The Western Distributor in Sydney wouldn't be the first urban freeway to be dismantled so a community could access the waterfront. The Embarcadero Freeway in SF was demolished after an earthquake in 1989. The Miller Freeway in NYC has become a successful waterfront park and recreation area. And, tearing down the Central Artery in Boston created the possibility of reconnecting the rest of the city center to Rowe's Wharf, which now boasts unobstructed views of the Boston Harbor.

From the Press Release:
"Imagine a new green space almost the size of Hyde Park at Darling Harbour and the Western Distributor buried so the city is reconnected to our harbour.

This is just one of the visionary project ideas put forward as part of the City of Sydney's Sustainable Sydney 2030 vision."

Progressive Urban Management Associates (P.U.M.A.), along with several Denver-based collaborators, determines the top 10 global trends changing downtowns across the U.S. 

"The first decade of the new millennium is ushering in an era of unprecedented economic, social and political change. Changing demographics, lifestyles and global competition portend to have profound affects on our daily lives. How global changes will translate into challenges and opportunities in our downtown districts is difficult to foresee, particularly when we are preoccupied by managing local issues, politics and personalities."

At a time when communities across America have seen their downtowns diminished or destroyed by the rise of malls and superstores, traditional downtowns in the Hudson Valley still exist in unusual numbers. If their businesses don't exactly thrive, for now at least they're making it.

The reasons are debatable.

It could be that the growing movement to shop locally is making an impression, or that greater distances between mega shopping hubs send people to downtowns more often.

Or it could be something more intangible, a yearning to preserve the sense of community downtowns provide.

As more and more big-box stores arrive and business costs rise, though, can the region's old-timey downtowns survive?

There's something special about having an authentic, real center of your community: a Main Street, a plaza or piazza, a town square or village four corners. I mean a real community center, a place like Broadway in Saratoga Springs, Fountain Square in Cincinnati, Boulder's Pearl Street Mall or Santa Fe's downtown plaza. All of these places are special and are regarded by their residents as their social, heritage and emotional community centers. These are places where their community celebrations must happen. Residents celebrate and pay tribute to others in them. People come to such places to mourn, protest and bare their emotions. When these communities show themselves off to the world, their downtowns are the places they feature and the postcards they create. 

You know that scene in the movie I Am Legend where Will Smith (playing the last man on Earth) and his German shepherd (playing the world’s last good dog) go deer hunting in a depopulated Times Square? Well, to my urbanist-geek way of thinking, the most impressive aspect of this masterpiece of computer-generated cityscape is that the new TKTS booth, currently under construction, plays a pivotal role in the action. How is it that before the whole human race perished from a nasty viral infection (or was transformed into obnoxious zombies) we still had the presence of mind to complete a lovely public amenity, the long-neglected winner of a 1999 design competition?

Planetizen has named PPS/Jay Walljasper's The Great Neighborhood Book as one of its top 10 planing books of 2007.  http://www.planetizen.com/books/2008

Also, Urban Land magazine recently reviewed The Great Neighborhood Book in the November/December 2007 issue. Click here to read the review.

The Great Neighborhood Book also received an honorable mention on the American Booksellers Association's list of books about promoting local businesses.

Jay Walljasper discusses the need for cities to have life on their streets -- even in the most frigid days (and nights) of winter.

"Plunging temperatures don't necessarily sentence us to months of house arrest. People around the world from Copenhagen to New York are figuring out how to keep things lively throughout the colder months. City streets bustle with festivals and outdoor attractions showing that winter is something to enjoy rather than endure.

My colleague Cynthia Nikitin, vice president of Project for Public Spaces, describes Berlin in the dead of winter: "It gets dark at 3:30. It's snowing like crazy. But it's no problem. People are playing bocce ball on the ice. There are tents selling hot mulled wine. You are walking down the street just watching all the other people. Life is good, and winter feels good, too."

But you need to give people reasons to be outside, Nikitin adds -- "a market, ice skating, music, decorative lighting. No one will stay outdoors to stare at an empty plaza."

The Rockefeller Foundation is now accepting nominations for the 2008 Jane Jacobs Medal on its website through February 1, 2008. The 2008 Rockefeller Foundation Jane Jacobs Medals will recognize two living individuals whose creative vision for the urban environment has significantly contributed to the vibrancy and variety of New York City.

Click here for the full  press release

Click here for the The 2008 Jane Jacobs Medal Nomination Form

Do plunging temperatures, gray skies and the year's shortest days have to force us to huddle indoors? When we flick on the television, do we have to cringe at the weathermen's dire warnings of monster storms on the way?

