Planning Commissioners Journal

The End of the Strip?

Why the era of strip commercial development may be nearing an end. by Edward McMahon; from PCJ #82 (Spring 2011); 4 pages Read excerpts below; to order & download the full article use Shopping Cart button at bottom of this post. For more on dealing with commercial strips, see Ross Moldoff's Controlling Strip Development.

Read excerpt from start of article: Two Best Buy stores. The old paradigm: single use, only accessible by car. The new paradigm: mixed uses also accessible by transit or on foot. For more than 50 years retailers have favored the commercial strip: a linear pattern of retail businesses strung along major roadways, characterized by massive parking lots, a plethora of big signs, box-like buildings, and a total dependence on automobiles for access and circulation. For years urban planners and public officials have tried to contain, control, and improve the strip. Now they are getting some help from an unexpected quarter: consumers and the marketplace. Today the era of strip development is coming to an end. Evolving consumer behavior, changing demographics, high priced gasoline, internet shopping, the economy, and other factors are all combining to create a new paradigm for commercial development. Commercial strips are not going to disappear overnight, but it is becoming increasingly clear that strip retail is retail for the last century. The future belongs to town centers, main streets, and mixed-use development. Among the reasons for this transformation: 1. We're Overbuilt on the Strip From 1960 to 2000 there was an almost ten-fold increase in U.S. retail space, from 4 to 38 square feet per person. For many years retail space was growing 5 to 6 times faster than retail sales. Most of this space came in the form of discount superstores on the suburban strip. The recession made clear that we have too much retail. Strip centers are now littered with vacant stores. By some estimates, there is currently over one billion square feet of vacant retail space. Much of this space is going to have to re-purposed or demolished. In fact, one retail analyst estimates that we need to demolish 300 million square feet of retail space. On the other hand, the only places left with more spending power than stores to spend it in are our cities. 2. Retail is Rediscovering the City In 2010, Target announced plans to remodel the century-old Carson Pirie Scott department store in Chicago. This landmark building designed by architect Louis Sullivan will be just one of a number of new, so-called big box retailers planned for urban neighborhoods. Similarly, in late 2010, Wal-Mart announced plans to open its first ever stores in Washington, D.C. To make the four new stores fit an urban environment, the company has agreed to consider an array of layouts, designs, and parking arrangements, a reflection of the chain's willingness to adapt its prototype to enter lucrative urban markets. The D.C. store planned for New Jersey Avenue illustrates Wal-Mart's new approach to store design. The company plans a store of 75,000 to 80,000 square feet (much smaller than usual) on the ground floor of a five story mixed-use building featuring 315 apartments, underground parking, and space for smaller retail stores. Home Depot already has a new urban store in Toronto with 90 units of housing on top. At the same time that Wal-Mart, Target, and other big box stores are planning dozens of new urban stores in cities all over America, as many as 400 former Wal-Mart stores and other big boxes sit vacant on commercial strips across the country. Most analysts agree that cities and urban neighborhoods are the new land of opportunity for retail. ... McMahon's article then continues with sections on: 3. The Suburbs are Being Redesigned 4. Traffic Congestion, Fuel Prices, and Poor Design are Hurting the Strip 5. The Economy is Restructuring the Retail Landscape 6. Consumers Favor Walkability and Places With Character 7. E-Commerce and New Technologies Mean Fewer and Smaller Stores plus: Where Do We Go From Here? -- what can planning commissions do to help reshape the strip; some recommendations culled from leading experts. ... the full article is available to order & download immediately below.

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Billboards: The Case for Control

Why cities and towns benefit when they just say “no” to the continued proliferation of billboards. by Edward McMahon; from PCJ #81 (Winter 2011) Download this article (pdf format); no charge for download. See our interview with Ed McMahon about this article | see response from Outdoor Advertising Association of America | see perspectives from PCJ Editor We welcome you to weigh in. Join the discussion on the Planning Commissioners Journal Linkedin group page (you need to be a Linkedin user to view our group page; if you're not using Linkedin, I encourage you to try it out). For information on other articles by McMahon published in the Planning Commissioners Journal.

Come see America the beautiful, if you can. Amber waves of grain? It is more like a ride through the yellow pages: a windshield vista of 50-foot beer cans and towering casino signs. Many thought billboards were an endangered species in 1965 when Congress passed the Highway Beautification Act. But the law was so riddled with loopholes and enforcement so lax that in recent years, billboard companies have put up thousands of new, bigger, more obtrusive billboards. In a relatively short time, outdoor advertising has gone from Burma Shave to Blade Runner: from small and folksy to huge and intrusive. We've now entered the era of digital billboards -- giant outdoor TV screens wasting energy while degrading the landscape and distracting drivers. Billboards are the definition of a roadside distraction. Their entire purpose is to take your eyes off the road and put them on giant outdoor advertisements. Safety is just one of the reasons why many communities have been trying to regulate billboards for decades. Curbing billboards is not easy, but it can be done. This article lays out the case for billboard control. It discusses the reasons beyond safety for why we need to halt construction of new billboards and strictly regulate those that remain. 1. Billboards are a form of pollution -- visual pollution Over the years, billboards have been described as the "junk mail of the highway," "litter on a stick," "visual kudzu," "urban blight," and more, but in their simplest form billboards are a form of visual pollution. Regulating billboards is no different from regulating noxious fumes, sewage discharges, or excessive noise. The U.S. Supreme Court has said: "Pollution is not limited to the air we breathe and the water we drink; it can equally offend the eye and ear." While the messages on a billboard can be ugly or ordinary when they are enlarged to the size of a house, placed on poles 50-100 feet high, randomly strewn along every street, even covering entire buildings, they become a visual and environmental hazard. Like overly loud noise -- strictly regulated in many communities -- billboards thrust a discordant commercial note into our environment. They deprive us of visual access to scenic vistas and create a strident, hectic atmosphere in cities. 2. Billboards are out of place in most locations Our landscape is one of America's greatest resources. Its value is economic as well as aesthetic, psychological as well as recreational, spiritual as well as physical. Every landscape, rural or urban, has its own kind of beauty and uniqueness. In every kind of landscape billboards are a disturbing alien intrusion. Like empty beer cans in a mountain stream, they simply don't belong because they commercialize, homogenize, and degrade our natural landscape. Visual clutter may be appropriate in a few limited locations, such as a city's entertainment district (e.g., Times Square or the Las Vegas Strip). In most cases, however, billboards obliterate architectural character and ruin natural beauty. They also undermine community livability and sustainability. Doug Kelbaugh, of the University of Michigan, School of Architecture put it this way: "If a building, a landscape, or a city is not beautiful, it will not be loved, if it is not loved, it will not be maintained. In short it won't be sustained." 3. Billboards destroy distinctiveness Billboards look the same whether they are in Mississippi, Montana, or Malaysia. As a result, billboards homogenize our communities. They help turn unique places into "Anyplace." In fact, almost nothing will destroy the distinctive character of a place faster than uncontrolled signs and billboards. This has negative economic consequences. "Community differentiation" is a key concept in economic development today. If you can't differentiate your community from any other community you have no competitive advantage. Put another way, the "image of a community is fundamentally important to its economic well being." Every day, people make decisions about where to live, invest, or vacation based on what communities look like. Attractive, well-ordered communities have an advantage over ugly, chaotic ones. Take tourism: the more one community comes to look like every other community, the less reason there is to visit. On the other hand, the more a community does to protect and enhance its distinctive character, whether natural or architectural, the more reason there is to visit. Billboards destroy distinctiveness and undermine our sense of place while they commercialize our neighborhoods. ... article continues with: 4. Billboards are the only form of advertising that you can't turn off or avoid 5. Billboard companies sell something they don't own -- our field of vision 6. Billboards are ineffective and unnecessary 7. Billboard companies exercise almost no restraint in the placement of outdoor ads 8. Billboards are both a cause and a symptom of urban blight 9. Billboards are bad for business 10. Digital billboards, use huge amounts of energy contributing to greenhouse gas emissions and global warming

