Pps Pittsburgh Presentation

What if… We Built Pittsburgh around

Places

?

Creating and Sustaining Destinations Through Placemaking © 2008 Project for Public Spaces. All Rights Reserved

33 years of Placemaking

• • • •

48 U.S. States 28 Countries 2000 Communities 3 Million annual visitors to our web sites

Project Areas

Squares Public Markets Parks

Transportation Mixed-Use New Development

Downtowns Civic Centers Campuses

Initiatives

Building Community through Transportation, Community Anchors, Public Markets & Local Communities, Great Places, Great Cities

Planning & Design Over 2000 place-based projects in 28 countries • • • •

Public Space Audits Community Visioning Conceptual Designs Management Programs

Education & Training Train over 10,000 people annually

Research & Outreach Over 60,000 page views daily on pps.org

• Context Sensitive • 20 publications Solutions • 6 videos • Public Markets as Economic Development • Database of 500,000 images of public • “How to Turn a Place spaces Around” seminars • Conferences

When you focus on a place, you do everything differently.

What is Placemaking? • Placemaking is a dynamic human function: it is an act of liberation, of staking claim, and of beautification; it is true human empowerment. • Placemaking is turning a neighborhood, town or city from a place you can’t wait to get through to one you never want to leave.

It is difficult to create a space that will not attract people; what is remarkable is how often this has been accomplished. ─William H. Whyte

Contrasting 1

It’s hard for people to realize that place is more important than design. ─Fred Kent

What attracts people most it would appear, is other people. ─William H. Whyte

What Makes a Great Place? street life evening use volunteerism Welcoming Cooperative Neighborly

Key Attributes Intangibles Measurements

business ownership property values land-use patterns retail sales Fun Active Vital Special Real

uses & activities

sociability PLACE access & linkages Connected Walkable Convenient Accessible transit usage pedestrian activity parking usage patterns

comfort & image Safe Charm Clean Attractive crime stats Historic sanitation rating building conditions environmental data

Return of the Civic Square - Detroit

Principles of Creating Great Public Spaces 1.

The community is the expert

2.

You are creating a place not just a design

3.

You can’t do it alone

4.

They always say it can’t be done

Planning & Outreach Techniques

5.

You can see a lot just by observing

6.

Develop a vision

Translating Ideas Into Action

7.

Form supports function

8.

Triangulate

9.

Start with the petunias

Underlying Ideas

Implementation

10. Money is not the issue 11. You are never finished

The Benefits of Place Builds Local Economies

Nurtures a Sense of Community Improves Safety and Security

PLACE Enhances Accessibility for All

Draws a Diverse Population

Fosters Meaningful Interaction

Local Placemaking Opportunities Transportation & Downtowns

Parks & Squares

Civic Institutions

Private development

• • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Bus stops Train Stations Main Streets Local streets and roads Parks (greenways, recreation, play areas) Plazas & squares (performances, events) Markets Waterfronts Libraries and hospitals Civic buildings Schools (universities, primary schools) Religious institutions Cultural institutions (theaters, museums) Mixed-use – housing, retail and office

Why don’t we have better Centers, Streets or Public Spaces today? • Fear • Narrow Development Goals • Project-driven vs. Placedriven Planning • Discipline-Based Planning/Design vs. Community-Based Placemaking • Governmental Structure

Place / Community Driven Approach

Project/Discipline Driven Approach • Empowers Communities • Attracts partners, money & creative solutions • Professionals become resources • Design supports uses • Solutions are flexible • Engagement and commitment grow

The Power of Ten City/Town Districts/ Destinations

Place

10+ major destinations/ districts 10+ places

10+ things to do Layering of uses to create synergy (Triangulation)

PPS Initiative: Building Community Through Transportation

Streets as Places Thinking Beyond the Station

When you design your community around cars…you get more cars.

The erosion of cities by automobiles proceeds as a kind of nibbling. Small nibbles at first but eventually hefty bites. A street is widened here, another is straightened there, a wide avenue is converted to one way flow and more land goes into parking. No one step in this process is in itself crucial but cumulatively the effect is enormous. ─ Jane Jacobs, 1954

A study of three generations of 9 year olds found that by 1990, the radius around the home that children were allowed to play had sunken to a ninth of what it had been in 1970. Richard Louv

When you design your community around people … you get more people.

