East Boston Makers + Movers

East Boston Makers + Movers used Maker tools to help people imagine a bicycle hub of the future in East Boston’s Central Square neighborhood. It was an open Maker and participatory planning event, hosted by the Mayor’s Office of New Urban Mechanics and the Boston Transportation Department (BTD).

As part of the redevelopment of East Boston’s Central Square, BTD is installing 20 bike racks and a repair station for people to fix their bikes courtesy of Boston Bikes. To build excitement for this investment and get new ideas from residents about how to make the most of it, East Boston Makers + Movers engaged local youth, cyclists, and other residents to give their input.

To attract a new audience that may not typically engage in community events, this event used hands-on accessible activities, which took place in English and Spanish. Using low-tech tools (markers, paper, and Legos) and high-tech tools (a vinyl cutter and 3D printer), participants mocked up their own vision for the bicycle signage and orientation for the bicycle hub.

What happened?

• Over 100 people joined in on the fun.
• With the Boston Public Health Commission, we gave out 52 bicycle helmets—mostly to children.
• We gained 41 bicycle wayfinding design suggestions, and printed out 3 samples on the vinyl cutter.
• 22 people used the legos to demonstrate their ideas for a bicycle hub’s orientation.
• Since East Boston does not have a single bicycle repair shop in the area, the public bike repair stand accompanying the bicycle hub will fill a need in the community.

1. We used Legos to determine where we should put the new bike racks, bike shed and bike tool station.

Clara Suh and friend work on the Lego model.

Orienting the bicycle station, up close.

2. We used a vinyl cutter to create wayfinding signage to connect people with this new bicycle station.

Wayfinding signage is developed from a drawing (blue image) to a prototype printed off the vinyl cutter (black image).

All ages shared their ideas.

Makeda Stephenson—co-founder of FABLabs for America—headed up the vinyl cutter.

More focused drawing of bicycle ideas…

3. We also gave away bicycle helmets and had a helmet fitting station to help promote bicycle safety.

New (bicycle helmet) swag!

Fruits and bicycle helmets- a perfect combination!

What we learned

• Legos are excellent, accessible tools for engagement at all levels. Children as young as 3 or 4 with their parents or grandparents came and played with the building blocks. From there we could start a conversation.
• The vinyl cutter is a viable way to rapidly visualize signage (of any kind).
• 3D printing technology is too slow, and the workflow process too long, to feasibly print out ideas on the spot.
• The combination of low-tech tools along with high-tech tools attracted youth and a teenage demographic that is not typically represented in participatory planning activities.
• It was critical that we held the event, and all the prior outreach, in both Spanish and English.

What’s next?

Based on ideas from this event and others, BTD plans to build the bike parking and repair station with the construction of Central Square park, starting this fall.

Why the Maker approach?

This Maker approach to community planning is increasingly talked about, and we are thrilled to be one of the first cities to do it. Makers + Movers provided a unique opportunity to engage residents and improve non-motorized transportation in East Boston. It was an event to make planning fun, engage new audiences, gain different participation, and pilot the viability of using high-tech tools in a participatory planning process.

Support and Partners

This event was supported by a grant from The Awesome Foundation. Legos were donated for the day by MIT Media Lab’s Changing Places Group. Boston’s own City Hall To Go truck was transformed for the day into a Maker’s Mobile. The Fresh Truck gave away fruits and vegetables to participants to support healthy lifestyles.

Our other partners were the Boston Public Health Commission, Boston Bikes, and Greenovate.

Image by Katarzyna Balug and Michael Lawrence Evans, Mayor's Office of New Urban Mechanics