Planning Comm'rs Journal to Partner with Project for Public Spaces

We're pleased to announce that the Planning Commissioners Journal will be partnering with Project for Public Spaces. This partnership is an important step toward increasing "Placemaking" capacity and knowledge among PCJ readers who include members of local planning commissions and zoning boards, elected officials, and others involved in decision-making about the built environment.

Planning Commissioners Journal readers share many of the same interests and values as PPS members: a desire to strengthen downtowns; a deep interest in promoting civic values; and an understanding of the critical importance of involving local residents and businesses in decision-making.

As part of this partnership, PPS will share articles about the core concepts of Placemaking as well as our many resources and stories on strengthening public markets and local economies, creating public multi-use destinations, and many other topics. PPS’ resources will be featured in a “centerfold” in the Planning Commissioners Journal (starting with our Winter issue) and will also appear here on the PlannersWeb.

In return, PPS.org will feature PCJ articles on topics like transportation, livability, and helpful how-to’s for overcoming challenges citizen planners frequently encounter including tips on how to deal with the media, put together a comprehensive plan, run an effective meeting, and develop good staff-commissioner relations.

More About PPS

Project for Public Spaces is a nonprofit planning, design, and educational organization dedicated to helping people create and sustain public spaces that build stronger communities. Their pioneering Placemaking approach helps citizens transform their public spaces into vital places that highlight local assets, spur rejuvenation and serve common needs.

PPS was founded in 1975 to expand on the work of William (Holly) Whyte, the author of The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces. Since then, PPS has completed projects in over 2,500 communities in 40 countries and all 50 U.S. states. Partnering with public and private organizations; federal, state and municipal agencies; business improvement districts; and neighborhood associations and other civic groups, PPS works to improve communities by fostering successful public spaces.

PPS has become an internationally recognized center for resources, tools, and inspiration about Placemaking.

Additional Note from PCJ Editor Wayne Senville

While I've followed the work of PPS for many years, I got to know their staff this past Spring while attending a PPS "Streets as Places" workshop. I was impressed by their skills, knowledge, and commitment to values I believe most planning commissioners and citizen planners share. Foremost among these is a belief in the critical importance of citizen involvement in planning for the future of our cities and towns.

You can read my reports from the Streets as Places workshop:

-- Can a Street Be a Place? 

-- Circling the Square  

-- Breaking Our Addiction to Highway Level of Service Standards  

-- The Other Half of the "Deadly Duo"

-- Please Be Seated

-- There's a Good Story Here!

Understanding Regional Retail Development

Retail development has major impacts on communities and regions. Planners can stay ahead of the curve by understanding the regional retail market and helping shape where retail will best fit. by Beth Humstone; from PCJ #80 (Fall 2010); 3 pages Read first section of article below; to order & download the full article use Shopping Cart button at bottom of this post. For information on other articles by Beth Humstone published in the Planning Comm'rs Journal

On the corner. In the downtown. Along highway strips. At interchanges. Retail development is a significant land use in virtually every community. It has its own demands and impacts that are distinct from offices or services. One only has to look at the acres of parking and traffic congestion commonly associated with shopping centers to understand this. In many communities today, the supply of retail space exceeds the demand for it. There are vacancies in downtowns, strip centers, and shopping malls. We have over-zoned land for retail development and in the process have spread it out across the landscape. So how does a planning commissioner determine where retail development should go and how it should be designed and accommodated? Regional Retail Market Analysis The first step in planning for retail development is to undertake a regional market analysis. Shopping is largely a regional experience. In spite of the interest in buying locally, most consumers do travel around a region for shopping purposes as not all goods are provided in each community. In addition, people often shop where they work -- which is often in a different part of their region. Regional retail market analyses are typically conducted by regional planning commissions, chambers of commerce, or regional development agencies. Some analyses are undertaken in response to major retail development proposals; others in anticipation of retail changes or needs. Planners should be cautioned about developers' or retailers' market analyses as they may be skewed towards favoring a specific proposal. A retail market analysis estimates the potential growth in retail demand and compares that to the supply of retail facilities within the trade area. Information is compiled on population growth, income, and expenditures by retail type (groceries, apparel, furnishings, etc.). From these projections, estimates of retail sales and square footage demand for different types of retail stores in the region can be obtained. The analyst will also consider what share of sales will take place online, especially important since some goods, such as computers, have a high share of online purchases. Sidebar, E-Commerce. Next, a community-by-community inventory of existing retail space and occupancy rates is conducted. This inventory will show where the retail areas are within the trade area. A comparison between the existing available space and the projected space needs can be made and gaps identified. Most market analyses distinguish between convenience goods and comparison goods. Convenience goods are widely distributed, less expensive, and frequently purchased items. Examples include food, newspapers, and gas. Comparison goods are purchased at less frequent intervals and are generally more expensive; they also are often purchased after examining prices at several stores. Examples of comparison goods include major appliances, furniture, and sporting goods. The regional market analysis will indicate the extent to which the region may already be "over-stored" (more space than demand justifies) or "under-stored" (less space than demand justifies) with either convenience or comparison goods. It may even point out areas where future shopping should be planned. ... article continues [to order the complete article, use Shopping Cart button below]

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Turning Downtowns Around: Business Improvement Districts

One of the key tools used to strengthen downtowns is the business improvement district. Beth Humstone provides a look at how BIDs work and what they're doing to address today's downtown challenges. Plus: PCJ Editor Wayne Senville on learning from a downtown BID that manages a park in the heart of Manhattan. by Beth Humstone; Wayne Senville; from PCJ #79 (Summer 2010); 6 pages Read excerpts below; to order & download the two full articles use Shopping Cart button at bottom of this post.

