About

Local Friendly is a volunteer built map app that features doorway information such as ramps, door bells and staircases to services and businesses in the Upper West Side - from the perspective of a pedestrian.

We started pacing the blocks between West 59th and West 110 Street and gathering data, when our mother passed away. She had had dementia for several years and moving her around in a wheelchair on uneven sidewalks, across pedestrian crossings whose ramps were blocked by vehicles, struggling through doors up and down steps, on top of the emotional, physical and mental pressure of caring for her, was exhausting and alienating.

The science shows that it's an imperative for people to connect with their environment and to engage with life in order to keep a healthy outlook. All the more so when circumstances change our mobiity, and our main means of transport is the humble sidewalk.

Local Friendly is an endeavour to empower caregivers, parents with older and young dependents, people with disabilities, persons with injuries or other illnesses, with information from the perspective of a pedestrian, so that they know what to expect when they get to their destiations.

We are still adding data but as a volunteer team it takes time. And, the data is constantly evolving since our initial collection in 2019, pre-COVID. Some of the information may no longer be accurate due to changes in the landscape. Shops that existed previously may have closed down, while new ones have emerged in their place, so we are updating it as we go. We thank you for your patience.

Our goal is to eventually have a map app for the Upper West Side that includes routing via the sidewalk. That technology is still being built by pioneers in the geo-spatial field. Once it is available to all, we will include it.