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By Joseph A. Curtatone

Taking a closer look at notable city data—and interesting numbers. 

Zero Deaths or Serious Injuries on Somerville’s Streets: Somerville has long been committed to creating safer streets for all modes of transportation, but we formally made the commitment to strive for zero deaths or serious injuries on the City’s streets when we announced the launch of our Vision Zero Somerville initiative last September.

Since that time, we’ve continued to improve our transportation infrastructure to make Somerville safer for drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians alike. Recently we painted bumpouts on Broadway at three locations to draw attention to potential pedestrian crossings, added new bicycle lanes on Cutter Ave. and Mount Vernon St. and a contraflow bicycle lane on Marshall St., and reduced pedestrian crossing wait times in Davis Square to improve compliance and safety. But there’s still more work to be done, and we need your help.

We’re establishing a Vision Zero Task Force to help us explore additional policy and infrastructure changes as we create our Vision Zero Action Plan. The City is calling on community members who are committed to safer streets and experts in the fields of transportation, traffic safety, public health, data analysis and visualization, and other related fields to apply. Interested? Send a brief statement of interest and any relevant qualifications to Senior Transportation Planner Mike Tremblay at mtremblay@somervillema.gov by noon on Friday, September 14. For more information on Vision Zero, visit www.somervillema.gov/visionzero.

35 renovated parks and playgrounds since 2004:  The City of Somerville is deeply committed to improving and expanding open space. As I said at last week’s Hoyt-Sullivan Playground ribbon cutting, playgrounds are more than simply spaces with benches and play structures. They’re important community gathering places that are critical to our children’s development and physical and mental wellbeing.

Between the celebrations at Hoyt-Sullivan, last month’s Lincoln Park re-opening, and the upcoming Winter Hill Schoolyard ribbon cutting on September 10, we will have opened three open spaces in a matter of weeks. Since 2004, the City has renovated 35 parks and playgrounds to improve equipment and better meet the needs of the specific neighborhoods, and there are currently 8 more in some stage of design and development.

We’d love for you to join us in celebrating this commitment and achievement at our next playground ribbon cutting celebration at the Winter Hill Schoolyard on Monday, September 10, at 10 a.m.

53 Junior Police Academy Graduates: It’s no secret that the Somerville Police Department works hard to build relationships within the Somerville community, especially with our youngest residents. After a successful inaugural Junior Police Academy last year, SPD hosted a second annual academy this year, with 53 young Somervillians graduating. Junior Police Academy activities included a presentation by District Attorney Marian Ryan, the National Guard fitness challenge, mock crime scene and traffic stop interactive scenarios, CPR training, defensive tactics training, presentations from Somerville’s  K-9 unit, and more.

But that’s not the only Somerville Police programming worthy of recognition this year. They were awarded the 2018 Community Policing Award from the New England Association of Chiefs of Police, and soon they will be featured in a museum exhibit. The National Law Enforcement Museum in Washington, D.C., will feature an exhibit on the department’s partnership with Teen Empowerment. Somerville is one of five communities with innovative community outreach programs that will be featured in the exhibit, which will run from October 13, 2018, until winter 2019.

3 New Murals in Somerville: Aside from the obvious aesthetic benefits, public art provides cultural, economic, and social value as well. Somerville is already known as a community with a vibrant arts culture, and I know it’s important to the community that we continue to build upon that. So that’s exactly what we’re doing. Soon, Somerville will be home to three new murals completed by internationally renowned artists.

The paintings are being completed now in the East Somerville and Union Square neighborhoods, and we hope you’ll join us on Thursday, August 30, at 6 p.m. outside Taco Laco on Broadway for a parade celebration and mural walk. For more information on this event as well as the artists and murals, check out www.somervillema.gov/murals.

These beautiful new murals are only the beginning. We’re always looking for ways to enhance and expand public art in Somerville. If you’re a business or property owner who would like to host a mural and have a large open wall, please get in touch with the City by contacting Special Events Manager for the Somerville Arts Council, Nina Eichner at neichner@somervillema.gov or 617-625-6600 x2998.

Data-based decision making is at the core of how the City of Somerville develops policy and sets priorities. Every day we check the latest 311 stats, and throughout the week we meet for in-depth review of departmental data and city trends. The Data Download column shares some of the data we’ve been reviewing recently, as well as interesting updates. To see more Somerville Data, visit the online Somerville Data Farm at www.somervillema.gov/datafarm.