Not at all, argues Jay Walljasper, a writer on world cities, in a Christmas-season bulletin for Project for Public Spaces. There's a tremendous amount that cities, towns, even individual neighborhoods can do to brighten the wintertime scene. And not just for Christmas and the holidays -- though that's a great start -- but until the crocuses bloom.

Metro Atlanta's traffic congestion is endangering its future growth, according to one of the nation's top site selection experts, who advises companies on where to send their jobs.

Atlanta's traffic problem has put it "at the point of no return," said Dennis J. Donovan. Lots of places have transportation funding problems, but Atlanta's congestion is the second worst in the nation, Donovan noted, and "the planning and funding to make sure this wouldn't happen hasn't been done."

An article about great pedestrian places in the U.S. and the local Minneapolis angle from Steve Berg.

Minneapolis, MN

Bikeability? Excellent. No. 2 in the country.

Walkability? Not so good. No. 17 among the 30 top metro areas. Down among St. Louis, Detroit and Houston. That hurts. Even Atlanta, the least pedestrian-friendly city I can imagine, came in three spots ahead of us. And the cities that Minneapolis-St. Paul likes to emulate — Denver, Portland and Seattle — all finished in the top 10, at Nos. 4, 5 and 6.

These results are part of a Brookings Institution report released Tuesday called "Footloose and Fancy Free: A Field Survey of Walkable Urban Places in the Top 30 U.S. Metropolitan Areas." Christopher Leinberger, the Brookings researcher, found 157 such places, but only two in the Twin Cities that qualified: the downtowns of Minneapolis and St. Paul. By Leinberger's reckoning, then, the Twin Cities' walkability ratio is one walkable district for every 1.6 million residents.

The whole metro region has an impressive trail system that promotes recreational walking and hiking. But that's not the point. The point is finding urban places where walking becomes part of the fabric of everyday life: walking to the coffee shop in the morning, walking to the movies, the grocery store, the laundry, the park, the transit stop, and so on. Leinberger's point is to highlight places where driving can be reduced in the course of everyday life.

Why? Because those kinds of places help mitigate climate change, help reduce dependence on unstable supplies and prices of oil, and help people live more active, healthy lives.

Inspired by Las Ramblas in Barcelona, this article discusses what makes a good street - how elements come together to make streets "the river of life." Community is influenced positively with pedestrian-friendly streetscapes that value social encounters, as primary to commercial endeavors. 

Improvements include increased bike routes, brighter striping to ensure visibility, additional linkages between bike paths for safer rides, and over 700 new bike racks throughout the five boroughs by 2009. 

Author of The Great Neighborhood Book Jay Walljasper shows how communities can become cities of great neighbors.

"Blessed with laws, humbled by climate, unburdened by history or destiny, Torontonians remake the world in their small communities, adding yoga, sweat lodge, dim sum or doughnuts to their lives."

– Deanne Taylor, playwright, in the urban-essay collection uTOpia

One more blessing she might have added is a place to step out, look your neighbours in the eye and say hello.

Piazzas are ideal for strolling and sociability – the chance meetings that are vital in successful neighbourhoods, says Jay Walljasper, author of The Great Neighborhood Book – A Do-it-Yourself Guide to Placemaking. And since not every neighbourhood can have spectacular people-meeting places like Rome's Piazza Navona or New York's Rockefeller Center, there are new ways to reclaim space for these casual encounters.

In Delft, Netherlands, citizens upset about speeding traffic in their neighbourhood streets, hauled old couches onto the road and relaxed there, forcing cars to drive around them and slow down. These neighbourhood guerrilla tactics were effective – they've now become part of the city's plan to introduce woonerfs (living yards) on streets where drivers are a nuisance.

In Portland, Ore., residents made a friendlier neighbourhood by painting patterns on a busy intersection, erecting community bulletin boards, and bringing in a tea wagon, all to make people linger.

 

Up against indifference from goverment officials and oppression from overpowering vehicles, young Athenians stand up to take back the sidewalks for pedestrians. Due to poor planning, limited space, and an increase in drivership, Athenian drivers have become accustomed to illegally parking on sidewalks and other walkways despite blockades, barriers, or restrictions. Due to the lack of other simple solutions, the government has looked the other way.

One activist group the Street Panthers, finally fed up with this infringement, has begun sticking signs on illegally parked cars. An action, within the bounds of the law, that pushes back on illegal parkers, and informs and reminds the public and the government that pedestrians need safe and convenient spaces to walk amonst the city.

