As presented at this year’s annual event on March 29, 2018

Underground at Ink Block Team | MassDOT, National Development, Landing Studio, Street Theory, KP Strategies, Visual Dialogue, VHB
The Underground at Ink Block Team transformed an inaccessible wasteland underpass, into a beautifully designed, active urban park that re-connects two neighborhoods. Colorful paths, viewing platforms, bike and vehicle parking, active play areas, and a new waterfront edge each contribute to the complete transformation that you achieved. WalkBoston hopes that the Underground at Ink Block Project inspires the claiming and re-creation of more lost corners of urban environments in Massachusetts. While we always have leftover spaces and edges around urban infrastructure, you have shown that even these places can contribute to the walking environment in a wonderful way.

MassDOT – Secretary Stephanie Pollack, Jonathan Gulliver, Kirk Jackson
National Development – Ted Tye, Kathy McMahon, Naomi Mayeux
Landing Studio – Daniel Adams, Marie Law Adams
Street Theory – Liza Quinonez, Victor “Marka27” Quinonez
KP Strategies – Kristin Phelan
Visual Dialogue – Fritz Klaetke, Susan Battista
VHB – Michael Carragher

MBTA Plan for Accessible Transit Infrastructure (PATI) Project Team | Laura Brelsford, Kathryn Quigley, Chris Hart, Melissa Dullea, Erik Scheier
The PATI Team is helping to make it easier for people to walk to bus stops across the MBTA’s vast network of bus stops. With an amazingly detailed survey of 7,643 bus stops, the work of the PATI Team is opening up new opportunities to improve walking-transit connections that serve Massachusetts’ residents. WalkBoston is certain that the process the PATI Team has undertaken will help to make the Boston region a more walkable and accessible place.

WalkBoston Board Members | Matt Lawlor & Hillary Borcherding
Matt took on the role of Board President and became an amazingly strong advocacy voice for WalkBoston. His passion for WalkBoston’s mission led from Board meetings, to public events, to becoming a founder of WalkUp Rozzie. Matt has been an articulate and persistent cheerleader for strong action. He has been a committed leader for our organizational work; helping to engage other Board members, leading the charge on fundraising and seeing WalkBoston through the completion of a new strategic plan. Matt’s steady hand, ready availability and strong relationships with all of the staff have been a wonderful asset. WalkBoston is thrilled that Matt will continue as a Board member and an active participant in all that we do.

Hillary is WalkBoston’s first ever Board AND Staff hero.  Starting at WalkBoston straight out of college, Hillary quickly grew from a part-time front-office staffer into the full-time, valued face of WalkBoston. Hillary’s good cheer, willingness to pitch in, and excellence in everything made her the WalkBoston go-to person. It was a loss for us when Hillary left for law school, but we recruited her back as a Board member. She once again delivered – always willing to help whenever we needed good ideas. Among her key contributions was serving as a wonderful newsletter editor. With Hillary’s recent move to Burlington VT, we are losing her as an everyday member of the WalkBoston community, but we can bet she will be advocating for walking in her new hometown.  

Keynote Speaker Jeff Speck | Walkable City author, TED speaker
Jeff Speck is a city planner and urban designer who, through writing, lectures, and built work, advocates internationally for more walkable cities. As Director of Design at the National Endowment for the Arts from 2003 through 2007, he oversaw the Mayors’ Institute on City Design and created the Governors’ Institute on Community Design, a federal program that helps state governors fight suburban sprawl. Prior to joining the Endowment, Mr. Speck spent ten years as Director of Town Planning at Duany Plater-Zyberk and Co., a leading practitioner of the New Urbanism, where he led or managed more than forty of the firm’s projects. He is the co-author of Suburban Nation: The Rise of Sprawl and the Decline of the American Dream as well as The Smart Growth Manual. His recent book, Walkable City: How Downtown Can Save America, One Step at a Time – which the Christian Science Monitor called “timely and important, a delightful, insightful, irreverent work” – was the best-selling planning/design title of 2013 – 2015. http://www.jeffspeck.com/