Planning Commissioners Journal

You Could Use a Break Today!

Try putting together the pieces of six PCJ cover puzzles. Use the links below to open each puzzle. -- may require a Java plug-in to work. Controlling Strip Development Green Infrastructure The Return of Downtown Sustainability Urban Design Which Road Will We Take?

Getting Our Arms Around "Externalities"

How do we account for the indirect effects of decisions we make? Is it even possible? by Dave Stauffer; from PCJ #83 (Summer 2011); 1 page Read excerpts below; to order & download the full article use Shopping Cart button at bottom of this post. -- if you are a Planning Commissioners Journal subscriber (or receive the Journal through your planning commission/board), you can download the article at no charge.

Read start of article: Externalities are increasingly in the news these days -- for example, in reports on health care reform and global warming -- though they're seldom identified as externalities. Externalities are the consequences of a transaction or activity that are experienced by those who are not directly involved in the transaction or activity, including future generations. Externalities of smoking include breathing second-hand smoke. An externality of burning fossil fuels is carbon emissions. Within our realm of planning, externalities consist of the costs and benefits -- often unquantifiable -- imposed on a neighborhood or community as an indirect result of land use regulation, permitted or denied development, and other actions under our purview. Externalities can be good as well as bad. A good, or positive, externality of smoking for some people is seeing it as sexy; think about men watching Lauren Bacall light up in films of the 1940s! Entertainment aside, we planning commissioners aid in providing positive externalities, for example, when tourism gets a boost from designation of a historic district, or citizens enjoy the sight and activities of parks and other open space, or we help lessen damage to vehicles and reduce bothersome dust by requiring a developer to pave a previously gravel-surfaced road. Knotty Complications So we planners have been dealing with externalities from the moment we became commissioners -- though few of us realized it. Externalities, by their nature, are tough to discern and weigh in planning decisions. Here are a few of the knottiest complications of externalities we commonly face: -- Externalities can be considered only to the extent they are known. Think of the dozens -- perhaps hundreds? -- of proven and suspected impacts of sprawl development that have been revealed by research of only the past 20 or so years. Objections may be voiced today to proposed "greenfield" exurban retail development, citing negative impacts of pollution and traffic congestion, where prior projects of the same type won approval with unchallenged acclaim for their favorable economic impacts. We are prisoners of our current times and knowledge, and have no choice but to base our decisions on today's best evidence. ... to order full article, use button below.

order & download full article $2.50 (single copy license)
order & download full article $10.00 (license to print/store up to 20 copies of article)

Why We Need to Tell (and Listen to) Stories

In our Summer issue, planner (and PCJ contributing writer) Lisa Hollingsworth-Segedy provides a quite interesting look into the benefits of using stories in local planning.

Lisa supplements her Planning Commissioners Journal article by describing (in a short audio) three important lessons she's learned about the use of storytelling.

To listen to Lisa's 9 minute long audio, just click on the icon below.

[If you have any problems with the audio player, you can also access the audio via this link.]

Planning Commissioners Journal subscribers: while you will be receiving your printed copy of our Summer issue within the next two to three weeks, you can also download a complimentary pdf of Lisa's article, "Story as a Planning Tool," right now.

Not a Planning Commissioners Journal subscriber: you can download Lisa's article for a small charge (better yet, become a PCJ subscriber!).

 

Inviting Them In: Using Story as a Planning Tool

Storytelling is the universal human language. We think in story. We form our attitudes about the world around us in story. A primer on how story can be used in community planning. by Lisa Hollingsworth-Segedy, AICP; from PCJ #83 (Summer 2011); 2 pages -- we recommend that you also listen to Lisa discuss three lessons she learned about using story. Read excerpts below; to order & download the full article use Shopping Cart button at bottom of this post. -- if you are a Planning Commissioners Journal subscriber (or receive the Journal through your planning commission/board), you can download the article at no charge.