Small-scale revitalization takes shape in Albuquergue with large-scale impacts. The city opted to redevelop existing buildings, rather than tearing down their history. Small changes have resulted in a unique sense of place with a "human face" in the city's downtown.

A Simple Path to Strong Neighborhoods
Author Jay Walljasper Shows How Small Efforts Build Community

Dave Hage of the Star Tribune has a Q&A session with Jay Walljasper, author of the The Great Neighborhood Book, about how strong neighborhoods are the building blocks of great cities and a healthy society.

Q. So what makes a great neighborhood?

A. The first fundamental is a public gathering spot -- a park, a little town square, even a bench in front of the corner grocery store. You want a place where people know they're likely to run into someone they know or meet someone they like.

The second is walkability. It's really hard to build a sense of community when you know your neighbors only by waving at them through the windshield or honking at them as you drive by.

The key is to promote spontaneous, informal encounters -- that's the building block of strong communities.

But here's another, simpler way to think about it: When you create a neighborhood that's friendly to dogs, it's friendly to people, too. The traffic is not speeding and dangerous. There are green places to hang out and walk. So dogs are a good indicator species.

Developer Jonathan Rose discusses the importance of community based design. He advocates hollistic planning; grounded in an understanding of community needs like urban sustainability and cultural development.

In an effort to attract more traffic to downtown businesses, one New Jersey downtown partnership planned for a diverse farmer's market in a plaza, just off of the city's main traffic artery. Surveys show that 80 percent of the 1,000 weekly market customers, also visited local businesses while at the farmers' market. 

The 2007 Growth and Transportation Survey shows that Three-fourths of Americans surveyed believe that developing communities that reduce the need to drive and improving public transportation are both better long-term solutions for reducing traffic congestion than building new roads.

The Spitzer administration has released plans for a rebuilt Penn Station, complete with natural light pouring in and a "grand public space" in a new, rezoned business district on Manhattan's far West Side.

The new plans would also create 7.5 million square feet of mixed use development, including a commercial district that would link to a plan to redevelop the Hudson railyards closer to the river.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 13 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The U.S. General Services Administration, manager of 8,600 federal properties across the nation and steward of 425 historic landmarks, has published a new workbookto help guide GSA property managers on how to enhance public spaces infederal buildings.

"Federal buildings in many communities are the government's most prominent representative, a symbol of democracy," said David Winstead, Commissioner for GSA's Public Buildings Service. "It's important that these spaces are accessible to the public and that they convey a positive image of the federal government."

GSA produced, Achieving Great Federal Public Spaces - A Property Manager's Guide in collaboration with the Project for Public Spaces. The workbook provides GSA property managers with a step-by-step process on how to enhance public spaces such as plazas, lobbies, atria and grounds. It suggests short, medium, and long-term improvements -- from actions as simple as reducing clutter and inviting civic organizations to use public spaces for activities and events, to more elaborate measures such as buildings enhancements, including the streamlining of the security process in lobbies.

"When managed effectively, these spaces support neighborhood goals and play an important role in how our client agencies view their workplaces," commented Anthony Costa, Deputy Commissioner for Public Buildings. "It is in our collective interests that we make the most of our public spaces."

For one skateboarding advocate here, creating a system of skate parks in West Seattle isn't just about building places to do aerials and flip tricks.

So far it's just a blueprint with no funding, but the citywide skate park plan is gaining momentum in West Seattle, fueled by passionate skaters like West Seattle resident Matt Johnston.

Johnston, who served on the skate park advisory task force that helped develop the plan last year with Seattle Parks and Recreation, is also determined to change some minds along the way. At 36, he remembers what it's like to be thought of as a delinquent simply for the kind of sport he enjoys.

"What we want to do in West Seattle is make sure skate parks are successful for everyone in the community and not just the skateboarders, because a successful skate park requires community support," said Johnston. "The last thing we want to do is be skateboarding in a community who hates us or who doesn't want us there."

He brought up a community meeting held this past March to discuss the design of the future Myrtle Street park at the site of Myrtle Reservoir on 35th Avenue Southwest. The location was recommended for a skate facility in the citywide plan but so far the community has been largely opposed to the idea.

Some at the meeting said a skate park would attract "derelict teenagers" and be noisy. Johnston is concerned common fears like these associated with the sport will isolate West Seattle's skate parks and its estimated 4,000 skateboarders.

Built in the right location, with an appropriate design and a welcoming community, skate parks can actually serve as a vibrant part of a neighborhood and discourage bad behavior. But anything pushed to the fringes, whether it's a skate facility or a basketball court, can invite unsavory activities, he said.

