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Jurisdiction: Spindale

University: University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill

Hometown: Carrboro, NC

Walker Harrison is the Lead for North Carolina Fellow in Spindale, North Carolina, a small town in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Walker graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2019 with a BA in Geography, concentrating in Environmental Systems and Geospatial Analysis. As an undergraduate, Walker received multiple university awards for innovative use of geo-spatial (GIS) analysis in his research. He also completed a minor in German at the Universität Mannheim in Germany. While at UNC-Chapel Hill, he enjoyed working as a science educator and mascot at Morehead Planetarium and as a research assistant at UNC’s Highway Safety Research Center.

Recent Work Accomplishments:
Walker helped plan the grand opening of Spindale's Thermal Belt Rail Trail. He spatially referenced all tax delinquent properties in Spindale to provide a visual representation of properties behind on property taxes. He was also invited to speak to a group of federal legislative staffers about his work in Spindale regarding walkability and business vitality.


 

Blog Posts

To a Future LFNC Applicant…

by Walker Harrison
02/12/20

By Walker Harrison (LFNC Fellow – Spindale) February 12, 2020 To a future LFNC applicant, Let me take you back to New Year’s Eve 2018.  It’s 10:30 pm and my LFNC application is due at midnight.  My apartment is pulsing with music and laughter as I, in the midst of …

Continued

I’m Walking Here

by Walker Harrison
11/04/19

By Walker Harrison (LFNC Fellow, Spindale) November 4, 2019 In a UNC Planning class during my senior year, our professor tasked each student with the same mission: redesign an existing intersection and street in Chapel Hill to prioritize all users, not just cars.  To brainstorm ideas, my group went and …

Continued

How to Take on the Day

by Walker Harrison
09/30/19

The door catches and doesn’t fully close behind you as you enter the world for the day. Again. When will you learn? The sunny, blue sky day waits temptingly as you sigh, turn around, grab the door handle, and put your whole body into pulling it all the way closed. …

Continued