Community gardens, urban farms, and public edible landscapes infuse fresh food into our city lives, grounding us in the natural world and its seasonal rhythms. However, these spaces often come with barriers: big fences, locked gates, and a sense of exclusivity that can make nearby residents scoff, “Community garden? Not for me.” But inside, there’s a different story. Those who tend the plots are often deeply connected to the neighborhood, though a clear divide exists between them and those left outside. We see placemaking as a game-changer in the world of urban agriculture and community gardening. It’s about breaking down barriers and welcoming more people in, especially in low-food-access neighborhoods where a garden could revolutionize local health and social safety nets. Transforming Spaces: Tips for Urban Ag Sites1. Rethinking Boundaries: The Art of Fencing Yes, gardens indeed need fences—to shield them from hungry animals that could ravage a garden overnight and to deter the occasional vandal or uninvited gleaner. Yet, some fences we see are so imposing they seem to scream "food maximum security" rather than "food security." Here's how we can turn barriers into welcoming features: Embrace Living Fences: Cultivate a fence with a purpose. Planting blackberries or other vine crops can transform a stark fence into a lush, living boundary. It becomes a beautiful hint of the bounty inside and extends an open invitation for passersby to enjoy a summer berry and perhaps, strike up a conversation with the gardeners. Strategic Setback: Sometimes, it's not just what you plant but where you place it. Many gardens push their fences to the very edge to maximize space. However, setting the fence back even just a bit can create a welcoming 'front yard' effect. This space can serve as a mini public square, offering benches, a spot for food sharing, or a communal herb garden with mint or rosemary for anyone to harvest. By reimagining how we delineate our garden spaces, we can foster a sense of openness and community while still protecting the fruits of our labor. Try setting the fence back. It’s a simple trick that creates a welcoming front yard vibe, offering space for food sharing, seating, or public herb gardens. 2. Crafting the Welcome Artful Entrances: The entrance should be a testament to the garden's ethos, inviting curiosity and interaction. An attractive sign or archway that captures the essence of the garden can intrigue and draw in visitors, setting the tone for the experience within. Informative Displays: Clarity invites participation. A well-designed welcome area should offer essential information at a glance – opening hours, contact details, and upcoming events. This openness not only encourages community involvement but also integrates the garden into the rhythm of neighborhood life. Neighborhood Signage and Wayfinding: Effective wayfinding ensures that the garden is a community fixture, not a hidden secret. Signs placed throughout the neighborhood can guide residents and visitors to this verdant haven, making it an accessible destination for all. Consider maps, directional arrows, and even digital markers for those using smartphones to navigate. 3. Programming and Open House: Cultivating Community Through Activity Urban gardens are more than plots of land for cultivation; they are vibrant community centers that offer a remedy to the mental health crises and isolation prevalent in today's society. To truly flourish, these spaces must provide a variety of reasons for people to gather, connect, and engage beyond the care of their garden beds. Wellness and Recreation: Activities like yoga, including popular variations such as goat yoga, invite people to unwind and connect in the serenity of nature. These sessions offer a dual benefit: promoting physical health and creating a communal rhythm that resonates through the garden. Direct Engagement with Nature: Initiatives like 'U-Pick' events and farm stands do more than just provide fresh produce; they invite hands-on interaction with the garden's bounty. This direct engagement is a tangible way for community members to support the garden's sustainability while enjoying the fruits of their labor. Community Exchanges: Our 'Crop Swap' program is a testament to the power of sharing. Over eight years, participants have exchanged over 14 tons of produce, seeds, and gardening insights, fostering a rich tapestry of communal knowledge and culinary diversity. Open Hours and Amenities: By opening the garden for regular visiting hours, offering volunteer opportunities, or simply providing a space where one can work remotely with the added benefit of free Wi-Fi and garden-grown herbal tea. Mixing uses by adding a mobile book shops or flower store, can transform these green spaces into hubs of community life. In essence, gardens are not just about cultivating food; they're about cultivating community. PlacemakingUS recognizes the profound potential that lies in each urban agriculture site. Through our dedicated efforts, we visit and assist gardens in realizing their fullest capabilities, transforming them into vibrant, communal spaces that extend far beyond the confines of cultivation. We are committed to collaborating with local food communities, bringing the wisdom and practices of placemaking to these essential urban spaces. Our work is more than a passion—it's a critical step toward a more sustainable society. By enhancing these gardens, we contribute to carbon sequestration, reduce food miles, and strengthen the fabric of our communities, creating spaces of social cohesion and comfort. Aligning with the universal principles for sustainable development advocated by UN-Habitat, we believe in nurturing spaces that foster a deeper connection to our environment and each other. We invite you to join us in this transformative journey, reshaping our urban landscapes into thriving, sustainable, and inclusive communities. Article and Photos by Ryan Smolar, Co-Director, PlacemakingUS
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Placemaking, a term with noble intentions in the realm of urban development and community-building, is at risk of losing its true essence. As we grapple with the ambiguity surrounding this concept, there is a pressing need to define placemaking and defend it. Without a clear definition or underpinning principles, the term becomes vulnerable to distortion, manipulation, and misappropriation by commercial and political entities and the uninformed. In this article, we delve into the critical importance of upholding what we mean by the word, 'placemaking' and the consequences of allowing the term to be used willy-nilly. A Most Meaningless Word Recently, an article in Dezeen created ripples within our placemaking community with its deliberately provocative headline: "I have a confession to make: I have no idea what placemaking is." The piece aimed to make a stir and ignite debate, cited the ambiguous language often used to describe the multi-faceted subject by quoting at length from Project for Public Space's lofty explanations of the concept. Unfortunately, the fine-buttered words and finessed phrases from their website do seem to paint placemaking as a panacea that sounds suspiciously like the snake oil salesman's remedy for cities. In response to the grenade Dezeen threw into the room, the co-director of Placemaking Europe penned a response entitled, "I have a confession to make: I don’t care what placemaking exactly is." His article argues that delving into semantics is a futile endeavor when placemaking appears to be an overarching term encompassing individual, positive actions aimed at enhancing our urban spaces. While, in my heart, I'm inclined to agree, this philosophical stance raises concerns—especially for a group that recently brought together 500 placemaking practitioners and eager learners, providing them with content that sought to define placemaking through speeches and interactive workshops. A precarious panel on placemaking at Placemaking Week Europe 2023 in Strausborg, France. The Dangers of (Mis)Defining Placemaking At the Placemaking Week Europe event last month, I found myself stunned at what was being described as placemaking from their main stage. During a talk entitled, Place-Led Development - People, place, and profits. Can they be united? an elderly woman of