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The
past two months have brought a whirlwind
of activity, including the launch
of two new websites - with a third
one in the works. We've also launched
a scholarship program and taken
our message abroad to the Czech
Republic. You'll find the latest
news on all these developments in
the articles below.
RECOGNIZING
THE PLACES WE LOVE
(AND LOATHE)
We’re
surrounded by public spaces - streets,
parks, markets, plazas, train stations
- some we love and some we hate.
Yet no one ever asks people what
they think of the places that shape
and influence their lives.
In
January, PPS launched a website,
Great
Public Spaces, Great Community Places,
that allows you to praise or condemn
the places you live in and visit,
from Rockefeller Center’s skating
rink to your local watering hole.
Users
delight in exacting verbal revenge
against their most reviled places
and buildings:
“What
makes it so awful? It's the nothing-ness
you feel when you go by. The place
is passive, cultureless and commercially
bland.” (McArthurGlen Designer
Outlet, UK)
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“With
an aesthetic that might be
dubbed 'dressed-up Home Depot',
this building has no sense
as a place in which one can
do anything more than drive
by blank walls." (The
Central Library, San Antonio,
TX)
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It
is the lesser-known places
that provoke the most passion:
treasures hidden within local
neighborhoods
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"The
old plaza exhibited the worst of
Modernism's frosty attitude toward
accommodating humans - its late
'90s redesign is no better."
(HUD Plaza, Washington, D.C)
World-renowned
spaces such as New York’s Grand
Central Station and Edinburgh’s
Royal Botanic Gardens are assessed
with the same “place”
criteria that are used on neighborhood
parks and main streets.
And
it is the lesser-known places that
provoke the most passion: vibrant
community gardens tendered by volunteers,
obscure flea markets - and other
treasures hidden within local neighborhoods.
The pizza oven
at Dufferin Grove Park, a great
community place |
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"There
is a pizza and bread-making
oven, theatre, ice rink, playground,
wading pool, baseball diamond,
basketball court, chess, checkers,
gardens, crafts for kids, card
playing for older visitors,
drop in center activities...and
best of all, beautiful and abundant
old shady trees." (Dufferin
Grove Park, Toronto, Canada) |
"At
5am each Saturday, over 20 vendors
set up shop in a dilapidated shopping
square, spreading out produce on
blankets; live ducks, rabbits and
chickens wail to a background chanting
of Asian pop music." (Vietnamese
Farmers' Market, New Orleans East,
LA, U.S.)
To
browse the listings, chime in with
your opinions, nominate a Great
Public Space, or a contender for
the Hall of Shame, click below:
http://www.greatpublicspaces.org
SCHOLARSHIP
FUND PROMOTES PLACEMAKING
"It
is difficult to design a space that
will not attract people. What is
remarkable is how often this has
been achieved."
WILLIAM H. WHYTE
PPS
is proud to announce the launch
of our MAKING
PLACES SCHOLARSHIP FUND. The
Scholarship Fund will enable people
of limited means to attend our popular
'How to Turn a Place Around' training
course. The two-day training course
is based on our broad experience
and research in community-based
planning and decision-making, which
has helped more than 1,000 communities
in 46 U.S. states and 12 countries
to "turn their places around."
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The
Making Places Scholarship Fund
is primarily devoted to the
training course itself; although
we also plan to fund stipends
for two internships at PPS to
help prepare the course; the
interns would then attend the
course as well. |
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plan to award 30 scholarships
over the next two years, to
the value of $10,000 |
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For
the cost of just $325, you can fund
one person to learn placemaking
skills that will benefit their entire
community (the remaining $50 will
be met by the scholar). PPS covers
all selection and administration
costs associated with the scholarship.
The cost of a two-month internship
is $3,000.
Donors
may specify certain preferences
they would like taken into consideration
in the awarding of scholarships,
such as a preference for individuals
from a particular state or profession.
The donation will be recognized
in our 'Making Places' newsletter
and listed in our year-end report.
People
who contribute $10,000 or more to
the scholarship fund, may have a
collective fund named after the
donor or in honor or in memory of
family members or other individuals.
We
plan to award 30 scholarships over
the next two years, to the value
of $10,000.
You
can donate online now! http://67.100.182.43/scholar_donation.htm
Coming
Soon:
LOCAL ONLINE RESOURCE
CENTERS
PPS
is developing a series of "Local
Online Resource Centers" -
websites customized for particular
communities in which we are working.
These Resource Centers will allow
residents, workers, business owners,
planners, and a range of other stakeholders
to share information and ideas about
improving or developing a public
place in their community.
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one level, the Resource Center
acts as a follow-up to the PPS
“place-evaluation”
workshop conducted on-site,
in that it records, compiles,
and publicizes the findings
and recommendations generated
by the workshop. Moreover, the
Resource Center serves as a
virtual place where anyone in
the community can learn about
the |
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Resource Center keeps the lines
of communication open among
PPS, community members, and
the decision-makers, planners
and builders of a public space |
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projectand its progress; contribute
their ideas and input; participate
in discussions; and access a range
of resources on issues related to
public space. The Resource Center
also keeps the lines of communication
open among PPS, its local partners,
community members and stakeholders
- and, ultimately, the decision-makers,
planners and builders of a public
space.
The
prototype for all Resource Centers,
currently in development, is tailored
to the former World Trade Center
site and Lower Manhattan. PPS is
producing it for the Civic Alliance
to Rebuild Downtown New York (an
umbrella organization of more than
85 community, business, and environmental
groups). Resource Centers for San
Mateo County; Newark, NJ; Omaha,
NE; and other communities will be
based on this model.
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