Placemaking in Communities of All Sizes

Smart Growth America highlights placemaking as an effective tool for a variety of urban development goals in a new article entitled Placemaking Done Right: Three Successful Approaches.

Planners and placemakers in all employment sectors can use the approaches of these three communities as a toolkit to target the following areas:

Facade Improvements - The small community Soldotna, Alaska provides matching grant funds for businesses in the downtown area to make repairs and beautification efforts to storefronts, signs, and landscaping, with $36,000 in city funds spurring private investment worth $212,500.

Public Art - Since 1959, Philadelphia has witnessed over 400 pieces of public art installed through its Percent for Art program designed to incorporate art into the development process.

Commercial District Advocacy - Orlando is one of five cities to initiate its own Main Street program, which advocates for traditional commercial areas which traditionally do not have access to management tools offered to contemporary commercial developments such as shopping malls. Orlando's program has realized almost 500 new businesses, 3,000 jobs and 300 housing units in the past five years.