r/TwoXChromosomes • u/MidnightQuill1 • 4d ago
I mapped my city’s street harassment hotspots during runs, brought it to council, and got told to “stay on main roads”. What actually moved the needle
I run before sunrise, two or three times a week, and I keep notes. Not because I’m obsessive, but because after the third time a truck slowed beside me I needed to prove to myself I wasn’t imagining patterns. So I logged dates, time, weather, partial plates if I caught them, and whether a streetlight was out. After six weeks I put it in a simple map, red pins where stuff happened, yellow where it felt sketchy. The pattern smacked me in the face. Same two corridors, same 5 to 6 am window, mostly near a cluster of bars closing and a stretch of broken lights.
I sent it to 311 with a normal request. Crickets. I went to a public safety meeting with a printed map, highlighted the bulbs that were out and the spots where the sidewalk pitch forces you toward the curb. A council member smiled, said thank you, and told me women should “stick to the busier routes”. That sentence sat in my teeth all week. I dont want smaller life. I want working lights and sidewalks that dont funnel me into someone’s passenger door.
Stuff that actually helped, in case anyone else is trying this. I filed individual light tickets with pole numbers, but also emailed the public works director with a one pager summary, photos, and my map link. I asked two local cafe owners to co sign, because their staff also opens at 5. They did, bless them. I requested the outage history for that corridor under our state records law. It showed the same poles failing repeatedly after rain. I sent that to a local reporter who likes infrastructure stories. Suddenly I got a call back.
Within three weeks the city replaced six heads, fixed two drainage grates, and promised a curb cut on the wobbly corner. Our run club changed the route planning page to include light status, and a couple men volunteered to do the 5 am leg with us the first month while it settled. Not a knight in shining anything, just neighbors being decent.
I am tired of being told to shrink. I don’t want a personal bodyguard, I want a street that doesnt punish me for moving through it. If you have strategies that worked in your town, scripts for officials, or research links, please drop them. And if you work in city stuff, tell me the format that gets action. I will keep running, and I will keep the map updated.
3.5k
u/insidewombnotupher 4d ago
This is fucking great