"(Skate parks) actually deter bad activities because it programs the space and puts people there," Johnston said. "You have to build it for some people to see how great it can be. This is something positive for the kids."

A very important day for Portland Main Street was held on Aug. 22, 2007. The Main Street program that economically revitalizes traditional downtowns was reviewed by the Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA). Main Street is a nationally recognized program led by the National Main Street Center.

Currently, there are 13 Michigan Main Street Cities that also undergo the review process. MSHDA and its community assistance team provide trainings, education seminars for Main Street managers and offer guidance for grant opportunities. Communities that apply to become a Main Street wish to reach the goal of becoming a Master Community; a community that uses the Main Street four point approach; Organization, Revitalization, Promotion, and Design to revitalize their downtown.

The Open Planning Project founder Mark Gorton in NY talks with "Gridlock Sam" Schwartz about about history of DOT in NYC, car-free Cental Park, and general transportation policy. It gives a great history of the evolution of transportation thinking and policy in NY over the last 40 years.

Running time: approx. 10 mins.

Organic vegetables? Check.

Jams and jellies? Check.

Crafts and baked goods? Check.

E-mail orders? Better check.

Before heading out to set up their stands each week, some area farmers' market vendors go online, looking for last-minute customer requests for fresh fruits and vegetables, cut flowers and herbs.

Many farmers' markets now have their own Web sites, some simply listing time, place and a contact. But others are extensive, with page after page of market items and vendor information.

Customers of the Scottdale Producers Association, which runs farmers markets in Scottdale and Connellsville, can now order sweet corn, salsas and jam over the Internet and browse vendors' postings. Customers can pre-order, much like they used to at the corner market, and their order will be awaiting them at the market of their choice.

Tom Bailey, of the Scottdale Producers Association, said the small market has only a handful of on-site vendors. The association hopes to bring more local products to area residents by offering the purchase of farm-fresh produce, meats and baked goods online.

An observer comments on the French capital's success at making alternate modes of transportation easier and accessible.

The Silicon Valley cities of Mountain View and Sunnyvale are alike in many ways. But their downtowns offer a study in contrasts because of land use decisions made 30 years ago.

 

After funding the research that helped Jane Jacobs produce her landmark book "The Death and Life of Great American Cities" nearly 50 yeas ago, the Rockefeller Foundation has inaugurated the first Jane Jacobs Medals.

Barry Benepe, the 79-year-old founder of Greenmarket, will receive the first medal for "lifetime leadership." Omar Freilla, the 33-year-old founder of Green Worker Cooperatives in the Bronx, was named the winner of the first medal for "new ideas and activism."

The medals will be presented in September in conjunction with the opening by the Municipal Art Society of an exhibit titled "Jane Jacobs and the Future of New York."

Bogota, Colombia, has turned itself around by focusing on using the public realm to promote the greatest amount of happiness. First stop? Car-free days.  The city's campaign to return streets from cars to people is now a model for the world.

Cyclovia is a weekly event in Botoga, Colombia, that closes 70 miles of city streets and makes them available to bikers, skaters, and walkers. 

All modes (except cars) and all ages, sizes, classes share the road.  The  event  seems as simple and direct a way as possible at addressing the great class and race divides in Colombia.

If bicyclists are given their own pathways, as pedestrians have with sidewalks, this healthy, efficient mode of transportation can take off as it has in Europe.

A program in Savannah is encouraging downtown churches to redevelop their parking lots to include needed affordable housing and neighborhood services.

Center City’s narrow streets and dense concentration contribute to an exciting and walkable urban center. Yet, the increase in visitors and residents has resulted in an increase in the number of vehicles and delivery trucks in search of parking.

Policymakers are ignoring the wishes of local people and exaggerating the importance of “metropolitan” urban design in creating successful public spaces, according to a new report, the Social Value of Public Spaces.  

“Most public spaces that people use are local spaces they visit regularly, often quite banal in design, or untidy in their activities or functions, such as street markets and car boot sales,” the report said.

Louisville has adopted a "complete streets" policy which makes the provision of sidewalks, bike lanes and bus stops mandatory. Neal Peirce discusses the plan in his column, and offers some international examples.

PPS Board Member Roberta Brandes Gratz reminds us what was lost when Robert Moses deemed areas 'slums' and tore them down in this piece from City Limits.  

On July 15, the day after Bastille Day, Parisians will wake up to discover thousands of low-cost rental bikes at hundreds of high-tech bicycle stations scattered throughout the city, an ambitious program to cut traffic, reduce pollution, improve parking and enhance the city's image as a greener, quieter, more relaxed place.

