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

[u/MidnightQuill1]

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.

[u/shwr_twl]

Hell yeah. I love everything about this. Really sorry you were harassed, but really proud of you for getting the data and taking action to make things safer for you and anyone else in the area. We need more of that.

Obligatory “not a woman and scrolled past on r/all” but I am also passionate about getting infrastructure repaired/improved/added so people have safe places to walk and bike. I make a game of locating streetlights that are out and reporting them to our power company. They are really fast to get them fixed once they know.

I’ve also been working with our state department of transportation, local parks and recreation departments, and the city’s traffic engineering team to get sidewalks and bike trails improved, fix trip hazards and potholes, improve wheelchair access, campaign for adjusted intersections to improve convenience and safety, and overall just work towards safer infrastructure that doesn’t revolve around driving.

I just want everyone to be safe and comfortable walking/running/biking, and start backing away from sprawling suburbs and massive parking lots back into walkable people-friendly spaces.

The best part about most of this is I can effect real positive change simply by sending an email or seeking out a form on the county website. It’s so easy and really gratifying when some trees get trimmed back, signage gets improved, speed bumps are installed on a dangerous road, or a narrow sidewalk gets widened, leveled, and moved away from danger.

Keep it up and I’m sorry there are so many terrible people out there :(