WALK is a GIS company that focuses on improving health and wellbeing. We do so by creating maps that show sidewalk connectivity so we can promote walking instead of driving. In addition to this, we also use these to help cities see where sidewalks need to be added and repaired. WALK is dedicated to making cities safer and more walkable.


Project Description
    Wellness And Lifetime Knowledge (WALK) has been tasked by TIPHER to create a sidewalk inventory and walking maps that display routes in Seguin, Texas. The sidewalk inventory will show obstructions to sidewalks such as:

  • Damages
  • Vegetation
  • Telephone poles
  • Etc.
    Sidewalk accessibility to pedestrian attractors will encourage people to walk. This will improve overall health in the community. Another objective is to locate pedestrian attractors such as:
  • Schools
  • Banks
  • Grocery stores
  • Retail centers
  • Libraries
    Another aspect of this project is to distinguish the different types of walking surfaces. TIPHER would like to reinforce the Safe Routes to School program. These shared-use paths (pedestrian / bicycles) infrastructures will enable children to walk and bike to school safely. By analyzing sidewalk connectivity and providing recommendations to improve the current pedestrian network, it will encourage the development of a pedestrian master plan in Seguin.

Brief Methodology
    We did the following:
  • Import the Chamber of Commerce (CoC) data set
    • The CoC data will be used to create routes to and from pedestrian attractors/sources
  • Verify/Expand the current data set provided by TIPHER
  • Create a current sidewalk inventory with attributes (as stated in Data section)
  • The Census data will be used to identify population densities to help rank neighborhoods
  • TIPHER will be assisting us in collecting pedestrian survey info to be used for identifying areas of high pedestrian traffic
  • Field work will help to accomplish these goals by looking into the various areas within Seguin


Conclusion
    The organization, TIPHER, is dedicated to improving Seguin’s health and lowering obesity rates. The city of Seguin is overall highly lacking in sidewalks. WALK is trying to assist the effort of TIPHER by creating a thorough sidewalk map for Seguin. This will include a database with detailed information about all the existing sidewalks, such as their current state and their size, and will propose locations for new sidewalks. This process will help make Seguin more walkable by any pedestrian. In addition to improving walkability, this project will show safe routes to areas with heavy pedestrian traffic, such as schools or stores. The data for this project will be gathered firsthand by WALK. The entire process of creating the map should take about eight weeks, and cost approximately $15,900. WALK and TIPHER hope their joint effort can make Seguin more easily accessible to its citizens and in doing so, improve their wellbeing.


Project Area: Seguin, Texas
Texas State University-San Marcos | GeoSites