September 27th, 2006 | Go to Placemaking Blog Home

2007 Rudy Bruner Award – Call for Entries

Posted by: ksalay@pps.org

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.

September 22nd, 2006 | Go to Placemaking Blog Home

A Parking Spot Squat in Midtown Manhattan

Posted by: ksalay@pps.org

Yesterday members of Transportation Alternatives staged a parking squat – a “quasi-legal reclamation of urban street space in which a metered, curbside parking spaces are transformed into urban parkland complete with sod, benches, trees and human beings.”

These events always evoke strong reactions – as evident in the comments posted to StreetsBlog.

September 22nd, 2006 | Go to Placemaking Blog Home

Downtown Mississauga – Removed from PPS’s Hall of Shame!

Posted by: ksalay@pps.org

In 2005, PPS began working with the City of Mississauga to help grow a lively downtown that appeals to a growing downtown population. Even before the ink was dry on our final report and concepts, the city had formed a new department, Building a City for the 21^st Century. The department has been busy implementing recommendations, empowering residents to become leaders in City projects, and organizing the “My Mississauga” program of outdoor events. Activities and events range from Farmers markets to Vintage Car Club Thursdays.

Mississauga’s immense effort in its downtown has even convinced us to remove it from the PPS Hall of Shame!

Some photos from this summer’s “My Mississauga” events:

For more information on PPS’s work in Mississauga, see the Placemaking in Mississauga project experience.

September 21st, 2006 | Go to Placemaking Blog Home

Thinking Outside the Concert-hall Box

Posted by: ksalay@pps.org

By bringing music to public spaces, composers are reaching audiences as diverse as the locales.

September 21st, 2006 | Go to Placemaking Blog Home

Will Making Detroit Walkable Spur Its Resurgence?

Posted by: ksalay@pps.org

“Key stakeholders in the City of Detroit are busy crafting a market-driven redevelopment plan for downtown Detroit. Central to the plan is fostering walkability in Detroit; an element many believe is a cornerstone to the city’s revitalization.”

September 21st, 2006 | Go to Placemaking Blog Home

Making Room for Happy People in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia

Posted by: ksalay@pps.org

Several dozen people converged on New Glasgow this week to learn how to change their communities from places they couldn’t wait to get through to places they didn’t want to leave.

Reduce traffic volume and make room for happier citizens, urged workshop leaders from the New York-based Project for Public Spaces. Kathy Madden, Cynthia Nikitin, and Kathleen Ziegenfuss trained about 50 provincial politicians, municipal planners, librarians and others interested in community development, in simple low-cost techniques to revitalize neighbourhoods.

September 19th, 2006 | Go to Placemaking Blog Home

PPS Studies Anchorage’s Market

Posted by: ksalay@pps.org

An extensive study conducted by Project for Public Spaces of Anchorage’s popular weekend open market concludes that it works well in its present location, but should grow to interact more with the rest of the downtown area.

September 19th, 2006 | Go to Placemaking Blog Home

Farmers Adapting to Changing Times

Posted by: ksalay@pps.org

“Just five years ago, fruit farmers William Schober Sons Inc. sold all their apples, peaches and nectarines on the wholesale market and dealt with the low prices they often got for the produce.

This season, the Monroeville farm only sold about 40 percent of the farm’s crop to wholesalers. Next season, it could be even less.

So where’s the farm’s fruit going?

“We have a roadside market and we go to farmers’ markets in Collingswood, West Cape May and Woodbury,” said John Hurff, who heads the fourth-generation family farm astride the Elk-Franklin boundary.”

September 18th, 2006 | Go to Placemaking Blog Home

Bryant Park Says Fashion Shows Need to Move

Posted by: ksalay@pps.org

“Bryant Park, which has been home to the massive spring and fall fashion shows, is pulling out the welcome mat.” – New York Business.com

Last year, Bryant Park installed an ice skating rink that was free to the public – and much more popular than the exclusive private fashion shows. This February Bryant Park may choose in favor of extending the ice rink, rather than closing the park off for Fashion Week.

After writing about the dangers of privatization of Bryant Park for years, PPS enthusiastically applauds this decision.

September 18th, 2006 | Go to Placemaking Blog Home

Fight Brewing Over Patriots Square Park, Phoenix

Posted by: ksalay@pps.org

After years of grumbling, this much-maligned public space in at the heart of Phoenix is on the verge of a makeover. But the proposed design has ignited controversy with people who either want the park saved as is or who want it redeveloped, but not in the way that is on the table.

September 18th, 2006 | Go to Placemaking Blog Home

PPS Developing Open Space Plan for Tempe, AZ

Posted by: ksalay@pps.org

As buildings inch upward and outward in Tempe, AZ, Project for Public Spaces, is devising a way for the city to preserve the areas in between – making sure there are pockets of shade and places to linger for residents, tourists and employees.

September 18th, 2006 | Go to Placemaking Blog Home

Could the New York City Cab Ride be Better? Take the Taxi 07 Survey

Posted by: bfried@pps.org

The non-profit Design Trust for Public Space has launched Taxi 07, a program of public events and publications to improve New York City cab design and the entire taxi system. The Taxi 07 Master Plan, to be published April 2007 in partnership with the New York City Taxi & Limousine Commission (TLC), will outline the next decade of improvement priorities for New York cabs.

Shape the Future of the New York City Taxicab

Make your voice heard: cab riders — New Yorkers and visitors alike — are sharing their taxi experiences. Take the Taxi 07 survey at www.taxi07.org and tell:

- When and why you do (or don’t) take cabs

- How and where you can (or can’t) find one

- Your wishlist of cab improvements, inside and out

- What you think of cabs as a mass transit option in the city

The survey is up for two weeks only, from September 15 to September 30, 2006.

Every respondent also has a chance to win exclusive tickets to a gala cocktail event at Rafael Vinoly Architects.

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Blog Categories

2007 Rudy Bruner Award – Call for Entries

A Parking Spot Squat in Midtown Manhattan

Downtown Mississauga – Removed from PPS’s Hall of Shame!

Thinking Outside the Concert-hall Box

Will Making Detroit Walkable Spur Its Resurgence?

Making Room for Happy People in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia

PPS Studies Anchorage’s Market

Farmers Adapting to Changing Times

Bryant Park Says Fashion Shows Need to Move

Fight Brewing Over Patriots Square Park, Phoenix

PPS Developing Open Space Plan for Tempe, AZ

Could the New York City Cab Ride be Better? Take the Taxi 07 Survey