gita® IRLL: Jen Hidinger Kendrick

A Q&A with gita owner Jen Hidinger Kendrick, Co-founder and Senior Director of Community Engagement at Giving Kitchen in Atlanta, Georgia.

Neighborhood: Peoplestown in Atlanta, Georgia 

Miles logged with gita: 6

Longest gita trip: 1.5 hours

Favorite place to bring gita: Farmer’s market

Biggest item carried: Cooler stuffed full of beer, wine, and groceries

Nickname for gita: Dotty

What do you love most about your neighborhood?

What’s awesome about Atlanta in general is it’s a really green city. My house is also two blocks away from the newer development of the BeltLine. I love our location because of its proximity to downtown. It’s also a small neighborhood feel, which I love. We have easy access to restaurants, retail, and farmer’s markets with local produce all around the city.

What are your favorite activities to do with gita?

Walking around the neighborhood and going to the farmer’s market. Because our community is built around mixed use retail, we live in close proximity to everything we need!

How many times a week do you use gita?

Once a week, usually on the weekend.

What’s your favorite feature about gita?

The fact that it can access Spotify through Bluetooth®.

What do you like most about gita’s design?

The shape and size. I like that it’s compact. We have an 18 month old who we push in a stroller regularly, and gita is basically the same footprint. Since I’m already used to walking with the stroller, I find gita much easier to use. The way gita moves with me also feels similar to walking with one of my dogs. It already feels really comfortable.

What are some things you think everyone should know about your city?

1. Atlanta is one of the leading green cities in the country.

2. There’s a really amazing street art movement that’s been happening over the last 8 or so years that’s really magical and comes from a diverse group of artists. And the food scene is incredible and continues to grow!

3. Atlanta is not known for its jazz clubs and blues clubs. I think Atlanta would thrive off of more places like that. More small music venues in general!

What kinds of reactions do you see from others when out-and-about with gita?

My favorite thing in talking about gita is the children who come up to us, and they have no filter. Kids are so matter of fact, and gita is immediately intuitive to them. Adults have more questions, but kids just understand that gita is a robot.

How has gita made your daily living easier? Has it changed the way you move about your neighborhood?

gita has complimented the way we live a walkable life within our community. It does 100% of what we need it to do from a carry load perspective.

If more people lived the gita lifestyle (i.e. walking rather than driving), how do you see that benefiting communities?

Anything we can do to reduce our carbon footprint is a good thing, and it helps leave the environment in a better place for our kids.

Jen’s Favorite Local Atlanta Finds—

Children’s store: seed factory Women’s clothing: Megan Huntz Flower shop: Candler Park Flower