color named Juanita Hardy, who is the Senior Visiting Fellow for Creative Placemaking for Urban Land Institute, had this to say: "Placemaking started in the United States in the 1920s when a developer in Kansas City built a successful shopping mall 4 miles from the downtown heart." Besides what sounds obviously wrong with that statement, I knew as one of the few Americans in the room who's been to Kansas City several times that she was referring to County Club Plaza and its creator, JC Nichols. While Country Club Plaza is a charming piece of faux urbanism with a mix of automobile access, walkability, and even great programming, this project is more notably the development where suburban racial segregation took root in America. A recent article in Slate called, "The Made Who Made the Suburbs White" more accurately describes the Country Club District, not for its placemaking principles but for its pioneering of the use of racial covenants: not allowing minorities to rent or buy in the district. The Country Club's "protected" district was a progenitor of the racially-segregated suburbs. Photo courtesy of The State Historical Society of Missouri To quote the Slate article at length: "In the 1930s, the Nichols Way received a boost from the federal government...To Kevin Fox Gotham, a professor of sociology at Tulane University and author of Race, Real Estate, and Uneven Development, it seemed as if the Federal Housing Authority had “adopted [Nichols’] methods and practices almost verbatim.” This means there is a strong connection between the racial covenants that JC Nichols pioneered with the federal practice known as redlining, which segregated and destroyed black neighborhoods across the country. JC Nichols should be remembered as the father of racial strife, white flight, and our national inequities, but not the father of placemaking without the caveats that we now have federal laws like the Community Reinvestment Act and Fair Housing Act to protect people who look like Juanita and me against the ideas and actions of men like him. The Line is a futuristic, 'sustainable' megacity project in Saudi Arabia that aims to create a 170-kilometer-long, car-free urban development in the desert. The project has produced a mini-series calling the architects, planners and futurists associated with the plop project as "The Line's Placemakers." Letting Commercial Interests and Professionals Define Placemaking In 2021, PlacemakingUS was approached by Ph.D.'s at the research department of a global architecture firm asking us to endorse a report they made to educate their 1,000 employees on "The Subtle Art of Placemaking." But after reading it, I had to write them a pointed rebuke that their report should rather be called "The Subtle Art of Placebaking," i.e. taking the ingredients of placemaking and utilizing them in a measured, professional and controlled way to bake a pre-packaged "place cake." Notably because their guide lacked any mention of co-design or community participation, failed to explore the use of the temporary to inform permanent solutions, neglected discussions of sustainability and equity, and omitted fundamental concepts like the mixing of uses. Another group, the International Downtown Association (IDA), has recently become an accrediting organization. They have introduced the suffix "LPM" to designate "Leadership in Place Management" to those bold enough to pass a 100-question multiple choice test. One of the core domains of knowledge for this accreditation is about placemaking expertise. While the information promoted by IDA maintains high quality and is crowd-sourced, it is primarily driven by the commercial interests of individuals representing business and property owners. I've encountered numerous business improvement districts (BIDS) whose idea of placemaking is constructing outdoor ice skating rinks in arid and subtropical regions of the United States. While these novel gimmicks inject fun and vitality into cities, they often disregard the fundamental principles of sustainability, including water use, energy consumption, non-renewable materials, and transportation costs on the environment. These projects reveal the trend that BID placemakers are often just re-branded marketing/events staff whose motivations are to follow trends and attract customers, rather than to ensure that the city remains accessible for everyone to contribute creatively. Kady Yellow, a distinguished practitioner, bucks this trend by demonstrating that a BID-embedded placemaker can serve as a powerful catalyst for driving systemic change and amplifying diverse voices. Through her roles as the Director of Creative Placemaking in both Flint, Michigan, and Jacksonville, Florida, she has illuminated the transformative potential of resident-led placemaking programs within business districts. Her initiatives not only educate the community about their role as placemakers but also provide essential funding and leverage the BID's unique privileges, granting access to permits, spaces, and relationships for collaborative city-building. Similarly, Richard Amore at the Vermont State Department of Commerce worked with his state legislature to create crowd-matched funds to make community-led and supported placemaking initiatives more accessible through the a 2:1 match of local funds raised for their own ideas to make their communities into Better Places. A business improvement district building a temporary, outdoor ice skating rink in sunny Southern California as a "placemaking" project. This wood was cut just for the project, but boosters say it will be re-used for 5 winters. To Define AND Defend Ethan Kent, leader of our PlacemakingX global networks, often upholds the ooey-gooey consistency of the made-up word placemaking saying there's great power in letting people define placemaking for themselves and the plasticity of the definition lends to the field's necessary adaptability. As an idealist, I agree, but the realist side of me recognizes that as we let placemaking blow in the wind, other interests are defining it and giving it a bad name such that many low-status communities now prefer the term placekeeping, that is keeping the so-called placemakers away so that the neighborhood can continue to exist without cultural and physical displacement. This issue takes many forms, as even our sister network, Placemaking Collective UK, is considering changing their name to be called the Place Collective UK, due to the perceived 'wonkiness' of our term. They were advised to keep placemaking in their name, yet another network, Peacemakers Pakistan, has struck a unique balance by alluding to placemaking while adapting their name to the most relevant challenges and opportunities of their context. A good example of the need to define and defend placemaking can be illustrated by the National Endowment for the Arts-funded white paper "Creative Placemaking" published by Ann Markusen and Anne Gadwa in 2010, which set the stage: "In creative placemaking, partners from public, private, non-profit, and community sectors strategically shape the physical and social character of a neighborhood, town, city, or region around arts and cultural activities. Creative placemaking animates public and private spaces, rejuvenates structures and streetscapes, improves local business viability and public safety, and brings diverse people together to celebrate, inspire, and be inspired." This report, which has been cited nearly 700 times in further works, helped define that field and resulted in over a hundred million dollars of investment into that subset of placemaking. Effectively to this day, you're more likely to search for the phrase 'creative placemaking' than just 'placemaking' according to research shared at Placemaking Week Europe. Even so, I visited Denmark's national center for design last year and learned their definition of creative placemaking was limited to the adaptive reuse of industrial space for creative industries. Hmmm...I would categorize that as adaptive reuse within the realm of the creative economy, but it is nowhere near encompassing what creative placemaking is about or why it's essential for society and public spaces. The Danish Design Center is not only teaching design for cities in Denmark, but is promoting their approach to leaders of cities and countries all over the world. We