Bryn Garrity

Q1: How do you get around and what has your experience been?

I primarily drive, then take public transit, then walk. I will walk the mile from our home to Malden’s downtown area or towards Everett for dinner or coffee. This winter I was embarrassed by the poor snow removal after a storm when I invited someone to lunch in Malden she was unable to comfortably navigate the sidewalks in her wheelchair. I like the addition of BlueBike stations around the city and the bike path. I have been confined to my car for the last several months because of back pain which left me unable to stand or walk for long periods of time, and the lack of choice in transportation was frustrating! I am happy to be able to walk downtown or to the bus now. I think Malden is well connected between most neighborhoods and is certainly a place where you don’t need a car.

Q2: What street or intersection would you most like to see improved for safety?

I think that we need to add a traffic light at the bike path and Main intersection for the cyclists and scooter users. I also think we should eliminate the second crosswalk next to the bike path crosswalk to streamline pedestrian traffic. This would be a huge improvement of that intersection.

Q3: How would you make Malden’s public transit more accessible?

I think an overhaul of zoning in Malden would create pockets of small businesses all around the city which would encourage residents to shop within their neighborhoods. Having a convenience store that sells cooking basics, a coffee shop, and a restaurant option all within an easy walk from your home and not just concentrated downtown is so convenient for residents and offers options after a long day, not limiting you to getting in the car and driving to Stop and Shop or Pleasant St.

Q4: How would you reduce drop-off and pick-up traffic at schools?

The long term plan is to slowly get more parents comfortable with their kids walking and biking to school. There is no reason why a healthy child shouldn’t be able to walk 20 minutes to school, which is roughly ¾ of a mile. We can start by creating bike buses and walking buses on set routes through neighborhoods, so parents know their kids are supervised. We can run “learn to ride” programs in the summer time to get kids comfortable biking. Local groups like Safe Streets or interested adults can volunteer a day or two each month to lead a bike or walking bus.

The more people who are active in this endeavor, the less work it will be. Cars cause traffic, not bikes and pedestrians. Creating a culture of walking/biking to school will be key to eliminating drop-off traffic.

We can start small with 1 day per week, every week. If that’s going well over the course of a semester, add another day. Not only does this reduce traffic throughout the city, it creates independent, street smart kids, and relieves some of the burden from parents.

Q5: Would you support connecting Malden to neighboring cities via bike/pedestrian paths?

I think it’s a no-brainer to collaborate with Everett, Chelsea, Melrose, and Medford on bike path projects. The more protected paths we can offer, the more options our residents have. This has multiple benefits: residents who commute in between the cities have more avenues to travel, an easy biking route to Malden Center from neighboring towns will boost business, and it gives us a channel of communication between the city officials we need. These towns are so connected, it doesn’t make sense for us to work in a vacuum.

Q6: What improvements would you make to support local businesses while keeping streets safe?

I have an idea for Pleasant Street that will be great for our disabled residents and the restaurants on that stretch of road, as well as eliminate the CONSTANT double parking everywhere:

I propose that from 4-7pm on weekdays and all day on weekends all parking spots turn from 2hr paid to handicap/15 minute pick-up/drop-off spots. If you have a handicap sticker, you are free to park as long as you need. Otherwise, it’s 15 minute parking and you need to be in and out. The restaurants stores on Pleasant can hugely benefit from this as it will increase the likelihood of takeaway orders (I know I for one will avoid getting a pick up order from a spot on Pleasant if I’m by myself since parking is difficult) and make delivery pick ups easier. More business for the restaurants!

This also leaves ample parking right in front of businesses for anyone with a handicap placard. Anyone planning on spending more than 15 minutes at a business can use one of several parking garages. We should increase signage advertising that the parking is affordable so more people are drawn to it.

If this works, we can expand it to Exchange Street as well.

Q7: Would you support expanding micromobility options like bike share and e-scooters?

Of course! I am happy to support more non-car methods of transport. Certainly the devil is in the details, but the general idea is good. The addition of Bluebike stations with Ebikes and regular bikes has been a very convenient neighborhood improvement. I would be very interested in reviewing future projects.