Warren Logan serves as the Policy Director of Mobility and Interagency Relations for the Mayor’s Office of Oakland.

As a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, in April 2020 Oakland implemented their ‘Slow Streets’ policy-- an aggressive plan to close 120 kilometres of city roads to most car traffic, allowing these thoroughfares to become places for walking, jogging, biking, and other outdoor activities.

However, it soon became apparent that the section of community actually engaging with ‘Slow Streets’ and turning up to town hall meetings was not representative of the average person living in Oakland.

In response, Logan and the city of Oakland spearheaded a new phase of ‘Slow Streets’ called ‘Essential Places’, with the aim of addressing inequity. Rather than close entire streets, the city set up quick barricades using traffic cones and signs to narrow crosswalks in front of locations like shopping centres and clinics, allowing pedestrians to reach them more easily.