have to make sure we're visiting institutions and events promoting placemaking to ensure they're connected to the canon of knowledge that they're eagerly espousing. Graphic recording of the shared definition of placemaking at the 2023 Placemaking Week Europe conference. The Middle Road Forward: Balancing Education, Contribution and Innovation So, how do we define placemaking? Well, there are many shoulders to stand on, and a multitude of sources have contributed to our understanding. We have the insights of Jane Jacobs, the work of William H. Whyte and the Project for Public Spaces, the enlightening Social Life Project blogs, the empowering concept of the Right to the City, the global significance of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals and New Urban Agenda, Mike Lydon and Tony Garcia's illuminating book Tactical Urbanism, the equity frameworks championed by Mindy Fullilove, Majora Carter, and Blackspace, the refinements on architecture by Christopher Alexander and Jan Gehl, the community-building concepts of John McKnight and Peter Block, the health-oriented social infrastructure explored by Donald Appleyard and Erick Klinenberg, and countless other sources that have provided a solid foundation for our understanding. In fact, we've recently started compiling a list of books on placemaking for an American Placemaking Library and have already amassed over 100 titles spanning economics to urban planning, all of which contribute to the rich tapestry of ideas that shape the concept of place and placemaking. Our task is to ensure that we promote the "first principles" of placemaking and maintain an ongoing dialogue to evaluate and question what placemaking means, both on a global scale and within local contexts. As part of the PlacemakingUS network, we commit ourselves to learning and sharing the best and most useful knowledge we encounter with local practitioners throughout the country. We achieve this by engaging in visits, learning programs, and by actively participating in discussions wherever we're welcomed. We seek the support of our local partners, funders, and like-minded firms who share our belief in the wisdom of Jane Jacobs: "Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody, only because, and only when, they are created by everybody." In an era where placemaking is at the forefront of urban development discussions, it is imperative that we do not leave its definition to chance. Failing to define placemaking, even to some degree, leaves it vulnerable to distortion and exploitation by those who may not have the best interests of our communities at heart. Let us remember that clarity in our understanding of placemaking is not just an intellectual exercise; it's a safeguard for the future well-being of our neighborhoods and cities. Op-ed by Ryan Smolar
Initiator, PlacemakingUS In New York, urban street life outside your studio apartment is crucial. It’s a vital source of social connection. New to the city, I went for many walks with my dog, Arlow, and discovered that each block has a specific personality: maybe funky, stuffy or infuriating (hello, Time's Square). Neighborhoods are expressed in their architecture, the green spaces, the types of shops and eateries which draw an ever-changing flow of pedestrian traffic. Covid brought the additional element of outdoor dining to the mix. Existing and struggling restaurants expanded into the street with outdoor dining options. Not only did these structures occupy more space but offered an expansion of the public place. They changed urban street life and how we responded to our cityscape. This bond between people and place, called topophilia, is formed through human perception and experience when we are exposed to places. As I write to you today, I want you to examine your own experience with topophilia. Topophilia is not confined to a single city. So as you read, and then go about your day, I encourage you to take a more active role in fostering your connection with your city. Every city has its own charm. Your involvement can make a significant difference in creating a more vibrant and successful street life. According to Yi-Fu Tuan (geographer and writer who popularized Topophilia) a place is a physical area that encourages “stopping, resting and becoming involved.” When I walk through a sidewalk cafe, even though I have not ordered an appetizer or a drink, I interact, even in passing, with restaurant workers and diners. I create meaning in a more complex way for myself, as well as the patrons and servers. My fleeting presence contributes to the general atmosphere of the outdoor cafe or bar. Remaining open to spontaneous conversations with people enjoying their meals in outdoor dining spaces can not only deepen your connection with your community, but also with your street; insights into what makes these spaces unique to where you are. Outdoor dining has also left us with diverse temporary structures that need to be creative to maximize space and to be welcoming and attractive for patrons and passersby. (Passersby may be converted into patrons by having positive experiences with the outdoor structures, which is also economically beneficial for your community!). As you walk through your city, think about how people spend time in these semi-improvised buildings and move around and through them. Or is this a case of place versus space? Commuters, taxis drivers and delivery trucks complain that outdoor dining sheds took over spaces for parking and servicing the city, and replaced them with public places--perhaps only for the benefit of the restaurants. Congestion builds. Horns honk. Some outdoor dining structures are abandoned, decay and fall apart. How do we find the right balance? In ‘The Creative City: Foundations of the Creative City’, Landry calls public spaces in cities ‘neutral territory’ and considers how they generate creative ideas. He argues that places where people feel simultaneously comfortable, stimulated and challenged can be a great resource. These kinds of spaces generate creativity and change. Sidewalk cafes now offer New Yorkers more time in “key locations for the public realm.” New York streets become our collective third place, offering the widest range of serendipitous, and perhaps unpredictable, interactions between many different types of people. Sidewalks are now liminal spaces between establishments that are defined by brick walls and glass windows to their more visually and physically open structures. This is part of what makes us love New York, if you’re looking at the city as a placemaker that is. Where our ‘first place’ is our studio apartment, our ‘second place’ is our work, and now our ‘third place’ may be re-imagined to include an expanded version of our favorite eateries. But these may only be there for a moment. Sometimes these structures go up and are torn down within the blink of an eye. Post Covid, restaurants petitioned for open space infrastructure (see my previous article ‘Concrete to Cafes: The Evolution of Public Space in NYC’). Let the experience of Topophilia inspire you and let that enthusiasm circulate to those around you. Look for opportunities to be involved in signing petitions, or in writing letters of appreciation to city officials who played a role in your city’s open street program or in outdoor dining structures that you see make a positive impact. Jeff Siegler, author of ‘Your City is Sick’ comments, “Cities are not outcome oriented, but process-driven. Even when there is a clear consensus on what people want, there is truly no way to achieve it if we continue working through the current process a municipality has in place.” Allow your topophilia to change the way in which you appreciate and interact with your surroundings, granting it license to spark creativity and become a part of the process itself. Grab your camera or smartphone and head out to capture the essence of your town or city. Take pictures that showcase the unique character of different neighborhoods, the people, the architecture, the green spaces, and of course, the street dining experiences. Share these images on social media using a dedicated hashtag for your city, allowing others to appreciate the beauty and diversity of your urban environment. Embrace topophilia and let it inspire you to be an advocate for your community's thriving urban spaces.
