BFF teams up with Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer to help educate, interact

Best Foot Forward joined with Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer and other organizations to help make The City Beautiful one of the best places to live. The Mayor’s Annual Neighborhood and Community Summit is a one-day training event to bring together residents, community leaders, city staff and elected officials. People can share of best practices from city staff and community leaders, learn more about city services and take part in workshops from the city, county, non-profits and more.

Best Foot Forward hosted a table to inform residents on pedestrian and bicycle safety. We spread awareness of our Triple-E approach and how we measure our success through driver yield rates at crosswalks across Orange, Osceola, and now Seminole County.

Central Florida has repeatedly been ranked the deadliest region in the nation for pedestrians, but through education, engineering, and enforcement, we are working to improve these statistics and save lives.

Our BFFers spoke with Orlando residents about issues in their own neighborhoods. Many brought up problems like speeding and distracted driving. Several filled out WalkWise surveys, sparking interesting conversation and questions. We caught up with members of the Thornton Park Neighborhood Association’s Safety Committee and discussed ways we can improve pedestrian and bicycle safety in Downtown Neighborhoods specifically. Visitors at our table walked away with more than just “i Yield 4 Peds” magnets and stickers—they learned how to promote safe driving and walking on their streets.

Though we met many new BFFers, we were happy to run into lot of old friends on Saturday, too. The Orlando Police Department Bike Unit stopped by to say hello and pose for a picture. We were excited to see that Billy Hattaway, Bike/Walk Central Florida’s Board Chair and Transportation Director for the City of Orlando, was manning the Vision Zero table next to us. He even took some time to talk with residents about pedestrian safety at our table.

The Neighborhood and Community Summit offered a great opportunity for Orlando residents to discuss how we’re all working together toward a stronger community, and to celebrate the City Beautiful.

Thank you to our partners at the City of Orlando and to Mayor Buddy Dyer—we’re already looking forward to the next summit!