What is the PLAY Walk?
A new downtown trail where you can Play along the Way!
Project Goals
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Activate the corridor between the Strong Museum of Play and Central Library.
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Promote connectivity between neighborhoods and institutions.
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Calm traffic & facilitate safe routes to play.
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Support intergenerational interaction.
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Build community pride.
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Demonstrate the benefits of play everywhere infrastructure.
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Inspire future projects & creation of policy for playful infrastructure where youth frequent.
Project Background
Since 2015 the Healthi Kids’ “PlayROCs” campaign has advocated for changes to the built environment that support playability in neighborhoods. The creation of a Story Walk at Phillis Wheatley Library, a project from the first Play Everywhere Challenge, has catalyzed a number of other projects across the city. In 2018 the PLAY Walk received funding from KaBOOM to continue to make Rochester a more playable City, in a whimsical and creative way. The idea for this project came from a survey the Healthi Kids coalition did in 2016. 41% of youth surveyed said they wanted to see musical or playful features at Central Library and MLK Park next to the Strong Museum of Play. Construction for the first phase was completed in 2019.
Read the blog of the youth design team here.