Read start of article: In the early '90s, I was working with an urban-rural fringe community that was in the path of growth. The community recognized their need for a new zoning ordinance that would promote their small-town identity while still accommodating new development. I had reviewed all the data, analyzed land use patterns and calculated various ratios of land use categories to create development scenarios. I provided neat handouts and colorful maps. But the project was going frustratingly nowhere. Despite all the facts, the analyses, and carefully-drawn scenarios, we were all at loggerheads. The project deadline was looming, the budget was growing thin, and from all appearances, we were still a long way from the new ordinance. The data simply weren't telling the story the community needed to hear. The facts DON'T speak for themselves. Planners are trained as scientists, taught to emphasize statistics, inventories, trends, analyses, and projections. Our job is to help ensure that community decisions are rational, and the link between current conditions and future solutions is logically defensible. But the facts alone don't provide what planning staff and planning commissioners need to do their jobs effectively -- to compellingly communicate the issues to the public, and to draw citizens into meaningful involvement that translates into dynamic results. More often than not, we put the facts out there and then become frustrated when the converts don't flock to our camp. In doing so, we have overlooked our most powerful communication tool: story. Story is the universal human language. We think in story. We form our attitudes about the world around us in story. We use the stories we tell ourselves to justify our opinions. And before we can influence others' opinions about an issue or propel them to action, we need to tell compelling stories that make the facts accessible to them. When you are considering how to move a new comprehensive plan or a new zoning ordinance from inception to completion, you may be thinking, "We don't have time to tell stories. We already have too many meetings and they always last too long." Taking the time to tell and hear stories is the key for effective information-gathering, consensus-building, and community-strengthening. ... article continues with look at how stories can be used in planning.

order & download full article $3.00 (single copy license)
order & download full article $12.00 (license to print/store up to 20 copies of article)

The Value of Debriefing

How debriefing meetings can help planning commissions work more effectively. by Jim Segedy, FAICP, and Lisa Hollingsworth-Segedy, AICP; from PCJ #82 (Spring 2011); 2 pages Read excerpts below; to order & download the full article use Shopping Cart button at bottom of this post.

Read excerpt from start of article: Many years ago, Lisa was on the planning staff of a regional planning agency. The morning after the initial public meeting for a joint county-municipal comprehensive plan, the planning director called an impromptu staff meeting. "What worked well?" was her first question. She made notes of our responses on a flip chart using a fat blue marker. After five minutes, she moved to, "What didn't work well?" In another five minutes, she asked, "What would you like us to do differently for the next public meeting?" In 15 minutes, we had a list that summarized our experiences and gave us direction. This simple debriefing process was a valuable technique that empowered Lisa and her fellow staff members to recognize success, recount their frustrations, and agree on new approaches for future work. Jim's experience with debriefing was somewhat different. When he was on the local planning commission, near the end of each meeting, everyone would look at their watch. One person would move to adjourn, there would be a second, and before the gavel hit the desk we were all outta there. Woe be to anyone who got between the members and the door. At the next meeting it was the same, and nothing ever got any better. The process of planning commission decision-making requires as much attention as does the decisions themselves. Following up on the meetings and the issues raised is critical -- and in the long-run makes for more efficient and effective meetings. Who knows, with enough debriefing and adjusting, those meetings may even finish early! Debriefing is a technique of "reflective learning" that can be applied one-on-one or in a group setting. It is frequently used in military, medical, and emergency response situations, where participants use role-playing and simulations of potential events to prepare for circumstances in which decisions affecting life and death must be made quickly. Debriefing enables participants to emotionally process the event and analyze the decisions they made (and their outcomes). This facilitates learning, improving how people respond to future situations. Debriefing is not critique. An important distinction between the two is the flow of information. In a debriefing, all parties are allowed equal time to give and receive information. This differs from a critique, which is generally a one-way flow of information (as when an instructor provides an evaluation of a student's project). Another important distinction of debriefing is that it is not just a "gripe session." Debriefing relies on a specific structure of: (1) recounting events -- the what's and the why's, (2) dealing with emotions and feelings, (3) analyzing decisions and outcomes, and (4)thoughtfully reflecting and focusing on future situations or practices. ... the full article is available to order & download immediately below. Jim Segedy is the Director of Community Planning for the Pennsylvania Environmental Council and a co-author of The Small Town Planning Handbook. He is also a member of the Edgewood Borough Planning Commission and the Swissvale Business Development Advisory Committee. Lisa Hollingsworth-Segedy is Associate Director for River Restoration for American Rivers' Western Pennsylvania Field Office, and a former Planning Director for a Regional Planning Commission near Atlanta. For a list of the Segedys' previous articles published in the Planning Commissioners Journal.

order & download full article $3.00 (single copy license)
order & download full article $12.00 (license to print/store up to 20 copies of article)

What's "Sustainable"?