New York City Street Renaissance

Broken Streets HEAVY TRAFFIC 16,000 vehicles per day

0.9 friends per person 3.1 acquaintances per person MEDIUM TRAFFIC 8,000 vehicles per day

1.3 friends per person 4.1 acquaintances per person

LIGHT TRAFFIC 2,000 vehicles per day

3 friends per person 6.3 acquaintances per person

Donald Appleyard, UC Berkeley Professor of Urban Design, quantified the impact of traffic on social ties.

Broken Streets New Yorkers deal with traffic in the following ways: 56.5%

LIGHT TRAFFIC STREET MEDIUM TRAFFIC STREET HEAVY TRAFFIC STREET

52.2%

43.5%

26.0% 21.7% 18.5%

7.7%

7.4%

7.4% 5.1% 0.0%

I keep my windows shut

I spend more time in the back of my house

I forbid my children to play in the streets

2.6% I go out on the street less often

Broken Streets Undemocratic Use of Space 2 in 5 New Yorkers owns a car 1 in 5 Manhattanites owns a car Yet New York City streets are almost entirely dedicated to cars

* square feet used per traveler

The Truth About Traffic Driving is a choice,

not a necessity

90% of auto commuters have an existing transit alternative 30-60% of cars entering Manhattan th

below 59 Street are going “through” the district and have no economic purpose

69% of all trips below 59th Street in Manhattan are on foot

The Truth About Traffic Cars Can Disappear West Side Highway collapse in 1973 • 110,000 cars daily before collapse • 50,000 cars daily after redesign as urban boulevard

Lt. Petrosino Square - Before

Lt. Petrosino Square - After

Finn Square - Before

A funnel for downtown traffic...

Finn Square - After

...can be a defining space for Tribeca.

Spring Street - Before New York’s most successful neighborhoods…

Spring Street - After …can better serve the pedestrians that bring their success.

Kenmare Square - Before An unused square and roadway…

Thinking Beyond the Station

The Placemaking Process around Transit

Before

After

San Bruno, CA

Belmont, CA

6

Roadways adjacent to transit facilities are pedestrian-friendly boulevards.

Community & Economic Development through Greenways & Public Spaces A Placemaking Program for Serbia and Montenegro An Initiative of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund & Balkan Community Initiatives Fund & the USAID / Community Revitalization through Democratic Action With the Balkan Communities Initiative Fund (Serbia)

May 22, 2004, Čenej

Placemaking / Greenways than 70 participants workshop • More – Farmers – – – – –

Decision makers Tourist agencies NGOs Media City planners

March, 25 2005

Marking possible destinations along the bicycle paths in Čenej

• They link: -Salaš’s -Protected cultural heritage -Protected natural wealth -Hunters’ Lodge -Small airport -Hop-field

VIA PACIS PANNONIAE

Evaluating the center of Čenej

Moj Salas FARMERS’ MARKET

Novi Sad

PPS Initiative

Community Anchors

A Tale of Two Libraries

Bryant Park Winter Program

Civic Institutions Today Coffee Shop

Hospital

Theatres/ Museums

Community Center

Parks

Transit

Library Schools

City Hall

Civic Institutions of the Future City Hall Library Coffee Shop

Schools

Community Center

Civic Spaces, Community Gathering Spaces/Markets Hospital

Transit

Parks

Theatres/ Museums

PPS Initiative

Great Places, Great Cities •Power of 10 • What are the 10 major destinations of Pittsburgh? • What are the 10 major places of downtown? • What 10 things can you do in each of these places? •Partnerships to Revitalize Multiple Spaces •Integrate Placemaking into city policies and processes •Inform changes in federal and state policies and funding, especially transportation policies

It has to be a Campaign Develop a vision

Become great communicators

Attack Complacency

Organize a strong team

Search for impediments

Produce short term wins

Take on bigger challenges

People Who Make Dramatic Change By John Kotter

Connect change to the culture of the community

www.pps.org Publications & Resources

Making Places Newsletter Training & Conferences