Before COVID, New York City restaurants, often long and narrow, would occupy the base of a tenement building, their designs leaning into the cozy or crowded nature of an evening dining out in New York. When COVID restrictions began, a restaurant which could typically accommodate 40 diners, now had its occupancy dramatically cut down to 10. A saving grace for many; outdoor dining structures, would expand into lanes of traffic, allowing for an additional 16-20 patrons, depending on the size of their business frontage. This successfully spread people out, however now they were exposed to the busy street life, with traffic on one side and pedestrians on the other. We know that this change was made to prioritize safety during this public health crisis, but how would restaurants adapt long term? They would need to be creative to extend their ambiance out of their interior space, and incorporate their dynamic neighborhood around them. How would this change the nature of public space when it comes to outdoor dining structures? Something we’ll touch on in later blogs is the potential for a “greening” of New York City. I’d argue sidewalk cafes are an important first step here. When you approach an outdoor dining structure, perhaps you’re considering the durability, how protected you’ll be from the traffic or weather. But if you appreciate art and design you might also be considering its artistic contribution to the city. I encourage you to really take them in when in passing, or while dining. Consider their unique design, function, connection to their surrounding community. But we have to keep in mind that the outdoor dining structures we are enjoying today in 2023, have been rapidly developed from the first iteration in 2020. With the need well established, tactical urbanism took place to start them off, that being; low-cost, temporary interventions that really quickly transformed the public space of our streets and sidewalks. In July 2020, NYC released guidelines for expanding dining onto the streets - ‘NYC sidewalk cafes’. The pandemic in this context really exemplified how the use of space is constantly evolving. The goal of NY’s Open Restaurant program is; “an effort to implement a citywide multi-phase program to expand outdoor seating options for food establishments to promote open space, enhance social distancing, and help them rebound in these difficult economic times.” - DOT, N. Y. C. Restaurants had two options here: individual establishments could apply and use their sidewalk or curb lane adjacent to their business, or they could become part of an open street. An open street is a temporary full closure that beautifully has to be community based. A group of three or more restaurants on a single block can apply to temporarily close traffic all together. It’s an interesting time now in 2023, where we can see the sidewalk cafes and their impact on the urban landscape with some hindsight and perspective. The success of outdoor dining encouraged the city to create more permanent structures. Some questions to ask in evaluating the wide range of outdoor dining include: How durable are their wind barriers, their carpentry, heaters for the colder months or even choice of lighting? For many establishments across Manhattan, you can perceive the permanence of their structures upon first glance. Sidewalk cafes were first built in quick and effective ways to define a space. Looking to space out diners over 6 feet apart, while allowing ADA* access, quick constructions could take many forms. Most using construction palettes, tent like structures, and repurposed hardware. The diner's proximity to cars raised an important design question; how to ensure safety for diners while aesthetically aligning with its corresponding restaurant. As this design question was asked, designers and artists answered. Overcoming obstacles of function, resulted in creative design, public art and ultimately placemaking through the creation of these structures. The first iterations of sidewalk cafes were defined by function, but have since evolved and will continue to, thanks to artists, designers and placemakers. Sidewalk cafes as a whole have changed the way in which New Yorkers operate within their city. In such a pedestrian friendly city like New York we can see how important thoughtful public space design can be. However, the balance between creating these spaces, as placemakers ourselves, while maintaining the necessary processes that are required within the urban landscape will require innovation and collaboration. Something that excites me as I consider the possibilities for creative problem solving. How can we use this as a jumping off point to demonstrate the potential for greening cities and reorganizing the space we currently have? The unique circumstances around the emergence of sidewalk dining in NY created conditions where new interventions were being made bringing placemaking even further into the forefront of the conversation when we look at the future of our cities.
So many of Southern California’s city and suburban parks boast picturesque views, yet their poor access, amenities and vast underutilization perpetuates a peculiar paradox. Only a week after spending an eye opening Placemaking Weekend in New York City, the stark contrast related to parks in my California city have become painfully evident to me. While many people understand, especially due to COVID, that within dense urban spaces, public parks are vital life-giving contributions. The understanding that parks contribute not only to the well-being and quality of life, but also to mental health is important. Parks offer a connection with nature, overcoming social isolation, acceptance toward building social life in public spaces as was well described in the New York Times article Where We Are by Pierre-Antoine Louis. However, in California the regular issue of inequality in access, amenities and underutilization in public city parks is really shocking. The issue is widely exacerbated by my state’s grossly over developed infrastructure that continues to perpetuate car culture as its god. In the land of never-ending highways and traffic snarls, the very idea of strolling to a city park in many California cities instead seems like a whimsical fantasy. California's car culture continues to reign supreme, its roads crafted with an audacious ambition that defies reason. Pedestrians and “utility cyclists” or what are known as “commuter cyclists” are harshly judged in California as mere socio-economically challenged side characters in California’s theatrical production of public space access, many of which are unhoused. Those in low-status communities are regularly forced to navigate labyrinthine streets, with no crosswalks, that prioritize the almighty automobile. Moreover, many of these communities have high statistical deaths related to walking and bike riding. California's car-oriented infrastructure exacerbates the problem of inequitable access to parks. As demonstrated in the television series "Portlandia," which humorously critiques California's traffic culture, the dominance of car-centric planning and infrastructure creates barriers to accessing parks for communities relying on public transportation or active modes of transport. This perpetuates social isolation and restricts opportunities not only for marginalized but all communities to engage with nature and enjoy the benefits of green spaces. Now contrast this to pedestrian rich, walkable New York City, where parks beckon from every corner, inviting residents of all races, classes and visitors alike to partake in the vibrant tapestry of urban life. In the land of sunshine, palm trees and beaches one would expect an abundance of parks accessible to all. Yet, the reality is more akin to a twisted game of hide-and-seek. California seems to have a knack for segregating parks along racial lines. It's as if the trees and grass themselves hold a membership card. While affluent neighborhoods in California flaunt their green spaces like status symbols, low-status communities are left longing for more public parks, its nature as respite from overcrowded and impacted neighborhoods and basically a breath of fresh air. It's as if the powers-that-be have declared amenity rich parks a privilege reserved only for the chosen few, leaving the rest of us to wander aimlessly through hot, sun soaked sprawling concrete deserts. It seems to be the wisdom of City Parks and Recreation, that “Parks are for no one." Why bother with vibrant, lively parks filled with people enjoying nature and engaging in recreational activities when we can have empty, desolate spaces that serve as a testament to our commitment to solitude and social isolation? In Orange County some examples include: Fullerton's Gillman Park described on reddit as one of the most underutilized parks in the city. Another is Frontier Park in the city of Tustin which even designates it as "not busy" online. Yes, California cities are littered with these kinds of green spaces, forget about the concept of community and social interaction. Who needs that when we can implement defensive design strategies to deter people from actually using the parks? Let's scatter uncomfortable benches or, better yet, eliminate seating altogether. After all, we wouldn't want anyone to get too comfortable and actually spend time in these supposedly public spaces. And why stop there? Let's install fences, gates, and barriers to make it abundantly clear that these parks are off-limits to anyone seeking leisure or enjoyment. Birch Park in Downtown Santa Ana is a great