Read start of Turning Downtowns Around: Business Improvement Districts: In the 1970s suburban shopping malls were draining the life out of downtowns around the country. Retail businesses and offices in center cities were either closing or moving out to the periphery. They left behind places plagued by crime and arson, deferred maintenance, and abandoned properties. Downtowns were in crisis and planners, developers, preservationists, property owners, and city officials diligently were looking for ways to turn the situation around. Among the tools developed to draw activity back to Main Street was the Downtown Business District or Business Improvement District (BID). Now, nearly forty years later, as downtowns have faced a different kind of threat -- that of a nation-wide economic downturn -- it is time to take a look at how these business districts are doing and how they are poised to address today's challenges. What is a Business Improvement District? Business improvement districts have several characteristics that differ from other community development and main street revitalization tools. They operate in a clearly delineated area within which property owners and/or merchants are subject to a tax or fee assessed under city tax authority. BIDs are established locally according to state enabling legislation. They operate as nonprofit 501(c)(4) organizations, public-private partnerships, or city agencies. They bring special skills and services to downtowns that local governments are unable to provide. Today there are an estimated 800 downtown business districts in the United States in communities ranging in population from 1,000 to over 8 million. Some cities have multiple BIDs, each geared to a different neighborhood or commercial center. All states, except Wyoming, have legislation enabling BIDs. Within broad legislative parameters of promoting and marketing downtowns and making them clean and safe, BIDs have undertaken creative approaches to downtown revitalization, and have been credited with many downtown turn-arounds. When BIDs were first formed in the 1970s and 1980s their primary activities were removing litter, making the streets safe again, and boosting local businesses. Over the years BIDs have expanded the scope of their activities to include: promotion of their unique settings and historic architecture; installation of parks, benches, and street lighting; and holding special events. As strong advocates for downtowns, BIDs pressure local governments for services and help to change the rules to make these areas better places to live and work. ... Today's Challenges In spite of their past successes, business improvement districts are facing many challenges. These include not only retail vacancies and sagging investment resulting from the weak economy, but also issues such as homelessness and panhandling, graffiti, residential-nightlife conflicts, and parking. ... article continues with look at: 1. The Changing Retail Environment; 2. Problem Behaviors; 3. Graffiti; 4. Residential Growth in the Downtown; 5. Transportation Challenges; and 6. New Advances in Promotion.

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There's a Good Story Here!

[all photos in this post can be viewed at larger size; just click on the image] 

From PCJ Editor Wayne Senville:

What would Horace Greeley, America's most famous newspaper publisher and editor, think about the changes to the square bearing his name -- looking down from his bronze chair? Probably, "there's a good story here!"

He'd be right. The transformation of Greeley Square from a rundown, orphaned park to a lively, busy place is indeed a good story. It also could serve as Exhibit A in demonstrating the principles highlighted at the recent Project for Public Spaces workshop I attended. 

Some basics first. Greeley Square (like Petrosino Square; see my earlier post) is not square, but rectangular. It's wedged between Broadway and Sixth Avenue, and 32nd and 33rd Streets, close to Macy's, The Empire State Building, and Penn Sation. 

New Yorkers call Greeley Square a "bow tie" park since it is twined with the reverse triangle of Herald Square. Together they take on the shape of a bow tie.

In a posting last week I wrote about the importance of seating and, in particular, the emphasis PPS places on movable chairs. As with many principles of urban space design, this harkens back to observations first made by William H. Whyte: "Chairs enlarge choice: to move into the sun, out of it: to move closer to someone, further away from another. The possibility of choice is as important as the exercise of it." From Whyte's City: Rediscovering the Center.

Even on a short visit to Greeley Square, you can see the benefits of movable chairs, as people arrange the chairs where they like -- alone, in pairs, or in small groups.

The single most important sign of a successful park according to PPS staff is not how pretty it looks from the air, but how active it is on the ground. While there are many important ingredients in helping ensure active use, the one that I kept hearing over and over during the PPS workshop was "good management." As PPS Vice-President Kathy Madden said, "Eighty percent of the success of any space has to do with how it is managed."

This single factor has, in large part, been responsible for the transformation of a growing number of New York City parks. Urban designer Norman Mintz noted that: "Greeley Square used to be a place you did not want to go to. Today, you can be hard pressed to find a place to sit during lunch hour."

Take a one minute walk through Greeley Park (posted on Google videos in 2006):

In Greeley Square, as in a growing number of other New York City parks, a private nonprofit manages the park and programs activities. In Greeley Square's case, it's done by the 34th Street Partnership. 

So what does this mean, on the ground? For one thing: getting many small details right -- details that add up.

How about restrooms you can actually feel comfortable going into? Yes, those flowers were actually in the Greeley Square public restroom when I visited (and, yes, it felt strange taking a photo inside a restroom!).

How about a vending stand where you can not just get a bite to eat, but a delicious sandwich? Great care went into selecting the food vendor, 'wichcraft.

How about a park that's kept nice and clean all the time, not just once a day?

How about all sorts of details, from the design of the trash receptacles to the availability of information for visitors? (Incidentally, the information stand has a big benefit beyond providing maps and fliers, it also provides another pair of eyes on what's happening in the park).

Fred Kent, President of PPS, said that one question that often comes up is how to deal with vagrants or homeless people using the park. His answer: that unless they're causing a disturbance, let them be. As long as the park is well-managed and maintained, it will attract other users. With enough activity, people will see the park as a place welcoming to all.

Who pays for all this? In New York City, as I noted, there's a definite move towards park management being handled by nonprofits. But it's not just in New York, I also reported on this last Summer during a visit to Detroit, and it's a trend nationwide.

Funding sources for park management vary. For the 34th Street Partnership (which manages both Greeley Square and Herald Square under an agreed-upon plan with the City) the primary source of revenue is from special assessments on property within its business improvement district. This is supplemented by income from the food vendors -- another reason why ensuring quality food is important -- and sponsors of events taking place in the park. Revenue from these "supplemental" sources is a much bigger factor in larger spaces like Bryant Park.