Sustainability may be hard to define, but it’s increasingly being discussed by developers and local planning commissions. by Dave Stauffer; from PCJ #80 (Fall 2010) -- see also our April conversation with Dave Stauffer, one of our contributing writers. We're making available the full text of Stauffer's article below; you can also download a complimentary pdf of the article.

If your commission is like the one in my town, more developers and applicants are loading their project designs with features intended to impress you because they're "sustainable." But ask them what they mean by sustainable and you're likely to get responses ranging from a blank look to a treatise on every person's obligation to help save the planet. So, what's "sustainable"? The most common definition seems to be that offered by the United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development's 1987 Brundtland Report, stating that sustainable development "meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." The International Institute for Sustainable Development quotes the U.N. definition and adds, "The concept of sustainable development ... helps us understand ourselves and our world. The problems we face are complex and serious -- and we can't address them in the same way we created them. But we can address them." According to the contributors to Wikipedia, "Sustainable development is a pattern of resource use that aims to meet human needs while preserving the environment so that these needs can be met not only in the present, but also for future generations." Others reach back in history to cite, for example, the "Great Law of the Iroquois" American Indian tribe, which supposedly commanded sustainability by declaring, "In every deliberation we must consider the impact on the seventh generation." For the past few years, as chairman of a regional business group [the Yellowstone Business Partnership] whose below-the-logo tagline is "Advancing Sustainable Enterprise," I've read and heard a lot about sustainability and sustainable development. Among my conclusions: We're a long way, in consensus and time, from universal agreement on a definition of sustainability. It's nice, but not crucial, that we agree on a definition. What is crucial is that we who are asked to weigh claims of sustainability come up with a practical definition that we can use day-to-day to make the decisions that come before us. That's no simple task. Opinions on a project's sustainability will often range widely among commissioners. Moreover, assessing a project's attributes will seldom be a matter of black or white, but rather a frustrating grey. But grey terms are nothing new for us; we toil in a realm of squishy definitions. What's the pay range, for example, of a "well-paying job"? What project attributes constitute "responsible" development? We shouldn't -- and in my opinion can't -- shy away from our own determination of whether project features really are sustainable. How might we do that? Make developers or applicants do the heavy lifting. When they tout their project's sustainability, ask how they define that term. Then ask them to explain how their sustainable features meet that definition. Don't settle for generalities: get names of processes, materials, and methods. Also be sure to ask what additional up-front amount they're spending, beyond regulatory requirements, to achieve long-run sustainability. Give an "A" for effort. Sustainability means different things to different people, has no widely accepted metrics, and -- truth to tell -- few projects that come before us can be called sustainable. So (without ignoring any stated requirements for project approval) cut some slack for applicants who show you they've made a commendable effort to fashion a project that conserves resources, respects its surroundings, and is built to last. Devise and think through your own list of sustainable project features. My current list (always subject to change) includes attributes of: Scale -- a good fit with neighbors, neither ramshackle nor grandiose. Access and mobility -- it's easy to get into, out of, and around in. Consumption & waste -- efforts to minimize are evident and effective. Re-use -- makes use of recycled building materials when feasible. Location & siting -- makes the most of orientation to sun, topography, wind, natural and manmade infrastructure. Absence -- preserves open space and is no larger than necessary for its functions. Stay flexible in defining sustainability. There's nothing wrong with a changing concept of what sustainability is or how a project achieves it; sustainability as its own field of study is far from mature. As you review more applications that claim sustainability, stay open to refining your own criteria. Given the state of our world today, especially our accelerating depletion of natural resources and rising costs of manmade resources, sustainability is certain to gain ever-increasing attention. It may be hard to define, but it's vitally important to our communities. Dave Stauffer is a freelance writer and chairman of the Yellowstone Business Partnership. He is a former city planner, planning commission chair, and city council member in Red Lodge, Montana. Stauffer regularly writes for the PCJ. For excerpts from his previous articles.

