Lounging & Lollygaging in Wodonga
David Engwicht is a livable streets philosopher and author. Creator of the Walking School Bus, Mental Speed Bumps and many other innovative ways of taming traffic and increasing pedestrian safety, he has taken on "the challenge of a lifetime" to revitalize the downtown district of Wodonga, a small city in Australia often referred to as "Struggle Town" in comparison to its sister city Albury just across the Murray River.
Watch the video to see great placemaking in action. Engwicht has initiated the successful Lounging on High Friday night series. The diverse programming features giant versions of board games and an eclectic range of seating options, the goal being to encourage residents to take back their streets and re-imagine what is possible. To create a more human pace, on these Friday nights Wodonga closes one street and removes two lanes of car travel on another to encourage relaxation and fun.
David Engwicht (left): "If we can do this here...any city can take back their public space."
Some great quotes, especially on the idea of traffic speed being proportional to how much citizens have given up on their public space. Interesting concept that perhaps its the people that retreated to let the cars in. So time for people to reverse the process.
[...] New Yorkers coming to The Tastiest Destination! Jump to Comments On 14 March 2008 when Wodonga CBD came to life for the regular Lounging On High festival the crew from New York’s StreetFilms.org filmed the festivities. With a lot of entertainment provided by the Tallangatta Circus and musicians such as Neil Rosser and Damian Neil everyone had a great time. Thanks to StreetFilms you can now see the movie! [...]
Your movie is great, but missed Wodonga's best kept secret - The Daily Scoop ice creamery in Stanley Street, just off High Street!