As you can see from the 34th Street business improvement district map above (click on it to view it at larger size), the BID is quite large, stretching from Park Avenue to 10th Avenue, and ranging between 30th and 36th Streets. It has a staff of 154, including 63 in sanitation and 36 in security. In 2009, it received $9.3 million in revenue from special assessments on properties within the district. For more details about the 34th Street Partnership BID.

Note: the upcoming Summer issue of the Planning Commissioners Journal features an article on how BIDs work, along with an article providing a closer look at the enormously successful Bryant Park BID. 

For cities, the benefits of strong urban parks are considerable. Not only do they provide pleasant, enjoyable places for residents, shoppers, office workers, and tourists to use, but they are financial catalysts for cities. Indeed, with New York City seeing so many benefits from its resurgent urban parks, it's no surprise that the city officials are among their biggest advocates.

So, as Horace Greeley no doubt would have told you, "there's a good story here!"

 

Give My Regards to Broadway

One of the most remarkable sights in New York City these days is the transformation of Broadway in the Times Square district from a traffic-jammed artery to a car-free zone, where pedestrians reign. I touched on this briefly in my last post -- in how movable chairs are one key element in this changeover.

One of the advocates behind New York City's growing embrace of pedestrian and bicycle-oriented policies is Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan. Listen to her in the following two short video clips. In the first she talks about the changes to Broadway, and how they can serve as a model for New York's other boroughs. In the second video, she responds to questioners in Los Angeles about how to shape city transportation policies.

Please Be Seated

From PCJ Editor Wayne Senville:

We do it dozens of times a day. During nice weather, we often do it in the park. And we're careful where we do it, often scouting out a location that seems just right for us to .... sit. But how much do planners and urban designers know about our backsides?

Noted open space researcher, the late William H. Whyte, found this an overlooked, but quite important, matter. "A dimension that is truly important," he wrote, "is the human backside ... It is a dimension that architects ignore."

Why is knowing about our backsides so important? Because, as Whyte observed through his field observations: 

"Rarely will you find a ledge or bench that is deep enough to be sittable on both sides. ... Our recommended depth was arrived at quite pragmatically. The minimum-depth ledge we came across that was consistently used on both sides was thirty inches deep. ... For a few additional inches of depth, then, a developer can double the amount of his ledge-sitting space." While Whyte noted that this wouldn't necessarily double the number of people sitting: "The benefit of the additional space is social comfort. There will be more room for groups and individuals to sort themselves out, more choice, and more perception of choice." From City: Rediscovering the Center, p. 115.

One of the many fascinating things talked about at the Project for Public Space's "Streets as Places" workshop was the importance of seating in parks and along sidewalks. Frankly, it wasn't something I had spent much time reflecting on before -- but the message PPS staff conveyed over and over was: it's the details of how people actually use parks and open space that can make a world of difference. And that takes careful observation to learn.

It's clear we care about where we sit. Just think about what factors flash through your mind when you enter, say, your city's downtown park at lunch time looking for a place to eat a sandwich or relax for a few minutes?

Again, here's what William Whyte found: "All things being equal, you can calculate that where pedestrian flows bisect a sittable place, that is where people will most likely sit. And it is not perverse of them. It is by choice that they do." People tend to sit where they can view the action going on, and not in remote corners.

As a planner, you also need to consider what kinds of seating to provide. I was surprised to hear that PPS often advocates the use of movable seating, instead of fixed benches. Why's that? First, because chairs are usually more comfortable than benches. Second, they're less expensive (you can typically buy ten chairs for the cost of one bench). But most importantly, "people can arrange chairs how they like, to sit nearer or farther apart, and move them around to sun or shade." Giving people choices is a big plus.

PPS staff acknowledged that the biggest downside is the possibility of theft of the chairs -- though they note that "this can be reduced when the area is supervised by an attendant or an activity where staff is present." That's something that should be possible in busier downtown parks -- especially those that are well-managed (and I'll return to the importance of park management in my next post). 

Take a look at the photo above of Greeley Square (is it just coincidence that Horace Greeley looks like he's comfortably seated in, at least what used to be, a movable chair?) and of Broadway on the right. Movable chairs are now common in New York City's downtown parks and open spaces. [Click on the photos to view them at larger size.]

As an aside, urban designer Norman Mintz noted that one of the hurdles New York's small urban parks, like Greeley Square, have had to overcome is that maintenance staff like to arrange seating in nice, neat rows; part of their training is to tell them that's not necessary, as people are more comfortable finding (and perhaps moving) a chair that is not so "formally" lined up. 

Benches can also work. A bench in the right location along a sidewalk can be a boon to shoppers and others. Again, PPS staff have learned much through observation, leading to a number of tips and guidelines they provided:

• One mistake is to place benches at regular intervals along a street. Instead, consider locating them where they'll most likely be used: ""places where people wait for rides, taxis, or buses; near food shops; and anywhere that people can watch other people."
• Conversely, don't put seating in ""places where there is little activity, such as in front of banks that close early, buildings without windows, places that are hidden from view or located too far from activity."
• Also very important: keeping benches in good repair. Otherwise "when people see the neglect [they] then make generalizations that influence their perceptions or feelings about the entire downtown."

PPS has also put together guidelines for things like depth of seating, height of bench backs, and the design of bench legs and armrests. Again, guidelines based on years of observation.

If all this sounds too challenging, take heart. As William Whyte wryly noted: "it takes real work to create a lousy place." 

Yet, it can be done! Witness Mercantile Plaza in the heart of downtown St. Louis, which I visited with blogger Steve Patterson on a sunny afternoon a few years ago. As Patterson has noted ""it's more of a vacant hole than a quality urban space ... no seating is provided and sitting on the grass would probably upset the guards."

Of course, seating along sidewalks is also important outside of parks. When combined with food, you have a real winning combination. 

So be sure there are plenty of places in your community where you -- and neighbors, office workers, shoppers, and visitors -- can be seated.

In my next post, we'll stroll over to Greeley Square for a closer look at how one small urban park in New York has been transformed.

[Note: this post was based on notes I took during the April PPS "Streets as Places" workshop, as well as on material from "A Primer on Seating," prepared by PPS staff.]

Circling the Square

 From PCJ Editor Wayne Senville:

Twenty-five local officials, planners, and urban designers from across the U.S. and Canada (and even Brazil), in groups of six or seven, headed downstairs and out the front door of our meeting room in the SoHo section of lower Manhattan. 

