Year: <span>2012</span>

Earth Day 2012

As in years before, Earth Day 2012 was a fun and feel-good event. We thank the many volunteers who made the COAST booth a success:
Sarah Grant, Deborah Schwartz, Chris Sobell, Suzanne Michaud, Courtney Dietz, Eric Kirsh , Diana Blanchard, as well as Alanna, Kaytee, Juan and one more UCSB student whose name we don’t know, further Caitlin Carlson, Alex Pujo, Greg Janee, Mark Bradley, Lee Moldaver, Tracey Singh, Mickey Flacks, Dick Axilrod, Ken Hough, Doris Phinney and Eva Inbar. A special thank-you to Kim Stanley who organized our helmet program both days. If we missed anyone, please let us know! We fitted 65 helmets and gave out lots of information about COAST. For more photos,visit our facebook page.

COAST’s list of accomplishments

  • Our Safe Routes to School project: this year expanding to even more schools in Goleta and Carpinteria, we provide education and fun activities to promote walking and biking to schools. We regularly distribute free to low-cost helmets at elementary schools, provide bike education workshops (“bike rodeos”), pedestrian safety workshops, and advocate for improved infrastructure around schools. We also promote Walk and Bike to School Day, where teachers, parents, and students walk, bike, scooter, and skateboard to school! Our Safe Routes to School program has reminded parents and kids: it’s cool to walk and bike to school!
  • Our Eastside Walks project is a grassroots movement to empower the Eastside community to make lasting changes to make their neighborhood a safer place to walk. We’ve been campaigning heavily for improvements to Milpas, bringing the issues to the  Eastside community and encouraging them to speak up for their needs in the political process. We’ve also worked to improve lighting throughout the Eastside, with new streetlights to be installed soon. We are also campaigning for improvements on Salinas St.
  • Our ASERT program works to improve public transportation options for commuters in between Oxnard, Ventura, and Santa Barbara. This has been very successful, connecting bus riders with Gold Coast, VCTC, and Ventura officials to speak up for their needs and to encourage them to provide consistent, reliable transportation.
  • Happy Hours and informative General Meetings with timely and informative guests speakers downtown each month. Happy Hours are the second Thursday of every month at 5pm at El Paseo Restaurant, General Meetings are the second Wednesday of every month from 12pm-1:15pm at 15 E. Carrillo
  • COAST’s Walking Wednesdays tours is how COAST promotes fun and safe walking in Santa Barbara! COAST is kicking off its Walking Wednesday tours starting on March 28. These monthly walking tours, free and open to the public, are the fourth Wednesday every month and feature a different theme and speaker every month. On Wednesday, March 28th we will be meeting at the Santa Barbara Courthouse at 5:30 for a tour of Downtown Santa Barbara architecture, with noted Harrison Design Associates architect, Anthony Grumbine. In the past Walking Wednesdays has had a number of different themed walks; from botany to creeks to green architecture and public art. This year the program plans to explore more aspects of Santa Barbara that have not been discovered: affordable housing, great gardens and landscape projects, sustainability projects, and more! For a full calendar of Walking Wednesday events, please visit www.coast-santabarbara.org and check often for updates!

Vieja Valley Kicks Off Its First Bike/Walk to School Day!

Kids check in at school and receive a healthy snack, sticker, and enter their name in a raffle for a chance to win a big prize!

On Thursday, February 9th, Vieja Valley Elementary kicked off their monthly Walk and Bike to School Day! On the 9th of every month, kids, parents, and teachers will ditch their cars to walk and bike to school!

They had a great turnout this month, with loads of kids walking and riding their bikes to school. Many families who typically drive to school, rode their bikes instead. Some came from as far as the LaCumbre area, biking over the LaCumbre overpass and onto Modoc road, over a mile away! Families enjoyed the morning air and exercise, and it was a great opportunity to spend time with their kids before heading off to work!

Kids who participated in Walk to School Day got a healthy snack of granola bars and orange juice, a sticker, and entered their names in a raffle for a chance to win a big prize! The class with the highest average participation will also receive a treat.

We’d like to thank Sasha McGibben, a mom who organized the first event, and will be organizing all of the monthly Walk/Bike to School Days!

With the aid of the crossing guard, kiddos walk their bikes across the crosswalk to get to school!

In addition to Vieja Valley’s Walk/Bike to School Day, COAST’s Safe Routes to School Program is really taking off this year! We’re expanding into schools we’ve never been before  including those in Carpinteria. We also started pilot programs in Isla Vista Elementary and Franklin Elementary. We are so excited, and can’t wait to share our successes with you!