thoughts and share Gioia's contributions as well. As always, take care and take care of your places.

  Norm Van Eeden Petersman 18:20

  This episode was produced by Strong Towns, a nonprofit movement for building financially resilient communities. If what you heard today matters to you, deepen your connection by becoming a Strong Towns member at strongtowns.org/membership.

ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES

• Livable Lynchburg (Instagram)

• See more from Gioia:

  • LinkedIn

  • “I Refuse To Accept That My Best Days of Walkability Were in College” by Gioia Calabretta

• Norm Van Eeden Petersman (LinkedIn)

• Do you know someone who would make for a great The Bottom-Up Revolution guest? Let us know here!

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