Guided by staff from the Project for Public Spaces (PPS), we would be circling the square -- Petrosino Square, that is -- two blocks away.

With walking audit sheets in our hands, our job was to spend an hour carefully observing activities in the square and noting what we saw. Each group had a different sector to focus on. The goal of walking audits like this is to get a feel for what works and what doesn’t, and to come up with ideas for strengthening the place.

While Petrosino Square was the focal point, much of the audit hones in on how the public open space relates to traffic circulation patterns and to surrounding businesses and land uses.

Take a look at a portion of the audit sheet. Click on the image to view it at larger, readable size.

One important point PPS staff mentioned to our group as we headed out: the first five or six minutes of observing are especially important. That’s the time when we get our initial feel for the space we’re viewing.

I used the word “feel” deliberately, because we were advised during this initial period to simply absorb the sights, sounds, and even smells, of the area. This advice reminded me of what I had once heard about listening to music -- just to allow your first hearing of a piece of music to flow through you, without over analyzing it.

Also important to a walking audit (even to our somewhat condensed audit) is taking some time to ask questions of people using the public space or walking nearby, to gain insights from them.

My group was assigned to observe Spring Street, a narrow, but busy street that intersects the northern end of Petrosino Square [See number 5 in the map above]. We found Spring Street lined with retail stores, restaurants, and an assortment of other businesses.

Its' sidewalks hosted a hodge-podge of “street furnishings” such as trash cans and mail boxes, as well as a diverse assortment of signs plastered on light poles.

Also on this one short block: a subway entrance, some unexpected places to sit (as on a fire hydrant), and plenty of graffiti.

Plus a row of parked delivery trucks, two street vendors, and lots and lots of people coursing (yes, “coursing,” not “cursing”) their way down the block.

In a moment of inspiration (perhaps), I decided to ask several people if there was a park nearby where I could find a place to sit. I thought that might be too obvious a question, as Petrosino Square was just a block away, but of the six people I asked (including both street vendors) no one had any idea. One of the vendors was helpful, however, pulling out his street map and trying to locate a nearby park -- without any luck!

Petrosino Square itself has a long, triangular shape, with the narrow end being closest to Spring Street, where my group walked. During our early afternoon, weekday visit Petrosino Square was quite busy, with many of the bench spots taken.

Restaurants bordering the square along Lafayette and Kenmare Streets were also doing well.

Back upstairs in the meeting room we reconvened. Each group sat down to go over audit sheet notes and compare observations.

It was interesting, to see what things different people picked up on. Lots of pieces of information and details were shared. Most significantly, we spent time discussing how Petrosino Square seemed to work for those using the park, and for surrounding businesses.

 

We also try to view the square through the eyes of pedestrians (which we were for a short time). For example, several argued that it might make sense to close or narrow one of the streets bordering the square. This could allow for a much wider sidewalk, and also provide an attractive space for restaurants to place outdoor seating and better connect to the square.

During our discussions, most everyone also felt that Petrosino Square -- despite the work that has gone into improving it over the past few years (which included adding new pavement, benches, and trees) -- still lacked a strong sense of identity. Perhaps this explains, at least in part, why none of the six people I questioned while walking a block away had been aware of the park.

Petrosino Park, as it is now officially called (it used to be Kenmare Square), is named after a true New York City hero, Lieutenant Joseph Petrosino, the city’s first Italian-American sergeant of detectives -- of the Homicide Division.

Petrosino gained fame for warning the Secret Service in 1901 about an assassination plot to take the life of President William McKinley, a warning that unfortunately went unheeded. Ironically, Petrosino himself was assassinated in 1909 in Italy while on an undercover assignment investigating the background of organized crime leaders. Some 250,000 New Yorkers lined the streets of Manhattan for his funeral procession. For more about Lt. Petrosino.

PPS staff prodded us to think about how we might initiate changes to Petrosino Square, and what groups we might try to involve. For PPS, building constituencies to support more actively used public spaces is critically important. 

One big selling point -- especially to retail businesses bordering the public open space -- is how attracting more people will increase their business and, for owners, the value of their property. This is something I’ll come back to in the coming week in postings about Greeley Square and Bryant Park.

Moving cars quickly down the streets bordering the square doesn’t help much in generating business. In fact, it likely has the opposite effect. On the other hand, attracting more pedestrians and bicyclists to the square and its' surroundings would be a boon.

Words often repeated by PPS staff during the workshop -- and I jotted them down -- were “active,” “pedestrian-oriented,” “street life,” “sidewalks,” “outdoor eating,”  and “fun.” Don’t dismiss “fun” -- people like to be in a place they can enjoy being in. It sounds so obvious. Yet how can you enjoy being in a place where autos and trucks constantly stream by?

To Fred Kent, President of PPS, it’s also important to think outside the box, or in our case, outside the square. As he stressed, a small square like Petrosino can be much more than just a row of park benches with a couple of trees. It can be the heart of a neighborhood, the generator of activity, a place where people enjoy spending their time, socializing, eating, relaxing, and watching other people also enjoying themselves.

Petrosino Square’s already heading in that direction. It just needs a little more of a push. In the meantime, there’s much to enjoy in circling the square on a sunny afternoon.

Can a Street Be a Place?

From PCJ Editor Wayne Senville: 

This post's title is the question that was at the heart of a fascinating two-day workshop I attended in April. Sponsored by the Project for Public Spaces, the workshop's description as covering "Streets as Places" intrigued me. But PPS Executive Vice President Kathy Madden told me to only come if I was also willing to be an active participant. Sounded like fun, and it was. Indeed, the PPS workshop centered around active interaction between the thirty or so attendees. (Next week I'll talk about our group "walking audit" exercise).

But why think about streets as places? First, streets constitute a surprisingly large amount of the land area within cities, often 30 percent or more. That's a lot of valuable real estate given over the cars and trucks. Second, what happens on streets directly affects what happens on sidewalks. Third, streets affect quality of life; something most all of us care about.

Here's some of what PPS has to say about streets: "While streets were once a place where we stopped for conversation and children played, they are now the exclusive domain of cars. Even where sidewalks are present along highways and high-speed streets, they feel inhospitable and out of place."

For planners and transportation engineers, dealing with streets has long focused on how to move traffic as efficiently and quickly as possible. Other concerns, if considered at all, were secondary. The not too surprising result of this philosophy, as those at PPS succinctly put it, is that "if you plan cities for cars and traffic, you get cars and traffic. If you plan for people and places, you get people and places."

