Taking the bus always gave me a chance to have “me” time, do school work, or relax until I got to where I was going. Walking gave me the chance to see so much detail of the world and the community around me.
Brianna Lelieur
Introducing our Central Coast and Bay Area, California Correspondent Brianna Lelieur!
Here at Pedestrian Space we recently launched a Global Walkability Correspondents Network, as a way to build solidarity among walkability advocates around the world and continue to create media on sustainable mobility and urbanism.
We are grateful to welcome Brianna as our Central Coast and Bay Area Correspondent to our growing network of individuals who are passionate walkability advocates.
WHO
After an existential crisis during my undergraduate studies while trying to answer the question “What do you want to do with your life?” I found city planning!
I’m a person who has a lot of interests, a lot of energy, and a lot of ideas that I want to put out into the world; so city planning just felt like the perfect match. Upon my journey I’ve interned with the planning department in Independence, Oregon, I started my Instagram @urbanchik_planning, and have focused on networking, as I love collaborating with others so I can get to know the industry. Passions aside from planning include: writing, dancing, art, walking, music, and the beach!
I want to help create more walkable cities because it lets you see the place you live in greater detail and vibrancy. It’s accessible for everyone, it’s green, and it’s sustainable.
BRIANNA LELIEUR
WHERE
I live in Corvallis, Oregon right now but will be moving to San Luis Obispo, CA, and will be calling that home for the next few years. I don’t have much of a compass there yet but look forward to representing the Central Coast region and Bay Area. I know the Bay Area like the back of my hand. Issues that plague the Bay Area/Santa Cruz, CA are transit deserts, sky-high fares, unkempt sidewalks if any at all (Santa Cruz), and pollution such as litter.
WHY WALKABILITY
I never had a car growing up. My mom was color blind, and we were honestly too poor to ever really have a car. While others might have thought it was weird to not have a car, I always thought they were the weird ones. I’ve been one with the transit system for as long as I can remember, and a pro long-distance walker. Taking the bus always gave me a chance to have “me” time, do school work, or relax until I got to where I was going.
Walking gave me the chance to see so much detail of the world and the community around me. I want to help create more walkable cities because it lets you see the place you live in greater detail and vibrancy. It’s accessible for everyone, it’s green, and it’s sustainable.
Brianna Lelieur is an incoming Master’s student studying City & Regional Planning at Cal Poly SLO in California. Creative, quirky and motivated, Brianna is hoping to shape the cities she loves through practicing sustainability, walkability, advocacy and engaging the communities she grew up in.
Learn more about the Global Walkability Correspondents Network here