Reporting from the World Canals Conference

Note from Planning Commissioners Journal Editor Wayne Senville:

I've been at the World Canals Conference in Rochester and Buffalo, New York, the past two days speaking with some fascinating people from around the world -- and learning about the many positive impacts that canals and inland waterways can bring to cities, towns, and regions.

I'll be posting a series of short reports here on the PlannersWeb later. But for now, you can get a quick glimpse of some of what I've been hearing from my Conference "tweets."

If you use Twitter you'll find additional tweets later today or tomorrow morning. Use the hashtag: #canconf to locate the tweets and, of course, feel free to chime in.

You can click on the graphic of the tweets below to view it at larger size in a pop up window.

 

Looking for a Great Gift Idea?

We've heard from many of you -- and you can now (finally!) purchase some of the outstanding cover drawings that illustrator Paul Hoffman has prepared for the Planning Commissioners Journal. 

These prints will look terrific on a wall in your office or home. Need to find something special for a planner you know? Looking for a great way to say "thank you" to a retiring planning commissioner for his or her service? A framed print would make a prized gift.

You can also order the designs on note and gift cards, tote bags, mousepads, and t-shirts.

Paul has illustrated every one of our 78 -- and counting -- covers since 1991. 

We're starting our online store by making a sampling of a dozen of his cover illustrations available. Take a look below, then go to our page on the Cafe Press web site. 

By the way, Cafe Press does an excellent job in mounting and framing the illustrations -- we know, as we now have several of Paul's illustrations on our office walls. 

Here's a reduced size screenshot of our Cafe Press page; click on the screenshot to go to the actual page:

Go to our Cafe Press site

If there's interest, we'll add more of Paul's cover art. So if you have a favorite Planning Commissioners Journal cover, let us know.

One way of seeing all the covers Paul has done, albeit at low-resolution, is by browsing through our collection of back issues -- also a great way of scanning the more than 400 articles we've published since 1991.

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.

A Remarkable Invention Linking People an Ocean Apart!

Imagine if you could stand next to the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City and wave greetings -- in real time -- to folks in London, England. Big deal, you might say. We have video teleconferencing, and we can even easily do this with webcams on our laptop computers. But then, why was the Telectroscope so popular last year. Yes, I said Telectroscope. They say it's a marvelous invention linking two giant telescope-like devices in New York and London via an underwater tube. Take a look at these two short news videos about it, one from the Associated Press, the other from the Wall Street Journal.

---

OK, so what if the Telectroscopes were just elaborate pieces of temporary public art (installed during May and June 2008) making use of two video cameras linked by a VPN connection transmitting images using MPEG-2 compression? Thousands flocked to the Telectroscopes' viewing screens to wave and smile at those waving and smiling back at them from across the Atlantic. Why? In part because of the creativity, imagination, spectacle, and plain fun involved. It's a "public art event" -- and events like this help enliven our cities. 

You can also see hundreds of photos of the devices -- both in New York and London -- on the Flickr web site. I have to say, they're really quite remarkable pieces of interactive art.

If you have a few minutes, you should also read about the history of the Telectroscope. Here's how it starts: 

"This is the story of an extraordinary invention called a Telectroscope. Miraculously, using only a tunnel through the earth and a Telectroscope, people can simultaneously interact with others who are many miles and hours away. ... Some years ago an artist by the name of Paul St George opened a battered suitcase. This suitcase had lain unopened on the top of a wardrobe for many years. In the suitcase he found a treasure trove of journals, drawings, diagrams, correspondence, notebooks, scribbled calculations, boxes of papers, an album of press-clippings and even one or two photographs. On further inspection he discovered that they had been the property of his great-grandfather, a little known Victorian engineer, Alexander Stanhope St George. The notebooks were full of intricate drawings and passages of writing describing a strange machine. ... Continue the story on the Telectroscope.net web site.

For more about the Telectroscope installations, see articles from The New York Times and from the BBC.

Consider Including our Widget on your Web Site or Blog

There's an easy way to enable your readers to access the content we're posting on the PlannersWeb -- that's by inserting our widget on your web site or blog. 

You can see the widget in action in our left sidebar (you might need to scroll up or down a bit). Use this link to obtain and then install our widget. There's no charge for its use and you can easily uninstall at any time.

Today is Earth Day!