So how do you plan for streets that work as places where people are comfortable? Among the key things PPS recommends is:

1. using traffic calming strategies, including curb extensions and better intersection design, "to slow down cars, provide more space for walking, and make streets safer to cross;" 
2. simplify circulation patterns for both motorists and pedestrians; 
3. give more emphasis to sidewalks and how they function; and
4. strengthen the relationship of buildings and surrounding land uses to streets.

But there's one even more overriding concept that PPS President Fred Kent pointed out right at the start of the workshop: "It's not just the road and sidewalks, it's the community. Streets are public spaces."

Kent has focused much of his professional life on this theme. A student of William Holly Whyte -- who pioneered in researching how people use and interact in public spaces -- Kent recounted how one of his first research assignments involved filming a day in the life of a wastebasket on one corner of a midtown Manhattan street. Yes, you read that right. There's much that can be learned, he noted, through careful observation of how people actually use streets and sidewalks (and even how they interact with trash receptacles). 

[As a side note, take a look at the short William Whyte video, The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces, that we posted on the PlannersWeb last winter].

Kent went on to found the Project for Public Spaces in 1975. Over the years PPS has grown, and now works with cities not just in the U.S. and Canada, but around the globe.

Kent also spoke about the late Dutch traffic engineer Hans Monderman, who developed the idea of "shared streets" (aka "shared spaces") -- that is, streets without traffic lights, stop signs, or lane markings, but where people can walk freely wherever on the street they want to. According to Kent, one of Monderman's favorite sayings was: "If you want vehicles to behave like they are in a village, build a village." 

Monderman's research on shared streets found that they do slow down car speeds, as motorists take their time to weave their way down the block. Earlier in his career, Monderman originated the "Woonerf" street which some of you may have heard of (see slides of a Woonerf street in Delft), a precursor of the shared street. 

Interestingly, scenes from early 20th century America show that our main streets back then worked, at least in some ways, as shared streets. Take a look at this short video filmed in 1906 of Market Street, San Francisco's main downtown corridor.

While we may not be ready for shared streets in 21st century America (and the concept is still relatively untested and controversial), the underlying point -- that streets should be designed not just for cars, but for people -- is highly relevant to our cities and towns today.

In my next post, I'll tell you how workshop participants spent part of the afternoon circling a square.

Picasso vs. Chagall in Chicago

From PCJ Editor Wayne Senville:

The week before last I was in Chicago briefly on personal business. I had a bit of free time on Friday to wander through the Loop. One observation: Pablo Picasso seems to fare much better than Marc Chagall. 

Here's what I mean. Within two blocks of each other are two open plazas featuring outstanding works of art. Daley Plaza is the site of an inspiring Picasso sculpture -- simply referred to as "the Picasso" -- while just to the south, framing the east side of Chase Tower Plaza, is Chagall's beautiful wall mural, The Four Seasons.

Two wonderful pieces of outdoor art gracing downtown Chicago. Yet, there's a dramatic difference -- not in the art, but in the setting. Daley Plaza in mid-afternoon (around 2:30pm on Friday) was full of people, sitting, talking, snacking, and looking up at the Picasso. Five minutes later in Chase Tower Plaza there was quite a different scene.

I don't know Chicago well enough to know if what I saw is typical of both plazas. Why the difference? 

One element that struck me was the fact that the Chagall mural is set in a sunken plaza, not directly on the street. 

Perhaps it's too hidden for many to notice? 

Perhaps people don't feel comfortable walking down into the enclosed space? 

Perhaps, in contrast to the Picasso in Daley Plaza, the Chagall mural is simply not aligned with pedestrian flows? 

I certainly hope more people look in on the Chagall mural -- it's a wonderful work of art, there to enjoy at no cost.

I'd look forward to hearing from those of you who live or work in Chicago, or have seen the plazas on visits to Chicago -- how do they compare?

p.s., I committed a cardinal sin for a planner visiting Chicago -- I didn't take have my digital camera with me! I took the photos with my cellphone, so they're not quite as sharp as I'd like.

A Walk on the Wild Side

From PCJ Editor Wayne Senville:

Take an online wildlife walk through downtown Tucson, Arizona. It's quite interesting what you can see and learn in the heart of the city.

Sometimes we come across a Web site that makes us wonder ... why hadn't someone thought of this before?

That's the case with the delightful Tucson's Urban Wildlife Walk web site, developed by Kimberly Creagan, ASLA, for her Master's in Landscape Architecture at the University of Arizona. 

As Kimberly told me: "I developed a strong interest in urban wildlife habitat and native plants when I moved to Arizona in 2005. For a while, I worked at the Desert Botanical Gardens in Phoenix and was amazed to see how many species of wildlife were using that urban habitat patch. Tucson and the Sonoran Desert have such unique flora and fauna and I was interested in doing my part to help maintain healthy populations so that everyone has the opportunity to experience them." 

For school age kids, the web site not only provides an introduction to native habitat, it also shows the value of observing what's right around you. But I'd say the site is great for kids of all ages.

note: Kimberly won a Communications Honor Award in the Student category from the American Society of Landscape Architects last year for the Urban Wildlife Walk site. 

Vancouver City: In Motion

I enjoy watching good time-lapse videos, and there are some quite good ones on YouTube of various cities. But this is one of the best I've seen. What's more, it couldn't be more fitting now that the Vancouver Winter Olympics are about to begin. So sit back, relax, and enjoy Vancouver!

Some information about the video posted on YouTube: "Vancouver City" music video is an artistic collaboration between Innerlife Project and TimeLapseHD. These time lapses are shot with a 12 mega pixel digital single lens reflex cameras. Original resolution is 6 times better then HD (high definition). The images have been resized for HD and are much better quality then shown here on YouTube. Video clips are for sale. For more information and music downloads go to www.innerlifeproject.com 

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Read Planetizen's Nate Berg interview of Vancouver Planning Director Brent Toderian in "The Olympics and the City" on Places.

OK, perhaps we're being Janus-faced, but for those of you who finding this video too upbeat or who are concerned with mega-scale sporting events and some of their negative impacts, take a look at: Closing Ceremonies: How Law, Policy and the Winter Olympics are Displacing an Inconveniently Located Low-Income Community in Vancouver (scroll down article to get to the Vancouver section).