example of a space like this filled with defensive designs such as no bathroom, no benches and a gate around the park. Perhaps we can even add some intimidating signage that warns people to stay away, or police vehicles driving through the park ensuring that the message of exclusion is loud and clear. Oh, and let's not forget the brilliant idea of implementing hostile architecture (described here by journalist Jonny Coleman in LAist). Those pesky skateboarders and homeless individuals might dare to use the park for their activities, so let's install those uncomfortable spikes, armrests, and uneven surfaces to make it virtually impossible for anyone to find solace or comfort within the park's boundaries. Because, really, who needs a thriving, inclusive community when we can have parks that are void of life and energy? Who needs the laughter of children, the sight of families enjoying a picnic, or the simple pleasure of a leisurely stroll when we can maintain the sterile, unwelcoming atmosphere that perfectly aligns with our vision of a park-free utopia? So, let us embrace the genius strategy of City Parks and Recreation, where the motto is clear: "No one is welcome, and we'd prefer it that way." After all, who needs vibrant parks that bring people together when we can have empty, soulless spaces that serve as a constant reminder of our disdain for human presence. California's public parks, with their unequal distribution and car-centric infrastructure, embody a tale of absurdity. It is imperative that we challenge the status quo, prioritizing equity in park planning, community involvement, and active transportation infrastructure. Let us reimagine a California where parks become symbols of inclusivity, nurturing the well-being and connectedness of all residents, regardless of their socioeconomic background or cultural identity. Limited access to parks means limited opportunities for communal gatherings and shared experiences. While New Yorkers revel in the vibrancy of Central Park, Bryant Park or the High Line, where every corner bustles with life and laughter, Californians are left to ponder the irony of their sun-soaked but desolate recreational spaces. The social isolation experienced by many becomes a stark reminder of the missed connections and lost opportunities for community engagement. Madeleine Spencer is the Co-Director of PlacemakingUS and is working towards building social life within public spaces, with emphasis on equity and inclusion. This article is meant to make visible the need for placemaking in California city parks where the co-production of public space with community in parks would including everything from regular community programming, entrepreneurial opportunities through kiosks, public restroom access, movable seating, better lighting and the production of intentional kid friendly spaces, while at the same time alleviating the currently burdensome permitting processes and defensive design tactics used to control the currently derelict spaces. This article is meant to make evident the need for policy changes in the current management of parks within the state of California. Photos by Ryan Smolar and Denise Reynoso
PlacemakingUS, in partnership with CNU Southwest Chapter and The CityBuilding Express (CBX), is excited to announce a grand tour for New Urbanists and placemakers from Washington DC to Charlotte, showcasing 300 years of exemplary developments. The tour will take place from May 28-30, offering attendees a unique opportunity to explore different development types, architectural styles, policy frameworks, New Urbanist and placemaking strategies, and social issues impacting our cities and towns. From adaptive reuse to sustainable development, attendees will visit a range of communities and developments, from college campuses to mixed-use developments, brownfields, and greenfields. Here are five reasons why placemakers won't want to miss this journey: 1. Learn from local experts and leading practitioners who will share their knowledge and insights about each project as we journey 700 miles of roadway. 2. Explore a diverse range of development types and their unique challenges, gaining a comprehensive understanding of how policy, design, place and past intersect in three states and the federal district. 3. Appreciate the wide range of architectural styles and designs that define our urban landscapes, from Neoclassical to Modern, Gothic to Colonial, and Landscape Design and Transportation Design to New Urbanist. 4. Dive into social issues that affect our communities, such as equity/justice, climate change, systemic racism, and democracy/inclusion, and learn about different strategies that have been used to implement new practices and approaches. 5. Network with community leaders, policymakers, architects, planners, and developers from across the country, building valuable connections and exchanging ideas and best practices. Participation in the tour costs range from $795 for single occupancy and $595 for double occupancy including two nights of hotel accommodations, three lunches, bus transportation, snacks, and shwag. Learn more at citybuildingexchange.com.
Story by Ryan Smolar In her classic tome, The Death and Life of Great American Cities, Jane Jacobs eloquently advocated for the importance of sidewalks when she wrote, "Lowly, unpurposeful, and random as they appear, sidewalk contacts are the small change from which a city's wealth of public life must grow." More recently, The Social Life Project, has also recognized the importance of sidewalks, identifying them as one of their critical 11 strategies for creating lively and connected places that promote commerce and community. During my recent travels to various countries, I had the opportunity to experience and document the state of sidewalks and their impact on street life and sense of place. While I did see some positive examples, overall, I was struck by the inadequate and often unsafe conditions that can stifle street life, not only by reducing walkability, but also by causing fatalities due to the neglect of pedestrian needs. In this article, I will compare, contrast and learn from the world beneath my feet. IndiaCrossing the street in India is a colorful experience whether you're in Mumbai, Mangalore or Bangalore. During Placemaking Week India, I visited multiple cities and rural areas, and Ethan Kent of PlacemakingX, cleverly observed that a national campaign for sidewalks would greatly benefit the entire country. Indian placemakers repeatedly highlighted the dangers of road traffic and the attitude that if a pedestrian is injured or killed on the roadways, it is considered their own fault. This issue hit close to home when I learned that one of the event producers of Placemaking Week India, Prahtima Manohar, had lost her own cousin in a roadway accident. Despite the often chaotic nature of Indian streets, one positive aspect is the presence of street-side markets offering fresh fruits, vegetables, and beautiful flower arrangements, as well as the mandala art often found on the ground around temples, which helps create special spaces despite the dangers. Manila, PhillipinesIf sidewalk obstructions were an Olympic sport, Manila would bring home the gold. I never met a street tree I didn't like. Until I met these ones. Cars rule the roads in Manila where new streets lock pedestrians out and force them into underground corridors. What goes down must come up. Pedestrians and cyclists are forced into subterranean hallways in Makata. These slums have eschewed sidewalks in favor of shared streets that are incredibly social, lively places. The sidewalks in Manila exist, but they are so bad, that they seem like a cruel joke at the expense of the ambling citizens of one of the most populous cities of the world. The footpaths are often narrow strips that are comically interrupted by overgrown trees, redundant electric poles, piles of dirt, and the occasional side hustle. Street level crossings in the business district are gated off, forcing pedestrians to use elevated crossings or subterranean tunnels in favor of highway speed vehicular prioritization. Philippine placemakers told us that when they advocate for politicians to prioritize walking and biking infrastructure, they often hear the argument that this type of infrastructure is unnecessary because it takes too long to get around on foot. However, as the placemakers point out, this transportation method would be quicker if it were properly prioritized, creating a vicious cycle of circular logic. Despite the lack of comfortable sidewalks, Manila does invest in floating walkways and ones buried beneath the earth, which may move people around but on monotonous paths that do not contribute to ground-floor vibrancy. On the other hand, when you venture out of the urban core into a neighborhood like Punta Santa Ana, you find that the lack of sidewalks leads people to spread out into all parts of the street, creating an almost closed-off street party feel with people doing karaoke and greeting friends and strangers alike with warm affectations. Drivers move slowly and will honk at you to warn of their presence, and it's just a fun and lively place to be where anything seems possible. SingaporeThese cramped and narrow sidewalks in Singapore are a claustrophobic's nightmare (i.e. Me!). Of all the neighborhoods in Singapore, Little India demands more attention to create more comfortable public spaces. On the plus side: Singapore's covered sidewalks are a joy in sun and rain. Their many park pathways are pure bliss. Haji Lane is delectably