The word on the street is that the streets of Fresno need to be fixed. Many youth in this growing city are still waiting for this renovation to take place. Every broken lamp post, every pothole, and every sidewalk-less neighborhood hinders the way we travel. For those who drive in cars, it’s easy to overlook these details, but it’s important to be mindful that there are many individuals whose only way of transportation is the shoes on their feet.
Recently, one of our own youth reporters was jumped while walking home from our offices. This startling incident reminded us that safety in our neighborhoods is still a problem.
Here’s how we think our streets can be safer: Our neighborhoods have an average amount of police presence, but for pedestrians like us youth, it often isn’t enough. What’s the solution? More cops on bikes, or even on foot. When police patrol in their cars, their response is different than when they are closer to the situation. Also, having police walk or bike will save the city money.
[pullquote_right]Many of our streets are very dark at night. This is a danger in neighborhoods that already are high violence areas, even in daytime.[/pullquote_right]In addition to more police, lamp posts and ample lighting are a major factor in walking safety. Adding more street lights, or even repairing existing lamps, will help both pedestrians and drivers. Many of our streets are very dark at night. This is a danger in neighborhoods that already are high violence areas, even in daytime.
We’ve been to different areas of Fresno, like the area around Woodward Park, that give us a vision for what we want our neighborhoods to look like. This vision is one of safety, where it’s common to see people active in their neighborhoods. People feel safe to jog, even at night, and children can play with their friends outside.
Better lighting and police presence are two simple changes that can start to make this vision a reality.
In 2006, over 25 youth began participating in weekly after-school writing workshops where they congregated in the hallway of a two-story building in West Fresno and learned the essentials of creating media and telling their stories. The group evolved over the next five years and is now proudly recognized as The kNOw Youth Media.
Through our program, we create opportunities for our youth participants, who in turn create long-term positive change in their communities. Our approach weaves youth development and youth media innovation to produce our biannual youth publication, multimedia projects, and community forums.
The kNOw began as a project of New America Media, which was the country’s first and largest national collaboration and advocate of 2000 ethnic news organizations. In 2018 The kNOw became a project of Youth Leadership Institute.