An Introduction to Urban Design

What do you see when you walk down the main street of your city or town? Are the buildings and public spaces interesting to look at? Do you feel comfortable and secure? Planner and landscape architect Ilene Watson provides an introduction to urban design and how it can be used to create more people-oriented places. From PCJ #43, Summer 2001; 7 pages

Read excerpt from article: Unfortunately, there are no hard and fast rules related to urban design. A structural beam in a building must meet certain requirements for that building to stand. A road must be built in a certain way to avoid future potholes. Urban design, however, is not a series of rules and standards. Rather, it is a group of concepts that, once understood, can lead to a fresh way of perceiving streets, buildings, and spaces -- and insights into why certain places are appealing and others are not. With urban design concepts in mind you should be able to better question architectural presentations and consider the impact of development proposals on your town's character. The varied rythmns of storefronts, as above in Brattleboro, Vermont, helps establish a pedestrian oriented scale. Contrast this with the blank walls greeting pedestrians at many newer stores. Urban design operates on various scales -- from orienting people through the layout and hierarchy of streets and buildings, to valuing an attractive paving detail in front of a store's door. The ideas can be applied to buildings, the street, land uses, urban park development, and anything else that is woven into the fabric of a town. The purpose of this article is to provide you with a basic introduction to urban design, an introduction which hopefully will lead you to further explore this vital topic. ... Article then covers eight key urban design concepts: 1. Physical comfort 2. Circulation and accessibility 3. Transitions and boundaries 4. The connection between street and building 5. Reasons to be there 6. Scale 7. Detail, variety, and complexity [a portion of the text is excerpted below] Due to the slower pace, people are more aware of their surroundings as pedestrians than when driving a car. As intelligent and curious individuals, we enjoy an environment with variety, detail, and complexity. A sidewalk might have a brick paving edge that changes design at intersections. A building might have a mosaic of tile in front of the door that catches our eye, or a change in appearance around windows. Details, variety, and complexity provide the richness that makes things interesting for us. This is not to say that infinite variety is preferred. Too much variety and our world becomes hard to understand. A building may have a palette of three to five related colors, not twenty unrelated ones. Landscaping may consist of groupings of a selected number of species, not one of everything. Variety is best provided within an overall cohesive framework. 8. Cohesiveness ...

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An Introduction to Design Guidelines

A growing number of cities and towns are using design guidelines to help preserve or reinforce the distinctive architectural character of certain areas or districts. Planner Ilene Watson explains what design guidelines are and how they can be used. From PCJ #41; Winter 2001; 5 pages

A town can create design guidelines for infrastructure, such as sidewalk details, lighting, and street furniture. Note the simple renovation on the building includes roof detailing and a building projection over the sidewalk. Read excerpt from article: Most towns have a comprehensive plan that indicates the broad vision of the community, potential land use locations, and, some criteria for development decisions. In addition to the comprehensive plan there is the zoning bylaw (or code). The zoning bylaw sets out strict regulations that properties must meet such as density, use, and setbacks. The comprehensive plan is usually broad in nature. The zoning bylaw is much more specific. Design guidelines provide a more detailed image than the broad goals of the comprehensive plan, yet they allow greater flexibility and creativity in addressing design issues than is typically found in a zoning bylaw. It is critical that any design guidelines be clear enough to be understood by the public - not just by professional architects or planners. This means they should avoid jargon whenever possible, clearly explain any technical terms, and avoid vague language such as calling for a building to "be consistent" with those around it. Creating clear and understandable guidelines is also important for ensuring that they are legally defensible. ... There is one question continually faced by those involved in writing design guidelines: Where is that fine line between guidelines being so exact they are rigid and stifling, and guidelines being so subjective they become hard to interpret and enforce? This is the dilemma between prescriptive guidelines which are regulatory and rigid, and descriptive guidelines which are focused on providing input into the design process and flexibility. Descriptive guidelines allow more creativity and are adaptable to the conditions of the site, but can be so open to interpretation that it can be difficult to refuse a development that shows only a minimal response to design issues. This type of guideline often indicates that a certain response to a design issue is only "encouraged" or "discouraged." Prescriptive guidelines are less open to interpretation, but can inhibit exploring various design options -- and sometimes may even prohibit a good, creative design solution. This type of guideline usually has a requirement that must be incorporated into a project's plans. ...

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Lessons from Houston's Streets

 Its' always enjoyable to spot an informative web blog dealing with ways to improve a community. In the case of NewUrbanStreets, the community is downtown Houston, Texas, and the blog tells of "lessons learned" and "issues faced." Here's how Tom Davis, the creator of the blog describes it:

"The purpose of this blog is to share things learned by Tom Davis (me) in the public infrastructure and community improvement industry. At this time this blog will address primarily the past 10 years of my 39-year career where I have had the privilege of being part of the revitalization of downtown Houston, Texas. The posts here are articles about features of downtown’s urban streetscape and contain descriptions of the improvements. The hope is these descriptions help others add such amenities to their public space."

From the postings we've read, there are certainly some good, practical lessons that can be learned from downtown Houston. Just take a look at two recent posts, one on paver inserts in concrete sidewalks (Jan. 9), another on the use of trench fountains (Jan. 7).

Looking forward to learning more from Tom Davis.

Mayor: Citizens are Developing a Green Grand Rapids

This January and February we'll periodically be including excerpts from "State of the City" addresses given by mayors from across the U.S. These addresses can offer insights into both innovative programs and challenges facing cities.

Previously posted:

Shoreview, Minnesota, Mayor Sandy Martin

Salt Lake City, Utah, Mayor Ralph Becker

Ashland, Oregon, Mayor John Stromberg

Topeka, Kansas, Mayor Bill Bunten

Albany, New York, Mayor Gerald Jennings

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Grand Rapids, Michigan, Mayor George K. Hartwell
To read his complete State of the City address (pdf)

A vision must reflect the past, incorporate learning from our failures and build on our successes. 2009 will forever be known as the year of Green Grand Rapids … and the Green Grand Rapids Plan will forever shape the face of our city ... 

Our community drew together over 100 times in public meetings; more than 1800 people participated in the design of the plan. The results are stunning … but are not exactly what we had anticipated. You see, we knew we’d have a great plan when the day was done, and that then we would take its component parts out and sell them to the public. But a funny thing happened on the way to the forum. Teams working on the plan got so enthusiastic about the emerging results that they forged new coalitions and created new organizations, and began to implement the plan before it was even completed. 

Friends of Grand Rapids Parks formed to raise money for improved parks and green spaces in our city. This non-profit foundation has hosted park clean-up events in all four quadrants of the city. 

