My Experience
I started walking the B-Line right off Rogers Street, and I ended my Journey at the Kroger by Seminary Park. The weather was very nice and made the walk quite enjoyable. I was able to avoid the rain and the sun was shining for most of my walk. A few of my friends were able to join me so I didn’t have to walk alone. Despite walking through the city part of the trail, it was quiet, and the walk was peaceful. Walking past all the restaurants made for quite the smelly experience. It was tempting to stop at all the different local restaurants that I encountered on the trail. I was unable to stop at any of the places along the trail due to time, but I saw many different restaurants and the local farmers market that looked intriguing to stop at. This was nice to see all the different options that Bloomington offered, and it was nice to know that I was a part of this community. I was also able to see all the local art that was on the buildings and showcased along the B-line. This added so much liveliness to the line and made for interesting points of viewing while walking. It also showed how artistic Bloomington is and how much character that allowing people to add their own creative expression to the line can add so much to the feeling of the community.
The People
The people were the most interesting part of walking the B-Line. There were many people on the B-Line, and it was interesting to see that many people were in Bloomington somewhere that wasn’t campus. There were not as many people as on campus but there was enough that it gave me a good sense of the community. There were friends walking, older couples, and families all along the trail, this diversity in ages made me think of how this path brings many people together. The different age groups all have connections to the trail since it connects so many parts of Bloomington. The trail connects many parts of the city, so it makes it easier for the different demographics to have access to the trail and makes the community feel more connected. I was only able to walk through the residential part of the trail, so I was unable to see what the greener parts of the trail look like and how the community feels towards those parts. However, the parts I was able to walk were amazing and I could feel a sense of community when walking, this was amplified by the amount of people and the landmarks that I saw along the way.
Smart City Strategies
I think one smart city strategy that could be implemented along the B-line is smart benches. There were tons of benches along the path and with so many benches I think that it could be used as an opportunity for a smart city initiative. These benches would make use of solar technology to allow charging of phones for people or could be hotspots for free Wi-Fi access, and because the B-line sees a lot of sun, this would make good use of the many benches along the path. The charging capabilities could make it more of a convenience to charge your phone and it would be nice for people who walk the entire line to keep their phone charged. The public Wi-Fi access points could also make it easier for people to stay connected along line, there are already free Wi-Fi being added to many of the parks so this could add to that by connecting more of the city. With so many benches along the B-line, I think that it would be a perfect are to intervene with a smart technology.
Another smart city strategy that I think the B-line could implement is smart kiosks. There were many maps and signs along the path, and I think that these could be upgraded to smart kiosks. These kiosks could serve multiple purposes like serving as a map, giving information about the local art, or showing what restaurants are open around the kiosk and giving the location of them. The physical maps serve their purpose, but over time, the ma itself can wear down and needs to be replaced, smart kiosk could help with that and even improve on it by making the map interactable. People could click something on the map, and it could show them more information and even directions on how to get there. There were also many signs explaining the art, these could be made digital and could be on the smart kiosk. The smart kiosk could also be used for showing information about local restaurants and businesses. I noticed many restaurants near the B-line, and I think that they could take advantage of it by making a kiosk that could show things that are open and maybe advertise some deals that are going on. This could increase the engagement between the people walking the line making for an increase in community connection to local businesses. Another thing these kiosks could be used for is emergency notification as well, they could have the same functionality that the beacons around campus would have.
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