Placemaking Train
April/May 2023
All Aboard! PlacemakingUS and PlacemakingX accomplished our "Placemaking Train" placemaking train trip in Spring 2023. Using Amtrak, we rode the rails looping from New York City down through Atlanta and Birmingham to New Orleans and up through Chicago to circle back to the Big Apple.
The purpose of this trip was to visit with communities that are off the beaten path and are looking to increase their town's community cohesion, economic viability, creative output, equity, sustainability, and vivacity using placemaking.
The purpose of this trip was to visit with communities that are off the beaten path and are looking to increase their town's community cohesion, economic viability, creative output, equity, sustainability, and vivacity using placemaking.
We met with local leaders — from government officials to Main Street managers, artists and historians, foundations and grantees, students and academics, neighborhood leaders, nonprofit service providers, property and business owners, chambers of commerce, visitors bureaus, and advocates — who are working to make their towns better.
Dispatches from our Journey:
Our Schedule:
- April 12 - First group leaves from Delray Beach, FL
- April 12-14 - Jacksonville, FL
- April 14-17 - Savannah, GA
- April 17 - Second group leaves from New York, NY
- April 18 - Groups unite for trip kick-off in Atlanta, GA
- April 19 - Birmingham, AL
- April 20-23 - Slidell, New Orleans and Hammond, LA
- April 23-25 - Jackson, MS - (Neighborhood Economics Conference)
- April 26 - Chicago, IL
- April 27 - Fort Wayne, IN
- April 28 - Erie, PA
- April 29 - Rochester, NY
- April 30 - Hudson, NY
- May 1-12 - New York, NY
Donate to our Travel Fund
We invite funders and donors to support our mission to bring placemaking expertise to rural America and empower BIPOC and student placemakers to come with us by financing their trip. Your gift to our Travel Fund will make this journey possible and help us catalyze thriving, equitable communities across the country.
