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Raymond Avenue before improvements were made.

Placemaking on America’s Historic Main Streets

By Craig Raphael on Jul 1, 2010 | 5 Comments

In honor of our new partnership with the National Trust for Historic Preservation, PPS is revisiting a body of project work impacting historic places. Last week we looked at historic train stations and public markets; today we’ll examine historic main streets.

The traditional Main Street is one of the most iconic images of America. With [...]

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WhatMakesYourPlaceGreat_Email

Announcing the “What Makes Your Place Great? Your Secret Corner of Chicagoland” Contest

By Megan MacIver on Jun 10, 2010 | Add Comment

PPS is excited to announce a new contest hosted by the Metropolitan Planning Council (MPC) aimed to uncover and celebrate Chicago’s most beautiful and vibrant “undiscovered” places.  The Chicago region is known for well-used plazas, parks, sidewalks and gardens that bring it to life. Many of these special places are tucked away in the hearts [...]

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Circling the Square: A First-Hand Account of Placemaking in Action

By Craig Raphael on Jun 2, 2010 | Add Comment

PPS works with thousands of people every year to help them improve their communities, and one of our most powerful tools is the place game. A short survey used to evaluate public spaces based on four criteria–access and linkages, uses and activities, comfort and image, and sociability–the place game generates valuable insights about how to [...]

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The 1784 plan of Pittsburgh, with Market Square clearly visible at the center

New Designs for the Ever-Evolving Heart of Pittsburgh: Market Square

By Craig Raphael on May 4, 2010 | 2 Comments

Market Square is a unique jewel situated at the center of the business and cultural districts in downtown Pittsburgh. The square has played a central role in Pittsburgh’s history, once housing the Alleghany County Courthouse and the “Diamond Market,”  the largest city market to which Pittsburgh residents came to shop, eat, and even roller skate on the top floor, [...]

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Relaxing on the new deck underneath the historic "Auction Oaks"

Austin Republic Square Becomes a Great Place through Partnerships

By Craig Raphael on Apr 27, 2010 | Add Comment

Republic Square in Austin, Texas has a long and storied history. The first city blocks were auctioned there under live oak trees in the summer of 1839; patriotic Mexican celebrations were staged during the First World War; cars were invited to park in the 1950s, only to be sent away twenty-seven years later when the [...]

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Improving Transit “By Any Means Necessary”

By joshkent on Jun 16, 2009 | 4 Comments

Malcolm X once said that “Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.” And so we found ourselves in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn at the first annual Bedford-Stuyvesant Malcolm X celebration, as guests of the Malcolm X Merchants Association (MXMA). We were there to educate ourselves [...]

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Great Public Spaces: Art Street (Taichung County, Taiwan)

By Tom Peyton on Jun 10, 2009 | Add Comment

What: A vibrant shopping street with an effective traffic calming system, situated at the summit of Da Du Mountain and next to Dong Hai University.

Why it Works: Art Street in Taichung County is one of the most progressive areas for urban living in [...]

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Cultivating a Tradition of Placemaking with the Garden Club of America

By joshkent on May 11, 2009 | 1 Comment

On May 2nd Fred Kent gave the opening keynote to 700 leaders of Garden Clubs from every corner of the United States. The message resonated as a natural evolution for their powerful role in communities, leveraging their skills as practical implementers, social networkers and resourceful fundraisers.  The local garden club is often the first partner [...]

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‘Triangulation’ for Chicago’s Polish Triangle

By Robin Lester on Apr 8, 2009 | 2 Comments

Chicago’s Metropolitan Planning Council, our partner in Placemaking Chicago, a city-wide Placemaking campaign, continues to make strides in applying Placemaking in Chicago.

Their latest project is the transformation of the intersection of Division Street, Ashland Avenue, and Milwaukee Avenue, at a crossroads also known as the Polish Triangle.  MPC has gathered insight [...]

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A new vision for Savannah’s streets and squares

By Craig Raphael on Apr 2, 2009 | 2 Comments

Savannah is known for the beauty of its tree-canopied streets, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for improvement. Clearly, its citizens agree. A recent survey that invited people to name the city’s best and worst streets drew four times as many responses for “worst” as for “best.”

The survey was conducted on [...]

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New Gansevoort Plaza gets mixed reviews, but remains victorious

By Brian Geraghty on Feb 25, 2009 | 1 Comment

A partnership between PPS, Transit Alternatives and Streetsblog formed in 2005 called the NYC Streets Renaissance fueled a number of projects aimed at reclaiming street space for pedestrians. One project was the redevelopment of Gansevoort plaza in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District. Last month, NYC’s DOT hosted a meeting for community [...]

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Winter Cities: Happy December in Ljubljana, Slovenia

By Ethan Kent on Jan 9, 2009 | 2 Comments

Temperatures average below freezing during the darkest month of the year in Slovenia.  However, the country’s public spaces are overflowing thanks to a government program called “Happy December,” designed to infuse life into downtowns.

Several concerts take place each day in [...]

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