Css class 18 placemaking 120309

Context Sensitive Solutions in Transportation Planning, Environmental

Analysis and Design

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Placemaking with CSS

Class 18


Analysis and Design

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“We will never bring disgrace on this, our city, by any act of dishonesty or cowardice. We will fight for the ideals and sacred things of the city, both alone and with our companions. We will revere and obey the city’s laws. We will try unceasingly to quicken the sense of civic duty in others. In every way we will strive to pass the city on to our children greater and better than it was when our parents passed it on to us.”

— Oath taken by the young men of Athens upon reaching adulthood during the Golden Age (500-400 B.C.)



Analysis and Design

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So..What Makes It a Place?

Northgate


Analysis and Design

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Why Make Places?

6th Street Austin


Analysis and Design

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• What is a great street?• What is great public space?• The role of managing street vs.

building it?• Negotiating diverse interests adds

value: best structure for managing context sensitive design?

• Judging economic/ social return: appropriate time frame?

• Applicability to other settings?

Placemaking


Analysis and Design

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Placemaking •Began in the 1970s by architects and planners• Describes the process of creating

squares, plazas, parks, streets and waterfronts

• Designed to attract people • Usually pleasurable or interesting• Landscape important in the design

process



Analysis and Design

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The philosophy of "placemaking" centers on the belief that a public-participation process defining and responding to community conditions and needs from the outset is one of the most critical factors in achieving transportation design that is truly sensitive to its context.

Placemaking begins with a thorough understanding of the dynamics, desires, and conditions within a community.


Analysis and Design

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Community Defined

• Sense of place: Geographic setting or natural/physical boundaries, standards of living, political jurisdictions

• Sense of community: Social interaction, common ties, mutual satisfaction of needs, and often a shared space

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), from Community Culture and the Environment: A Guide to Understanding a Sense of Place


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Transportation

How can Placemaking be applied to transportation

projects?


Analysis and Design

Yoakum

Sense of Place


Analysis and DesignSense of Place


Analysis and Design

Las Colinas

Sense of Place


Analysis and Design

Uvalde

Sense of Place


Analysis and Design

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Placemaking Principles

Philosophical Underpinnings1. The community is the expert2. Highways create place3. Teamwork is fundamental4. Obstacles create opportunity

From the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (adapted from Project for Public Spaces)

http://www.contextsensitivesolutions.org/content/topics/what_is_css/core-

principles/principles/


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Planning with the Community5. Learn by observing6. Develop a joint vision



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Designing with the Community7. Form supports function8. Synergistic solutions



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Implementation9. Start with quick, small, visible success10. Money will follow vision and action11. The project is never complete



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“Placemaking strives to balance all the users of a street - pedestrians, transit riders, motorists, and bicyclists, rather than on just designing roads to accommodate motor vehicles. The focus is on how these streets and roads connect to the surrounding districts and public spaces and make these areas more economically stable, safe, and productive. The input of those who use and experience a place on a regular basis is essential to the Place-making process."

How Transportation and Community Partnerships are Shaping America: Part I: Transit Stops and

Stationshttp://www.contextsensitivesolutions.org/

content/reading/how-transportation/resources/how-transportation/


Analysis and Design

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Legacy Town Center Main Street, Plano

Placemaking


Analysis and DesignPlacemaking

Master Planned Business, Retail and Residential Community


Analysis and Design

16th Street Mall in Denver

Pedestrian and Transit

Placemaking

• Original 13-block Mall opened in October 1982 • 2 years to build• LoDo portion from Blake Street to Denver Union Station constructed in 1992• 1.25 miles long


Analysis and Design

• The idea for the Mall was initiated in 1976 • City of Denver• Downtown Denver Partnership (DDP)• Downtown Denver Business Improvement District (BID) • Regional Transportation District (RTD)

• Average 55,000 people use RTD’s Free MallRide shuttles every weekday• More than 15 million riders annually• 36 ultra-low emission hybrid-electric vehicles • Each shuttle can carry approximately 115 passengers

Placemaking


Analysis and Design

16th Street MallDenver

Placemaking


Analysis and Design

16th Street MallDenver

Placemaking

http://z.about.com/d/denver/1/0/c/4/-/-/mall500.png

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d3/2006-04-23_-_16th_Street_Mall_from_D&F_Tower.jpg


Analysis and Design

Main Street Houston

Placemaking

"The emphasis (of the plan) is on public spaces - the streets and squares that will link various uses together. High-coverage buildings are encouraged to promote street-oriented architecture and active sidewalks. Although there is less open space, it will be of a much higher quality."