We came across a short animated video that nicely highlights key environmental issues & accomplishments since Earth Day was initiated in 1970 by former U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin. If you enjoy the video, share it with friends. It was produced, sensibly enough, by the Mother Nature Network (use the last link to also view transcript of the key dates shown in the video). 

• For more on current Earth Day activities.
• For a history of Earth Day (on Wikipedia).
• Photo gallery of the first Earth Day in America in 1970 (from PBS Earth Days in America web site).
• E is for Ecology (from Laurence Gerckens' Planning ABC's).

In an article we published several years ago, planning historian Laurence C. Gerckens, FAICP, called the Environmental Movement one of the top 10 successes that shaped the 20 century American city. As Gerckens noted:

"The environmental movement, in which many planners took active roles, capped its influence in 1969 and 1970 with the passage of the National Environmental Policy Act, requiring environmental impact statements before major public projects such as highways could be built; the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency; and the first Earth Day celebration (on April 22, 1970), which saw millions of Americans demonstrating in support of environmental protection."

Sure would be nice to see more of that kind of positive energy in 2010!

In Our Spring Issue: "Stop, Look, Loiter"

Stop, look, and take the time to observe how people interact with the built environment. by Dave Stauffer; from PCJ #78 (Spring 2010); 1 page -- see our conversation with Dave Stauffer, one of our new contributing writers. Read excerpts below; to order & download the full article use Shopping Cart button at bottom of this post.

Use of the word "loitering" is usually pejorative. The Merriam-Webster dictionary says loitering is "to remain in an area for no obvious reason." Wikipedia says it means "to stand idly, to stop numerous times, or to delay and procrastinate." So it would seem that the person who loiters isn't industrious, nor accomplishing anything of benefit to him or herself, let alone contributing to the common good. I contend that the pejorative sense of loitering isn't always accurate; that, in fact, loitering done in a way I describe below -- by planning commissioners, no less -- can benefit the person doing the loitering and the community. This can happen when loitering is defined as careful observation, specifically, of people interacting with the built environment. The modern pioneer of this activity was William H. (Holly) Whyte, who from 1969 till his death in 1999 used detailed visual analysis to learn how people actually use public spaces. His studies revealed, for example, that people will create their own paths between two points, if the constructed path is found wanting in any way. They'll find their own ways to follow the sun in winter and avoid it in summer. They'll find ways to be observed when they seek attention and ways to be inconspicuous when they don't. For newly appointed commissioners, loitering can be a revelation and a great introduction to serving on the commission. For veteran commissioners, loitering offers a way to stay (literally) grounded. For all commissioners, there are benefits to taking the time to slow down and observe for yourself whether people living and working in your community are enjoying or having problems with their surroundings. What might be learned by loitering? A good many observations can be classified under a few broad headings: 1. Weather and climate. How people cope -- or, more importantly, are unable to cope -- with the weather and sun can beneficially inform such code requirements as those dealing with maximum permitted building height and setbacks, landscaping, and the composition and design of streets. But the loiterer need not be concerned immediately with these matters. He or she does better by simply observing -- noting, for example, that those walking on a winter's morning on the east side of north-south streets are having trouble with icy patches. Or that a gutter along the exposed side of a corner building with zero side setback can't handle runoff during a downpour. ... article continues

order & download full article $2.75 (single copy license)
order & download full article $10.00 (license to print/store up to 20 copies of article)

A Blast of Creativity in Lexington, Kentucky

From PCJ Editor Wayne Senville:

This past Thursday & Friday I followed -- via Twitter -- the "Creative Cities Summit" in Lexington, Kentucky. Wish I had been there. From the Tweets being posted, it's clear there were terrific speakers and topics -- and a great amount of positive energy. [I've included just a small sampling of the more than one hundred tweets on the left; if you use Twitter, you can find them using the hastag: #ccslex]

Fortunately, summaries of most sessions (including some audio clips) have already been posted online on the City of Lexington web site. There's also a good wrap up column posted today by Tom Eblen, Creative Cities Summit: Good talk, now for action. Eblen's a columnist for the Lexington Herald-Leader newspaper. I'm taking the liberty of briefly quoting from parts of his column below, but I encourage you to read his full column:

"Downtown developer Phil Holoubek and other locals who organized the Creative Cities Summit last week had three main goals. They wanted to have out-of-towners feel Lexington’s creative buzz. They wanted to expose Lexington’s leadership to new ideas. And they wanted to show more of their neighbors the economic and social vitality Lexington could achieve through greater creativity and broader community engagement.