With the Latino population growing tremendously, it's time to begin addressing the shortcomings in the practice of planning regarding this key demographic. 

In an op-ed from Planetizen, Leonardo Vazquez explores the Biggest challenges facing Latino communities.

 

The Rockefeller Foundation announced the creation of the Jane Jacobs Medal, an award that will recognize individuals whose creative vision for the urban environment has significantly contributed to the vibrancy and variety of New York City.

The medal will be given annually to two people: one who has made a lifetime contribution and another who is at the start of a promising career.

The Foundation is accepting nominations through March 2, 2007 on its website.

 

$3.1 million will be spent over the next two years on an effort to improve streets in Downtown Atlanta and make the city's heart more pedestrian friendly. Projects include in-ground sidewalk planters along curbs to dissuade walkers from crossing in the middle of streets, more mid-block traffic signals that can be activated by pedestrians, realigning some streets and more greenery to keep people away from curbs. Downtown business leaders, hospitality officials, the state and Georgia State University are all contributed funds to the effort.

Unlike many other colleges that have grown up around a town, the University of Connecticut is located near a town that is not much more than handfull of business in a strip mall. To make the school more appealing to students who are looking for off-campus options for shopping, dining and entertainment, UConn is planning to construct a new town.

A newly formed non-profit group is focusing on developing a network of pedestrian-friendly routes in downtown Minneapolis.

Rockville's new mixed-use downtown aims to avoid the 'Anyplace U.S.A.' look.

"The shape of downtown Los Angeles is still in our hands because we are a young city and have room to grow, even at the core. At the same time, the city has an unmatched record of missing opportunities to become its own place.

On Friday, the state announced Hargreaves Associates as the winner of a design competition for a park at the Cornfield — 32 acres of land north of Chinatown. The proposal is thoughtful and interesting, though constrained by the rules of the competition.

But what the Cornfield competition really points out is how infrequently we are choosing from the best available options, some of which may lie outside the limits of a narrowly conceived exercise."

Detroit's downtown -- a cold, empty symbol of urban decay for decades -- is on its way to a warmer, livelier, more entertaining future. Campus Martius, the new downtown square that PPS helped create the vision for, played a role in sparking the revitalization.

"No one wants to stroll Calgary's downtown. The streets are lifeless and the buildings too boring. But things are beginning to change."

"The “in” thing in real estate used to be sprawling suburban homes with one-acre lots, picket fences and plenty of lawn to mow. But these days, many young professionals, empty-nesters and retirees across the country are either downsizing or looking for a more chic and affordable lifestyle. And they’re finding it downtown.

The number of downtown residents in the nation’s largest cities is expected to grow by 2010, according to a survey by The Brookings Institution Center on Urban and Metropolitan Policy and The Fannie Mae Foundation. The movement also is being seen in New Hampshire. In Nashua alone, there are 10 projects ranging from high-end condos to elderly apartments either under way or in the planning stages."

CALL FOR ENTRIES
2007 RUDY BRUNER AWARD

About the Rudy Bruner Award:

The Rudy Bruner Award is given to urban places that demonstrate the successful integration of effective process, meaningful values and good design. RBA winners are distinguished by their social, economic and contextual contributions to the urban environment, and often provide innovative solutions to our cities’ most challenging problems.

The RBA awards one Gold Medal of $50,000 and four Silver Medals of $10,000 each.

Case studies of winners are published on line at www.brunerfoundation.org and in a book distributed by the Bruner Foundation.

2007 Selection Committee:

• Mayor Manny Diaz, Miami, FL
• Reese Fayde, CEO, Living Cities: National Community Development Initiative, NY
• Reed Kroloff, Dean of Architecture, Tulane University, New Orleans
• David Perry, CEO, Great Cities Institute, Chicago
• Josephine Ramirez, Director of Planning, The Music Center, Los Angeles
• Robert Kroin, Chief Architect, Boston Redevelopment Authority, Boston

For more information or to receive an application, contact:

Bruner Foundation
130 Prospect Street
Cambridge, MA  02139
Ph. 617-492-8401, Ext. 184
Fax 617-876-4002
Email: application@brunerfoundation.org
Download the application: www.brunerfoundation.org

The application deadline is December 18, 2006.

Please provide your name, title, company or organization, full address and daytime phone and/or fax number on all application requests. Please let us know how you learned about the Award.

"Two blocks of well-loved green space next to New York's main library should get Minneapolis thinking: Why not transform one or more of the surface parking lots next to its central library into an urban oasis?"  Bryant Park provides a model for Minneapolis to think about the backyard of its new downtown library.