Main Street Corridor Master Plan


Analysis and DesignMain Street

• Most historic street in Houston

• Was lined by Houston’s finest architecture and retailers

• De facto bus mall by the 1980’s


Analysis and Design

Main Street

1990’s planned as Transit Street- 130 buses/ hour


Analysis and Design

Main Street Corridor

• 1998- Mayor Brown wanted light rail• Main was the logical choice• Main Street Coalition formed and

sponsored a master plan for corridor• Ehrenkrantz, Eckstut & Kuhn Architects

(EEK) won competition


Analysis and Design

Main Street Coalition

• Central Houston, Inc. (a business association)• The Midtown Redevelopment Authority • The South Main Center Association• Institutions such as the Texas Medical Center and

the Museum of Fine Arts• The City of Houston• Harris County• The Metropolitan Transit Authority • The Houston-Galveston Area Council, the

metropolitan planning organization (MPO) for the region

• The Texas Department of Transportation• Other civic groups and nonprofit and businesses


Analysis and Design

Main Street Coalition

Coalition Goals• Revitalize and transform the Main Street Corridor

through the strategic integration of land use and transportation/transit;

• Stimulate and intensify development, including inner-city residential housing, new businesses, and urban beautification;

• Offer an alternative to the continuation of the fragmented, haphazard development patterns of the last few decades;

• Coordinate and leverage public and private investment; and

• Institute innovative techniques to evaluate activites’ success.


Analysis and Design

Main Street Corridor

• Metro determines that it can build $324 million light rail with local funds

• 7 mile corridor with 250,000 employees

• 50,000 residents • Major museums,

schools, parks, hospitals, sports


Analysis and Design

Main Street in Downtown

• METRO limited funds- $33.1 million downtown

• Vision for great street• Economic

development worries• Diverse, long

standing stakeholders

• Concerns about follow through


Analysis and DesignMain Street LRT

Stakeholders debated optimum configuration for Main Street with

light rail


Analysis and Design


EEK’s vision for great green street: “oasis”


Analysis and Design


TIRZ/District funded sidewalk enhancements & other upgrades-

$16.8 million


Analysis and Design



Analysis and Design

Main Street Streetscape


Analysis and DesignTransit to Tunnel

Superstop- 1993


Analysis and Design

Vision for Core

• Stakeholder group effort with EEK

• Major public square

• LRT Central Station

• Safety concerns of METRO

• High quality finishes

• Funding sources?


Analysis and Design

Design Concepts


Analysis and Design

Main Street Square

Central Houston funding of $6.4 million of three blocks public space


Analysis and Design

Implementation

• Fulfills 1992 concept for public place in the core

• Extremely difficult deadline: New Year’s Day 2004

• Funding risk• Multiple construction contracts• Agreement of City to close street-conflicting

views• Operating responsibility: Downtown District

Main Street Square


Analysis and Design

Main Street Square


Analysis and Design

Main Street Square


Analysis and Design

Main Street Square


Analysis and Design

Main Street Square Today

• Highest pedestrian concentration in City

• Retail sales have increased• Attracting new development• But…remaining needs to upgrade

adjacent properties• Street management challenges• Central station vs. central square?


Analysis and Design

Main Street Lessons Learned

• Communication and coordination are critical.

• Build trust through small-group and one-to-one meetings.

• Keep people continuously engaged.• Private-sector involvement is critical

to success.• Urban arterials can be reinvented

with a transit and pedestrian focus.


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Key Attributes of a Great Place• Access and Linkages• Comfort and Image• Uses and Activities• Sociability

http://www.pps.org/info/gps/60places?referrer=gps_home


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http://www.pps.org/info/gps/60places?referrer=gps_home

Project for Public Spaces• Building Community through Transportation• Streets as Places• Thinking Beyond the Station


http://www.pps.org/


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• Getting Ready– Step 1: Assess public space challenges – Step 2: Select a site – Step 3: Identify key stakeholders

• Evaluating your neighborhood– Step 4: Collect data



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• Making a place plan– Step 5: Conduct place evaluation workshop – Step 6: Translate the ideas into action with a

working group – Step 7: Develop a visual concept plan – Step 8: Create a summary report and

presentation• Implementing your place plan

– Step 9: Implement short-term actions – Step 10: Develop long-term design and

management plans – Step 11: Assess results and replicate


Technology

Css class 18 placemaking 120309