... The real show-stopper was Bill Strickland, author of Making the Impossible Possible and founder and CEO of the Manchester Bidwell Corp., a wildly successful job training and community arts program for poor people in Pittsburgh. Commerce Lexington will visit Manchester Bidwell on its annual trip next month. [See video on TED about Manchester Bidwell]

What made Strickland so inspiring was his message that poor people, who are often treated as society’s liabilities, can become productive assets.

... Charles Landry, author of The Art of City Making, delivered a powerful message about the importance of beauty in city design -- and the economic and social costs of ugliness.

... Hosting the Creative Cities Summit was a reflection of the change happening in Lexington. But the summit will have been worthwhile only if it inspires people throughout this city to get more creative and put the talk into action."

---

There's already an interesting follow-up. People are being invited to send in their thoughts about "Your Ideal City." As the Conference organizers note: "As the Creative Cities Summit draws closer, we want to gather up lots of thoughts from people about what cities need to do to encourage startups, creative clusters and the role municipal governments might play in encouraging success." Take a look at ideas people are already starting to post. 

Any folks out there want to host a Creative Cities Summit in your hometown? If so ... be sure to send us an early invite!

---

Just added: good short creative Conference "take aways" by Eric Patrick Marr of LeXenomics:

Travel on the Trans-Siberian Express ... Using Google Maps & Video

Do you have a week to spare to watch a video? What if it allowed you to travel on the Trans-Siberian Express across Russia? Well, you don't need a week -- you can pick and choose wherever along the route you'd like to be. Just use the Google Map linked to this video to shift you're location anywhere along the route -- you can also zoom in and out on the map. This is a truly remarkable use of Google maps -- and it's also quite addictive (like the famous Shiba Inu Puppy Cam). 

Either click here or on the screenshot image below to go to the Moscow-Vladivostock Trans-Siberian web page.

  

79% Say No to Hand-Held Cellphone Use or Texting While Driving

The final results of our March online poll are set out below. While the poll was not based on any statistical sampling, we still find the results interesting, especially in the overwhelming percentage of responses favoring the prohibition of hand-held cellphones while driving. Many, however, found a distinction between hand-held and hands-free use -- with the largest block of votes for banning hand-held use and texting, but allowing hands-free cellphones. You can also view the comments several individuals left after voting.

 

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. 

The Other GPS

We all know what GPS stands for, don't we? I assume you said, "Global Positioning System"? But do you know about that other GPS -- the "Global Poetry System"? 

Take a look at the GPS Web site, a site that combines geographic location information with poetry in a way totally defined by those who upload their poems (or videos of poems being read). While GPS is based in the U.K. -- and that's where the bulk of the poem uploads are from -- there are entries from across the world, including the U.S. and Canada (for example, Mississippi Overflow or A Departure, from Michigan's Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore). 

Here's a brief video about GPS:

Take some time to browse the GPS site by location or by using the tags they provide. But don't expect to find a well-organized, hierarchical structure. There's a randomness to browsing and stumbling across poems that's part of what makes this site so enjoyable. I'm impressed by the creativity. One of the featured poems is on dirty feet, and I mean that quite literally.

Some background from the developers of GPS: "Global Poetry System is a Southbank Centre project to explore and map the poetry of the world. It’s based on the idea that poetry is all around us, from gravestones to graffiti, from birthday cards to blogs, in the landscape and in our memories. GPS invites you to take a fresh look at where you are and find the poetry that inspires you. Photograph it, video it, audio record it or write it down -- tell the world where it is on the map."

What Brand is Your City?

The idea -- and process -- of identifying, shaping, and promoting a particular image of a city or neighborhood has come to the fore in both the academic and popular press. It's called "branding." 

Branding, you may recall, was one of the top priorities Riverside, California, Mayor Ronald O. Loveridge identified in his State of the City address (see our News, Notes, & Quotes posting yesterday).

Certainly, many cities have long had distinctive identities, and have been known -- sometimes worldwide -- for certain characteristics. Think: Chicago, The Windy City; Paris, City of Light. But in today's competitive economic environment, with cities clawing for new businesses and for tourist dollars, identities that emerged gradually over time -- and may not have even been particularly appealing -- are now being instantly forged with the help of advertising (oops, communications) firms and media conscious chambers of commerce and elected officials. 