The Greater Grand Rapids Bicycle Coalition formed to implement complete-street design initiatives and seek funding for bike lanes and trails. Under the Coalition’s leadership this year Grand Rapids was designated as a bronze-level Bicycle Friendly City and we have our eyes on the gold! ... and the Grand Rapids Whitewater non-profit organization formed to advance the plans for a Grand River whitewater kayak course. These citizens – every one of whom captured the vision and made it their own – have raised the first money for engineering and hydrological studies.

Also, before the ink was set on the pages of Green Grand Rapids the Planning Department applied for $1.9 million in federal stimulus funds as part of a larger Kent County grant. If approved ... we will be able to implement 100 miles of on-street bicycle improvements, we will make safety and access improvements to 20 neighborhood parks, we will install bike parking at four transit stops, we will engineer four miles of sidewalks along 28th St., and we will assist in funding consulting services for the Downtown Urban Market.

There are many bold and exciting recommendations in Green Grand Rapids. A few of them are: 

• Provide an accessible park within 1/4 mile of all residents 
• Extend the Riverwalk system from Riverside Park to Millennium Park 
• Achieve 40% tree canopy coverage in the city 
• Manage stormwater where it falls 
• Adopt a Complete Streets ordinance Design all streets to be safe, walkable and bikeable, and pleasing to the eye 
• Return the Rapids to the river 
• Develop ordinances to support community gardening, and 
• Support a 4-season downtown farmers' market

As citizen groups coalesce around these audacious goals you will see a new Grand Rapids emerging; a green Grand Rapids; a Grand Rapids that will provide national leadership in the sustainable communities movement.

... Governmental leaders, elected and staff, must maintain the tools, sharpened and polished and easily accessible to assist citizens in doing important initiatives be they neighborhood-based or city-wide. Then those government leaders, elected and staff, must get out of the way and let the citizens do what needs to be done. We can harness the energy, we can provide the structure, we can promote the ideas, but we must let our citizens accomplish the great things they have in mind.

Sales Up for Independent Retailers

Came across some interesting information from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. Coincidentally, read this at about the same time we received a draft article for the Spring issue of the Planning Commissioners Journal highlighting the importance of strong local economies. See: Coping With Economic Meltdown, by Gwen Hallsmith, Planning Director for the City of Montpelier, Vermont. (Would welcome your feedback on this draft article)

Read complete Press Release; Download Survey Results

Excerpts: More holiday shoppers deliberately sought out locally owned businesses this year, according to a national survey of more than 1,800 independent businesses. 

The survey found that holiday sales for independent retailers were up an average of 2.2%. That contrasts with the U.S. Department of Commerce figures released today, which show that overall retail sales were down 0.3% in December and up 1.8% in November.

The survey also found that independent retailers in cities with active "Buy Independent / Buy Local" or "Local First" campaigns reported stronger holiday sales than those in cities without such campaigns. These campaigns have been launched in more than 100 cities and towns. Independent retailers in these cities reported an average increase in holiday sales of 3.0%, compared to 1.0% for those in cities without an active Buy Local initiative.

The survey was conducted by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, a nonprofit research organization, in partnership with several business organizations, including the American Booksellers Association, American Independent Business Alliance, American Specialty Toy Retailers Association, Business Alliance for Local Living Economies, and National Bicycle Dealers Association.

Dream of Revitalizing Downtown

 This month and next on our News, Notes, & Quotes page we'll periodically be including excerpts from "State of the City" addresses given by mayors from across the U.S. These addresses can offer insights into both innovative programs and challenges facing cities.

Previously posted:

Shoreview, Minnesota, Mayor Sandy Martin

Salt Lake City, Utah, Mayor Ralph Becker

Ashland, Oregon, Mayor John Stromberg

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Topeka, Kansas, Mayor Bill Bunten's State of the City Address
to read his complete State of the City address (Jan. 19, 2010)

... If we’re going to be successful in this life as persons, we’ve got to have dreams or goals and attain them, and if this city is to grow and prosper we need to dream too. ...

The last dream is one I believe most Topekans have, and that is to revitalize our downtown, to make it special once again, a part of our city we can again be proud of. Let me speak briefly to this last dream.

The Heartland Visioning program began in 2008, and identified the concerns of the residents of our city. There were many, but the greatest concern was the deterioration of downtown, for despite substantial economic activity, there was an abundance of vacant space, the second stories of many buildings were empty, the infrastructure, water, gas and electric lines, are aging and showing it.

At 6:00 at night the downtown is pretty much vacant and it is not a destination for diners and revellers as it once was.

In November of this year the Greater Topeka Chamber of Commerce held a retreat, the purpose of which was to consider ways to breathe life into this central and important area of our city. Committees were established and met during the day in an effort to find a spark, an idea we could embrace.

It came from a committee co-chaired by John Dicus of Capitol Federal and Jim Parrish, and had among its members, Mike Morse and former city manager and public works director, Neil Dobler.

They spoke to the 150 or so who attended the retreat of an idea so different, so surprising, that the place fell silent.

They spoke not of parades or events, not of a farmers market or a baseball stadium, although those willbe hopefully, a part of a plan in the future, instead they spoke of changing the look of our downtown area to create green space; make Kansas Avenue two lanes —- and make those lanes serpentine; to revive the 8th street corridor and to have fountains at 6th, 8th and 10th street intersections.

... This was the beginning of a serious effort to develop a plan for our downtown. That plan, now only a concept, must be developed over a period of time with input from citizens and the consent of those whose businesses are located on or near Kansas Avenue and are most affected.

There will be a host of problems to be addressed and there will be serious opposition from some. But it is the genesis of a plan that began with the Heartland Visioning process and will continue or end with the consent or rejection of your city council.

... We either do something, or we do nothing. If we do nothing the downtown could continue to decline. If we do something it costs money. ...

Pop Up Lunch

Have you ever had a hard time finding a spot downtown to sit down and eat your brown bag lunch. There's hope ... and inspiration from the very creative Alexandra Pulver and her Pop Up Lunch web blog. As she notes on her web page: "I am exploring how nontraditional public spaces - like sidewalks - might be easily transformed into lively places to lunch. This blog follows a series of Pop Up Lunches I have staged (some big, some small) and my development of mobile eating tools designed for the sidewalks of NYC. Ultimately, I hope that my efforts might inspire even a handful of my fellow urbanites to reconsider the potential for lunch - to be a joyful daily event - and for the sidewalks of NYC to serve as more than just pathways."

Browse through her site. It's fun! One of my favorite posts on her blog is: Who Needs a Designer When You Have Common Sense.

Thanks to the Inspiration Wall web blog where I came across Pop Up Lunch.