right-sized: a pedestrian street dual-lined with restaurants, bars and cafes is a daily street party. Singapore is a wonderful place to walk around, especially in the classic neighborhoods like Tajong Pagar, Chinatown, and Little India, but one issue is the sidewalks are not wide enough to handle the amount of foot traffic. Many of them are covered with colonnade overhangs, an elegantly functional remnant of heritage shophouse architecture, but which makes your walk interrupted by uneven surfaces, as you may have to step down or up unexpectedly, or encounter awkward ramps. In Little India, people use the sidewalks more than any place in the city: people are sitting everywhere, meeting with friends, taking their shoes off and contemplating the jam between their toes, it's like they're at a beach resort sitting on cabanas, but without any accommodations except for their own square inch of pavement from which to perch. This sidewalk scuffle seems particularly egregious seeing as Singapore is one of the best case studies for vehicular congestion pricing. Because their nation adopted forward-thinking urban design principles before car ownership had taken hold, they were able to curtail car dominance through a hefty registration fee that prohibits most from driving in favor of other forms of transportation. This creates the unique and bizarre pedestrian experience of you looking out to a multi-lane road and seeing virtually no car traffic, but then looking at the tiny strip of sidewalk and seeing bodies bumper to bumper and absolutely frustrated. On the flip side, Singapore also does some really wonderful things with sidewalks that should be recognized. I love their covered walkways which make it easier to go the distance in both rain and extreme sunny conditions. These seem to congregate around transportation as well which make them a good use of resources. Also, Singapore has created awesome walkways along the Singapore river. A walk along its banks will lead you to multiple commercial and heritage adaptive reutilizations of their historic river quays, and further upstream you find yourself in recreational forests that seamlessly act as permeable rain catchment systems to sustain the city's water supply. London, UKFinally, a refreshing change of pace. The streets in the center of London are a storybook amusement to walk along. You might encounter a vibrant pedestrian square like the fabled Covent Garden area, which is an entire area purged of cars by attractive, antique pushcarts teeming with horticultural displays. The walk along the banks of the Thames Riverfront is an uninterrupted delight (minus the detour you have to take behind the MI-6 spy headquarters), with deja-vu views of some of the world's most familiar buildings. Architecturally distinct bridges criss-cross the meandering waterway, well-utilized public spaces filled with pop-up markets and temporary art installations buttress your path, and there's even a punctual ferry service powered by Uber to use when your feet start to ache. Unfortunately, this area is quite expensive, luxury-driven and still owned by royal families and the literal aristocracy, but there's something to glean here from the sound proportions and giddy feelings of all the paserrbys. San Juan, Costa RicaPlacemakers working to implement the World Health Organization's Age-friendly Cities Framework in San Juan, Costa Rica's capital, shared their concerns about the status of their sidewalks. According to locals, the policy in place means that each property owner is responsible for maintaining the section of sidewalk in front of their property. While one could optimistically hope this would lead to creative solutions and a pride of ownership, it instead results in a patchwork of inconsistent materials, grades, and conditions, making walking a challenging and uncomfortable experience for many, particularly for the elderly community. JapanJapan is known for its excellent food, trains, and courteous culture, but when it comes to sidewalks, they are falling short these days. During my visit, I noticed a significant increase in the use of bicycles since I was here just before the pandemic. This is great to see, however, Japanese bicyclists are encouraged to ride on the sidewalks, which can make walking a chaotic and dangerous experience. As you're walking down the sidewalk, bicyclists unexpectedly appear, weaving in and out of pedestrians, leaving them spinning in their wake. At night, their bright lights shine in your face, making it difficult to see. It's obvious that Japan is at a critical juncture where the demand for cycling illustrates that it is ready to become a cycling culture like Amsterdam or Copenhagen, but ridership will likely not grow without addressing this backwards approach to placing cyclists and pedestrians at odds. Lessons from the RoadI hope you enjoyed this brief trip around the world. I think it illustrates the universal role sidewalks play in the livability and vitality of a city and how regions can be strong in some aspects of delivering great sidewalks, and weak in others. Here's a few tips from the observations made through this journey:
In conclusion, the importance of sidewalks in cities cannot be overstated. From the bustling streets of India to the patchwork sidewalks of San Juan, it is clear that sidewalks play a vital role in the livability and connectness of a community. Adequate size, maintenance and consistency, comfort, and accessibility are all key factors in creating safe and enjoyable sidewalks for everyone. Furthermore, incorporating unique features such as street level crossings, sidewalk marketplaces, and shared roadways can enhance the overall experience and create a sense of community. I'll see you on the sidewalk. Story and Photos by Ryan Smolar.
The Khmer Rouge genocide caused a mass refugee exodus out of Cambodia that made Long Beach, California home to the largest number of Cambodian people outside of their home country. This underserved diaspora living in central Long Beach is emerging into a thriving neighborhood and business community despite having to fight for access to resources and for environmental, political, linguistic, and economic inclusion. At the heart of the district is The MAYE Center, a unique culture and healing center housed in a 100-year old carpenter-style bungalow on a very busy commercial corridor, making it a sort of open house for trauma-informed community health and healing. Before COVID-19, this sanctuary provided a social space, yoga and meditation, on-site farm and gardens, meal-sharing, and even acted as a small business incubator. Since COVID-19, many of the in-house activities have been curtailed and the MAYE Center has received funding to provide healthy meals for free to neighbors, which they provide partially in the form of gift cards to local businesses to help keep the fragile ecosystem of community markets and restaurants intact. An unexpected lifeline came in the Spring of 2020 as California’s counties and cities began relaxing policies towards outdoor dining and allowing for parking spaces, streets and pedestrian right-of-ways to be converted into safe, outdoor public spaces. In Long Beach, the Open Streets Initiative was launched “to temporarily transform public areas, including sidewalks, on-street parking, parking lots, plazas, and promenades, into safe spaces for physically distanced activity.” Like many similar programs across the state, this successful strategy began benefitting downtown and shorefront business districts, while other parts of town were slow to build outdoor spaces or even consider the benefits such an approach could provide local businesses, community organizations, or those they serve. Long Beach Fresh, the city’s food policy council and CAFPC member, brought in Placemaking US, an organization whose “United Streets of America ‘’ program was working to help equalize access to new outdoor opportunities for non-profit organizations, BIPOC led initiatives, and independent small businesses. The MAYE Center jumped at the opportunity to work on a “healthy flex zone parklet” area along the side of their property which was co-designed with them as a multi-purpose space for food distributions, community meetings and performances as well as a passive space for community gathering and even napping in hammocks. The concepts delivered by architect, Tina Govan, and the MAYE’s agricultural designer, David Hedden, were permitted by the City of Long Beach and the project launched as a Cambodian “Marklet” with a micro-enterprise Cambodian BBQ, juice press, and a street clothing company popping up in addition to free food being donated to the community. This food and place-based project continues to pop-up when local guidelines allow and it is a finalist for several forms of funding to be completed as a more permanent extension of the MAYE Center’s mission to “to help those in our community to cultivate self-healing, resiliency, and wellness through proven, culturally sensitive, and environmentally healthy means” in the community which it serves. After our experience in Long Beach, we argue for the continued openness of authorities to allow for alternative uses of the streets as pioneered by outdoor dining in the pandemic. However, equitable opportunities need to be made accessible for community uses like allowing the MAYE Center to inexpensively and effectively create a flexible outdoor environment. These spaces increase purposeful engagement with the neighborhood and create a healthy “third space” for the community to gather, connect, and build resilience.
