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District 5 project turns 5,000 youth stories into maps that highlight missing sidewalks and transit gaps
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Summary
University of Washington Tacoma’s Action Mapping Project showed council members maps and scorecards compiled from nearly 5,000 District 5 youth stories, identifying priority ‘impact sites’ and recurring barriers — especially missing sidewalks and transit gaps — that staff and partners say can guide targeted investments.
Dr. Matt Kelly, project director for the Action Mapping Project at the University of Washington Tacoma, told the Pierce County Council at its April 23 District 5 meeting that the project translates children’s drawn stories into maps and quantitative scores to guide local investments.
"To date, we've worked with 15,000 youth across two states now…that's almost 5,000 stories from youth just in District 5," Kelly said, explaining that the project produces play, belonging, roaming and mobility‑opportunity scores for neighborhoods so planners can spot where to invest. He said Eastside Community Center, Stewart Heights and Dawson Playfield emerged as bright spots, while sidewalk gaps and public‑transit 'black holes' surfaced repeatedly across neighborhoods including Midland and Browns Point.
The council member sponsoring the effort, Brian Yambe (Councilmember), said the maps give residents a way to point to specific sites where children already go and where relatively small interventions could improve safety and access. Staff distributed an impact report and printed materials and said libraries will host 'Impact Hubs' allowing residents to explore maps and add their stories.
Kelly described how the project aggregates classroom map drawings and short comments into visual heat maps and word clouds and then converts recurring themes into numeric scores meant to be tracked over time as investments are made. He said the district‑level dataset includes neighborhood‑level detail, which he and staff hope will help prioritize sidewalk infill, lighting, and small‑scale mobility improvements.
Councilmembers asked practical questions about accessing the platform and whether the project includes voices from Fife and Puyallup; Kelly and staff said the work is expanding to include more schools and that District 5’s intergenerational action map will accept adult stories as well as youth input. The presentation closed with an invitation to scan the project QR code or visit library impact hubs to generate neighborhood reports.
The council did not take a formal vote on the presentation; staff said follow‑up materials and digital access will be provided to council offices and the public.