"If your goal is to create a place ... a design will not be enough. To make an under-performing space into a vital 'place,' physical elements must be introduced that would make people welcome and comfortable, such as seating and new landscaping, and also through 'management' changes in the pedestrian circulation pattern and by developing more effective relationships between the surrounding retail and the activities going on in the public spaces. The goal is to create a place that has both a strong sense of community and a comfortable image, as well as a setting and activities and uses that collectively add up to something more than the sum of its often simple parts. This is easy to say, but difficult to accomplish." -Project for Public Spaces
Excerpt
Creating Places in Action "Traffic calming, in partnership with a variety of place making elements can help bolster the livability of many types of urban and town environments. The following examples of cities and towns that have made use of such improvements to successfully rejuvenate declining areas and restore their sense of community represent a variety of geographical and different size locales in the United States." more...
from
Getting Back to Place: Using Streets to Rebuild Communities p.40-47
Article / Paper / Report
Building Communities With Transportation
"Important change ... is happening in rural hamlets, middle burgs and huge metropolises. While some folds are just getting from feet into mechanical transport for the first time in civilizations' history, others are learning to return to their feet and to build with proper scale and proportion in land use. My lecture focuses on the early steps of returning towns and people to sensible, smart growth, sustainable, people-focused transportation and land use practices. I will reflect on what is going on in both urban and suburban places."
How Transportation and Community Partnerships are Shaping America: Part II: Streets and Roads
The case studies included in this booklet provide tangible examples of how transportation partnerships are beginning to reshape America. The input of those who use and experience a place on a regular basis is essential to the process. Moreover, to address these broader quality of life goals, transportation agencies and communities must work together with an open mind, pool resources, and share responsibility for implementation. For the state DOTs involved in these projects, this approach reflects an evolution in the way these agencies operate. This booklet is a companion to a publication devoted specifically to
transit projects.
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Project for Public Spaces
Website
Great Public Spaces: Streets (opens in a new window)
Browse Project for Public Spaces' list of great transit, retail districts, boulevards, roads, sidewalks, and streets.
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Project for Public Spaces
Website
Community Impact Assessment - PPS Website (opens in a new window)
In 1994, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and FHWA issued their interim policy on public involvement. The thrust of that policy is to be creative in involving the public and to focus on those citizens who have traditionally been outside the decisionmaking process. The term "disenfranchised" is often used to describe nonparticipants; such as, low-income populations, minority populations, persons with disabilities, pedestrians, bicyclists, and transit-oriented populations. The message in the FTA-FHWA interim policy is, "Be creative and reach out and touch ... Don't wait for citizens to come to you. You go to them."
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Project for Public Spaces
Website
Furnishing Your Public Space (opens in a new window)
Learn about the "whys and wherefores" of public-space amenities with this series of features. Each offers design and use guidelines to help lay people and professional designers work with each other. Also included: notable examples of amenities from PPS' image database and, in some cases, information on select manufacturers.
"Lately, people have been talking increasingly about 'loss of place.' What they're describing is the kind of place that has been special in their lives and has given them a strong sense of community."