We believe the 2020 roll-out of the relaxation of the public-right-of-way has been unequally skewed towards restaurants, especially those in privileged areas with walkable streets and business improvement districts. We hope future legislation and programs will acknowledge the necessary funding, technical assistance, community outreach, and equity of access for a diversity of neighborhoods, local marketplaces, micro-enterprises and vendors, nonprofits, and disadvantaged businesses. Food Policy Councils like Long Beach Fresh and Placemakers at Placemaking US are ready to help. This story was originally published in the 2020 California Food Policy Report. Story by Ryan Smolar. Photos by Brian Feinzimer. Flint Placemaking Week took place September 2021 and brought placemakers from 25 states across the country to meet community leaders, explore issues and grow in our placemaking practice together. Tuesday - Sep 21Mural Walking Tour As placemakers arrived from all over the country, our first introduction to Flint was a Mural Walking Tour of Carriage Town and Downtown hosted by Director of Placemaking for What's Up Downtown Flint, Kady Yellow. Kady explained the differences of street art, graffiti and murals and showcased the stories behind some of Flint's earliest murals, an outdoor art collection worth more than $1 million according to Kady's own research. Orientation to Flint We next planned to host our Orientation to Flint outside at the Riverbank Park Amphitheater, but the weather had other plans and we stuffed into the Mott Room at the Hilton Garden Inn to hear about Flint's history as the birthplace of the automobile industry, demographics that revealed the low-income and formal education achievements in Flint, and an introduction to the Flint Water crisis by local water entrepreneur Alex Love, the Neighborhood Engagement Hub's Carma Lewis, The Porch Project's Meghan Heyza and place advocate and urbanist Cade Surface. Opening Party - Cohort Gathering Following Orientation, our groups divided into cohorts based on their expertise and interest and headed off to dinner at Cork on Saginaw. It was a lively venue for discourse and initiating warm connections, especially with the urging of Tetia Lee for all to enjoy a Tequila shot and for Kady Yellow's gracious offering of a champagne flute to all upon arrival. Groups sat by interests including: Downtown Management, Connecting Neighborhoods, Healthy Placemaking, Creative Placemaking, Makers of the New Economy, and Streets for People. Wednesday - Sep 22Opening Morning at GM Factory #1 We opened Placemaking Week officially at the iconic birthplace of General Motors. The Mayor of Flint welcomed us along with Placemaking Poet, Frankie McIntosh. Kady Yellow of What's Up Downtown Flint introduced us to her placemaking journey and showed the resident-lead work she has been supporting. Ryan Smolar of Placemaking US and Amy Stelly of the Claiborne Avenue Alliance in New Orleans utilized the historic venue to talk about the relationship between cars and automobile infrastructure and livability, sociability and interconnectedness of our neighborhoods. Moses Timlin, from the Genesee County Land Bank showed us the healthy placemaking he'd been a part of in the Carriage Town neighborhood we were in and Leslie Mattie-Rich of Westwood Works in Cincinnati showed us how she built back up her own neighborhood with programming and ultimately redesigning their central square. Sherryl Muriente shared insights from her international career participating in innovative practices like archaeology of place and urban acupuncture. Healthy Placemaking Luncheon and Makers and the New Economy Due to the rain, we had to pivot two afternoon engagements into an impromptu venue: a maker space right down the street from GM Factory #1 which is cheekily called Factory 2. This venue ended up being apropos, because it showed-off a juxtaposition in thinking from organizing big capital (like at GM in the 20th century) to fostering community capital and social capital as a basis for local industry. The Healthy Placemaking panel explored the expansive relationship between place and health, and the ways placemakers are building opportunities for places and people to be healthier from physical activity to mental health, safety from violence and access to economic and education opportunity. "The number one determinant of health is your zip code," stated Hanna Love, a researcher at the Bass Center for Transformative Placemaking at the Brookings Institute. Meghan Heyza of the Porch Project shared how she does participatory research with populations, not on them, but with them, by building long-time relationships with people whose health outcomes she is hoping to improve. Molly Baskin graduated from a crowdfunding placemaking program that helped her launch outdoor step exercise classes at Downtown Flint's iconic Brush Park. She shared how her public-facing Curvy Girl Fitness classes expand the idea of what healthy looks like by showing-off many body types on their journey for health with an enticing collective energy. The Makers and the New Economy session was supposed to take place as a walking tour pointing out sites relevant to our discussion, but we had to hang back at Factory 2 due to extreme weather outside. Tony Vu, a local food entrepreneur pivoted us from the Healthy Placemaking session into the Makers and the New Economy session because his story straddled the fence between the two topics. Tony has a kitchen stall at the Flint Farmers Market and he has a food trailer. With this lightweight infrastructure, he makes his permits and facilities and industry know-how available to up-and-coming food purveyors. Through a pipeline system Tony has designed, he helps home chefs and budding roadside entrepreneurs to take steps towards opening their own food businesses. While Tony has hacked together his current setup under the name The Flint Social Club, he has big plans to build out an entire food hall on the Flint River which was just awarded $375,000 from the State of Michigan. The adjacency of these sessions was great because as the Healthy Placemaking was wrapping up, the points were centering around personal responsibility and access to education and jobs. As the economy session kicked-off, the importance of supporting local entrepreneurship was further explored. Jane Jacobs' idea of "import replacement:" replacing what is bought from afar with local makers and products was discussed as well as the importance of event-driven "market-making." Barriers to entry like the obstruction of permits, fees and paperwork were lamented for keeping so many from creating more. After the session, Jaime Izurieta, an urban planner focused on economics and small business culture wrote a paper, "Fred and Barney Walk into a Bar," on his experience in Flint and the idea for a local currency, Flintcoin to take shape and keep money circulating in the local economy. One attendee shared how his local pedicab company has run on a "pay what you will" model, which has allowed his business to grow to four times the size of his stiff-priced competitor. Connecting Neighborhoods - Bus Ride Part 1 When reaching out to local Flint neighborhood leaders and placemakers, they made it clear that they were very interested in having us come see and support their work. Jane Richardson met us in the rain along with her neighbors who have heroically lead the creation of the MLK Peace Garden along Martin Luther King Avenue on the former site of 10 vacated house lots which were demolished after years of abandonment by the Genesee County Land Bank, the country's first "land bank" and owner of over 20% of the property in Flint, Michigan. Connecting Neighborhoods - PlaceIt Exercise with James Rojas Famed Latino Urbanist James Rojas demonstrated his PlaceIt planning game for the 1st Ward: In the Beginning group in an effort to show how many more people can be brought into the act of building their city from a place of positivity and joy. With a colorful assortment of toys, participants were asked to build their favorite childhood memory and share them with the group. After this warm-up exercise, teams were asked to work together to build a place for Flint. The PlaceIt activity at the Hasselbring Senior Center elicited several good ideas including a mobile downtown that could be brought into the neighborhoods to help bridge the Downtown-Neighborhood divide. As Carma Lewis from the Neighborhood Engagement Hub put it: "I actually see objects and green spaces through a new lens." Jennifer Johnson from Michigan United also said she would use the tool in future engagements. See James' full gallery of photos from the activity. Connecting Neighborhoods - Bus