This past weekend I attended a memorial service for a local
activist. Eric Quezada was important in many planning-related issues here in
San Francisco – how we create space that reflects the cultural traditions of
our large immigrant communities, the importance of preventing displacement of
low-income people, the development of affordable housing and institutions that
meet the needs of all of our citizenry. I had known Eric for many years, but
had the privilege of working most closely with him when I served on our city’s
Planning Commission and he was a lead organizer in the Mission District, an
historically Latino neighborhood threatened by dot-com fueled gentrification.
In his short 45 years on earth, Eric touched the lives of thousands here and
around the world.
Placemaking
Refining the Software of Placemaking
In New York and Washington, Rod Stevens reports on two very different examples of the importance of programming, or "software", to placemaking.
Urbanophile
Baltimore Bets on Placemaking
Investment in improving public spaces seen as key to keeping and attracting businesses and residents in Baltimore.
The Baltimore Sun
What Defines a 'Place'?
It's been more than 50 years since Boston's old West End was demolished, so why does the neighborhood still have its own newspaper, museum, and weekly gatherings?
The Boston Globe
Placemaking With Zip Lines
Chuck Wolfe admires the creative thinking which has reinvented the dramatic setting between two Italian hill towns.
The Atlantic Cities
Michigan Cities See Placemaking as the Key to a Brighter Future
Officials in recession-battered Michigan increasingly see placemaking as an important economic recovery strategy. The Michigan Municipal League, a coalition of local governments, is leading efforts to make the state's cities talent magnets.
Streetsblog Capitol Hill
Urbanism Without Effort
Chuck Wolfe says that urbanism that can readily occur in urban neighborhoods "without really trying" as people naturally come together in impromptu ways.
myurbanist
The Strip is Overbuilt
We've got more commercial strip development than we can handle, says Edward T. MacMahon of ULI, and the economy is restructuring the retail landscape away from the strip.
Citiwire.net
Public Art and the Do-It-Yourself City
Jonna McKone profiles various public art projects across the U.S. and Canada, showing that participation in such projects indicates that some residents are taking an increasingly vested interest in the cities they live in.
The City Fix
Could Classic Hill Towns Be a Model for Town Planning?
In classic hill towns, people showed innovation and dynamic placemaking--lessons learned for urbanism in the new century, says Chuck Wolfe.
myurbanist
A New Ethic for Urban Reinvention
In a unique collaboration, an American lawyer and a Venezuelan architect merge thinking on holistic design, planning and regulation
myurbanist
People's Needs and Placemaking
Leonardo Vazquez, AICP/PP, proposes a new way of looking at placemaking through the lens of the 4 basic human needs (a framework from the field of psychology).
PDI Advisor
Ghetto-ization: Avoiding the Pitfalls of Density
At first glance, the historic Ghetto streetscene in Venice is an appealing new urbanist community. In another place at another time, the virtues of compact, walkable and dense were the very isolation we now abhor.
myurbanist
A Village Takes Shape Near Atlanta
Serenbe is a new master-planned community outside of Atlanta that is creating a new model for placemaking in the U.S., taking its form from English villages and working within the natural environment.
AIArchitect
The Top Trends Shaping Place
The Project for Public Spaces has released a summary of the top ten trends shaping the future of America's communities -- from public markets to community-based transportation planning.
Project For Public Spaces
Reasons to Smile in 2008
Neal Peirce reflects on the happier moments of 2008 -- and a future that seems bent on creating better places and communities.
Citiwire
Cities: Use What You've Got
According to Philip Myrick, communities that will fare the best economically are the ones that think locally and employ placemaking strategies.
Project For Public Spaces
Vancouver Seeks Identity Through Public Square
A contest sponsored by the Vancouver Public Space Network asks the public to find Vancouver's heart, a civic square that best defines the city. Sean Ruthen ponders the city's relationships to the each its primary squares now.
re:place Magazine
The Placemaking Checklist
The Project for Public Spaces offers this checklist to help determine if your city is a "great" city.
Making Places
Geographic Web Resources Hold Great Potential for Place Making
Fri, 03/09/2007 - 16:43
At the PlaceMatters06 fall conference, participants were treated to the first sneak preview of outside.in, a spatially enabled hub for blogs and forums that adds location-based information to online discussions. Steven Berlin Johnson, author of several books including Emergence, and The Ghost Map, and the leading inspiration behind outside.in’s conception, demonstrated the beta site during his keynote session. It created a buzz with conference participants quick to recognize its potential as a tool for encouraging community dialogue and place making.