Here's a short excerpt, for example, from a recent article by Roger Yu in USA Today: Cities use destination branding to lure tourists (Feb. 11, 2010)

 "Tom Biedenharn's new business cards contain a recruiting message: 'Dayton Patented. Originals Wanted.' The cards are a reminder that the city was once a place of innovation and is again serious about recruiting such talent, says Biedenharn, Dayton's public affairs manager.

'Destination branding,' such as Dayton is undertaking, is back in vogue as cities and states pursue image makeovers designed to help them stand out in the weak global economy, attract visitors and even lure people who might relocate.

City slogans have been around for decades. But image branding is taking on more urgency as visitors and meeting planners become more discriminating in spending their shrinking budgets. ... 

For cities such as Dayton, Fresno and Cleveland, branding goes beyond tourism. It aims for a new identity that can stir local communities out of economic doldrums. ..." 

Dayton even cleverly highlights its branding campaign on the city's web site -- asking visitors to nominate a Dayton "original." Selected people (and places) are then highlighted.

There's also a new brand name for venerable Providence, Rhode Island:

As Philip Marcelo reports in the Providence Journal, ‘Creative Capital’ Providence found inspiration elsewhere (Mar. 30, 2009):

Goodbye, Renaissance City. So long, Beehive of Industry. The city has a new catchphrase, if you haven’t heard. ... Gradually, official stationery, business cards and the city’s Web site are being updated to reflect the new aesthetic, which has the clean, spare look of the start-up companies that the city is trying to entice. ... Mayor David N. Cicilline is rebranding the city as a center for creativity and innovation, the sort of place where the so-called knowledge-based industries would want to locate.

The city hired a pair of firms for a total of about $100,000 so far to come up with the concepts and designs. ... Seven companies, five of them out of state, replied. ... North Star was chosen with a low bid of about $75,000; it has done rebrands for Dayton, Ohio (“Originals Wanted”); Fairbanks, Alaska (“Light Energy Warmth”); Texarkana, Texas (“Western Spirit Served with Southern Hospitality”); and Gainesville, Fla. (“Every Path Starts with Passion”), to name a few. In New England, it came up with the Yarmouth, Mass., tagline “Cape Cod. Within Reach.”

Another city that has just recently branded itself is Regina, Saskatchewan. As reported by Bruce Johnstone in The Leader-Post (Feb. 9, 2010):

"Regina has a brand new brand in the form of a stylized letter R and a new slogan -- "infinite horizons" -- to convey the city's boundless opportunities and enviable quality of life. Mayor Pat Fiacco unveiled the city's new brand at his annual State of the City address ... Fiacco said the new brand, developed over 18 months for $320,000 by Winnipeg advertising firm McKim Cringan George, will help promote the city, both inside and outside the province. ...

Following his address, Fiacco said spending close to $400,000 in developing a brand should more than pay for itself in population growth and job creation. 'It's the cost of doing business. Cities who do nothing, get nothing.' In fact, Fiacco said every new citizen adds $40,000 in per capita GDP to the local economy. 'So if we get 10 new people, this pretty much pays for itself over the course of time.' "

The City has even posted a Q&A page on its web site explaining what the new brand means and how it can be used.

Some interesting observations on branding come from Otis White of Civic Strategies:

"Cities are in a lather these days about branding, and the list of cities actively searching for a 'brand' (the image that pops in your head when you think of a place) is long indeed: Chicago, Denver, Dallas and on and on. What these places are learning, though, is that it's infinitely harder to create a credible brand for a city than for, say, household detergent. ... For one thing, cities aren't discrete products. You can't reformulate them, relaunch them or shut them down if they're underperforming. Also, 'place marketing' almost always involves a lot of interests, some of which do not see eye to eye. 

So is all this branding stuff hopeless? No, experts say, but cities need to proceed realistically. ...  First, they shouldn't aim to be too specific with their images; the goal should be to create an "umbrella brand" that nearly everyone can live with. ... Second, branding efforts should proceed with a lot of public outreach. 'To deliver,' one expert said, 'everyone must believe in the brand.' "