Ride Part 2 On the ride back to downtown, we detoured down Caniff Street where Meghan Heyza has helped build over a dozen porches for neighbors as social spaces that help reintegrate the neighborhood. Meghan built so many relationships and porches as part of her Porch Project on these blocks, that several partners came together to host a Porchfest with multiple placemaker production partners placing bands on the porches while visitors watched from couches placed in the street. Exploring Flint for an Evening We couldn't get enough of Flint's interesting nightlife on Wednesday night. We started off at Blacksone's where Eclipse Band set the night on fire. Esteemed members of Flint's emerging hip hop scene like Jeff Skigh and the creative talent surrounding him stopped in to meet with the placemakers before all headed off to Flint Hard Cider Co for karaoke and cider made from local orchards. Thursday - Sep 23Group Check-in and Placemaking Network Chat We started off the morning with Kady Yellow asking all about their "top moment" so far. Answers varied from the Opening Session at GM #1 when we actively defined "What is Placemaking?" to Kady's welcome Mural Walking Tour and meeting the ladies of the MLK Peace Garden in the rain. Afterwards, Ethan Kent, leader of the global PlacemakingX networks gave a history of his participation in the placemaking movement and the current strategy to network placemakers to continue to innovate and popularize the ideas behind civic lead place development and management. Ryan Smolar of PlacemakingUS also spoke briefly regarding the Roadtrip to the Recovery in which he visited over 100 placemakers embedded in 60 cities to talk about their work and to encourage them to seek support from American Rescue Plan Act local funding. He explained how Flint Placemaking Week was constructed to build stronger connections between each of us to be able to help forward the field of placemaking across the US and beyond through our connection with the entire PlacemakingX family. Downtown Management Luncheon Flint's downtown is re-emerging as the city's central creative core of activity. We invited Flint's new Downtown Development Authority Executive Director, Kiaira May, to connect Flint's downtown-focused departments and players with visiting experts from across Michigan and beyond. Visiting downtown leaders shared how inspired they were by the Flint community's participation and self-direction and reinforced that the chief job of those in downtown power positions is to build relationships, gather resources and support access of downtown as an equitable community asset. Cathleen Edgerly of Downtown Lansing Inc has invited all the Downtown of Michigan present to keep in touch and form a network to support each others' efforts. Creative Placemaking The Creative Placemaking cohort did not disappoint. They entered the room with high energy and rock anthem accompaniment and the spirit came alive in Comma Bookstore and Social Hub, one of the nation's few black woman-owned independent bookstores. Practitioners like Patrick Fisher of Erie Arts & Culture showcased how the arts can be a major leader in equity, in housing and in all fields of social life. Jerin Sage, the local creative mind behind Flint Drop Fest shared his alloted time with fellow community placemakers who he met way back at an early urban garden project they did together under the collective name, Peace Mob. Famed Flint Public Art Project maestro Joe Schipani showed-up and was able to coordinate some artist exchange with fellow mural project leader Tetia Lee from Lafayette, Indiana and we were serenaded by poems by both Frankie McIntosh and Nic Custer. Streets for People Our Streets for People cohort worked with the community including Tony Vu of Flint Social Club, Jamelle Glover of In the Beginning: 1st Ward Project and Greg Fiedler of the Greater Flint Arts Council on ideas for revitalizing the area around 1st Ave and Saginaw. The group settled on a vision for closing 1st Ave between Saginaw and Garland to create a Food Truck Park. Greg Raisman from Portland Bureau of Transportation offered 1 year of technical assistance to complete the project. Krista Nightengale, Executive Director of The Better Block and Kirk Rea, the Executive Director of City Repair all provided incredible support for this amazing engagement. Amy Stelly of the Claiborne Ave Alliance in New Orleans provided stories and videos from Second Line Sunday in New Orleans to show what Streets for People means in the most vivid of ways. Closing Party - The Three Floor Discoteca Kady Yellow engaged the local creative community and small businesses to throw a stellar farewell for all of the placemakers. A "3-Floor Discoteca" was what she called it and it was a stacked house of charcuterie and jazz and poetry in Cafe Rhema's speakeasy space on the ground floor, a drum circle and psychedelic space on the second floor photographer's studio and a DJ-bump and grind popup night club on the third floor for those who dared to enter. Locals and visitors got another chance to learn about each other's work and side hustles, like Sherry Muriente's interesting guerilla art project, Dudali. Friday - Sep 24Closing Tours - Off to Detroit
Unfortunately, our Friday morning kayaking tour of the Flint River had to be cancelled due to the rains during the week. Instead, a Flint art gallery tour and a side trip to Detroit were offered. Several placemakers piled into two cars heading down from Vehicle City to Motor City and took a tour of Downtown Detroit's famous public spaces like Campus Martius and emerging spaces like Capitol Park and with longtime placemanager Bob Greggory. Join us September 21-24, 2021 for an in-person, national placemaking convergence in Flint, Michigan! We’re hosting a movable feast of ideas, actions and energy to catalyze discussion and action around the city’s evolution from automobile-dominated to people-centric. What’s Up Downtown Flint is welcoming placemakers from across the country for an in-depth exploration of how the community is reuniting and growing around art, music, and culture and evolving both its social and urban fabric through the powerful efforts of the creative, Flintstone spirit. PlacemakingUS is bringing together 25 placemaking leaders from across the nation to elevate Flint’s ground game, share techniques and learn from this unique city’s history and future. Join us for a PLACEMAKING WEEK filled with workshops, discussions, idea-sharing around the following themes: - Connecting Neighborhoods - Makers and the Local Economy - Creative Placemaking - Streets for People - Healthy Cities - Downtown Management Why Flint?During the PlacemakingUS “Roadtrip for the Recovery,” we visited 60+ cities across the US and Flint proved to be one of the most exciting places experiencing a creative renaissance. We’re excited to bring placemakers here to be a part of Flint’s fundamental shift from an auto-oriented community planned by General Motors to one that is made by and for its people. At the same time all of this positivity ignites, Flint has been unfairly castigated as the poster child for modern metropolis problems including deindustrialization, depopulation, crime, racial segregation, and inequality. This US placemaking convergence will flex Flint’s placemaking muscles to help propel the local scene forward while we strengthen our national bonds and get re-inspired from this assembly. Join us in Flint this FallTICKETS: Tickets are on-sale now at PlacemakingUS.org/FlintPW. General Admission tickets are $250 and there is a “Pay What You Will” option available so that price is not a stumbling block for participation. COVID NOTICE: Attendees and participants are highly recommended to be vaccinated. Genesee County currently recommends wearing a mask when in-doors. ACCOMMODATIONS: We invite guests to book their stay at the Hilton Garden Inn in the newly renovated historic Genesee County Savings Bank building. Inquire with them about our room block rate. GETTING HERE: Flint is in Mid Michigan and is served by the Flint Bishop regional airport (which connects to flights from Chicago, Charlotte and Tampa) and is about 1-hour drive from the Detroit Metropolitan Airport. Uber/Lyft costs around $100 each way for this route. Let us know when you plan to arrive and we’ll try to pair you with another placemaker for rideshare. Event produced by What’s Up Downtown Flint in collaboration with PlacemakingUS and PlacemakingX. Flint knows how to host: a welcome pop-up by Kady Yellow et al when we arrived on the "Roadtrip for the Recovery" |
AuthorsArticles contributed by placemaking experts across the US Archives
October 2023
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