The Placemaking Round-Up
A biweekly newsletter with public space news, resources, and opportunities.
The Biweekly Bazaar
A curated dispatch on all things public markets plus the latest announcements from the Market Cities Program.
A biweekly newsletter with public space news, resources, and opportunities.
A curated dispatch on all things public markets plus the latest announcements from the Market Cities Program.
What keeps us busy Project for Public Spaces
Parks,Plazas and Civic Squares
Transportation and Livable Communities
Public Markets and Local Economies
Public Buildings and Civic Design
Past PPS projects listed A to Z
Past PPS projects listed by category
CURRENT PPS PROJECTS
Featured Project
Philadelphia's Vine Street Expressway
In Philadelphia, proving that even a highway can be turned around
Philadelphia's Vine Street Expressway is a sunken highway that, like all too many urban thoroughfares, divides its surrounding neighborhoods and discourages street life. Even the surface-level streets on each side of the expressway feel like highways, with their wide lanes, fast-moving traffic, and poor pedestrian amenities. Such an intimidating place can still be turned around, and PPS is working with Philadelphia's Center City District to do just that.
Luckily, the Vine Street corridor passes through several key places that can link neighborhoods together by serving as destination points. The goal is to create "special places" in these crucial areas along Vine Street, such as Franklin Square, Chinatown, and Logan Circle, all of which have the potential to become more active and attractive destinations. These revitalized places, together with a humanized, pedestrian-friendly treatment of the surface streets, will make Vine Street a connector and link between the various neighborhoods along it.
Training Programs
How To Turn A Place Around Two-day training courses in place-making, designed for professionals and non-professionals alike New York City, April 24-25, 2003 London, June 5-6, 2003 New York City, October 23-24, 2003
How To Create Successful Markets Part I: Starting markets in your neighborhood New York City, April 23-24, 2003
Context Sensitive Design Training
A 5-day course on looking beyond the pavement to the role streets and roads play in enhancing communities; conducted with 650 transportation professionals in New Jersey, and 350 in New York State. Wisconsin Department of Transportation: Fred Kent, kick-off speech for 3-day training course, December 10th, Madison WI Delaware Department of Transportation: Kathy Madden, keynote speaker, December 11th, Wilmington DE California Department of Transportation New York State Department of Transportation New Jersey State Department of Transportation
2nd Annual New Partners for Smart Growth Fred Kent leading Creating Public Spaces workshop New Orleans, January 30-February 1, 2003
Public Market Training Course Neighborhood Reinvestment Institute Steve Davies and David O'Neil
Conferences
Parks Conference Celebrating the 150th anniversary of Central Park New York City, June, 2003
New Programs
Community Technology Centers
Public Markets Program Research into public markets as a mechanism of social integration and upward mobility. Funded by the Ford Foundation.
Websites
Omaha Riverfront Improvement Plan An initiative of LivelyOmaha.org
Vine Street, Philadelphia
DowntownNYC.org This site is designed to gather ideas and opinions about the redevelopment of Lower Manhattan from the people who live and work there, or care about its future.
Projects
Parks, Plazas and Civic Squares
Case Western Reserve Cleveland, OH
Olympic Plaza and Central Square Calgary, CAN
Citywide Parks Program Including downtown library plaza Danville, CA
Baisley Park King Manor Park Two historic parks that are underperforming New York City
Mount Vernon Place Revitalization of this historic park with conservatory, art museum, and other public institutions (Friends of Mount Vernon Place) Baltimore, MD
Bronx River Working Group Produce case study on the evolution of this important river-based partnership (Partnerships for Parks) Bronx, NY
Wade Oval (pictured right) Place-making and improvements for civic space (University Circle, Inc.) Cleveland, OH
Barkwill Park Place-making and improvements (Slavic Village Development) Cleveland, OH
Federal Plaza/Hyde Park Downtown historic square (General Services Administration) Ft. Worth, TX
Public Art & Open Space Master Plans (Main Street Mobile) Mobile, AL
Park User Studies Working with community to conduct extensive surveys in five parks throughout the city's boroughs (Partnerships for Parks) New York, NY
Riverfront Revitalization (pictured right)Collaborating with the General Services Administration, National Park Service, Omaha Community Foundation, and City of Omaha to revitalize the Missouri riverfront through access and public spaces (Omaha Community Foundation) Omaha, NE
Portland Park Blocks Revitalizing six block-long public spaces separating downtown streets (Association for Portland Progress) Portland, OR
Rufus King Park Schematic design (Friends of Rufus King Park, Kaplan Fund) Queens, NY
Transportation and Livable Communities
Vine Street Restoring connection between neighborhoods on both sides of expressway, with revitalization of city's historic squares, Franklin Square and Logan Square, and restoring connections to Chinatown Philadelphia, PA
Queen's Chapel Road Baltimore, MD
El Camino Real Working in 12 communities to restore El Camino Real, the historic road that connects San Francisco to San Jose, including station area plans in each community, and housing opportunities for 15,000 new units San Mateo County, CA
Neighborhood improvements and training in multi-ethnic neighborhoods San Jose, CA
LA Bus Stops Creating places around bus stops Los Angeles, CA
Newark Waterfront Access Study Addressing access to the waterfront in downtown Newark (New Jersey DOT) Newark, NJ
Arlington District Historic road linking Vassar College and a local community Poughkeepsie, NY
Farmington Avenue (pictured right) Street improvements for pedestrians, cars and busses (Farmington Avenue Joint Committee) Hartford, CT
Monroe Center - 9th Street Light Rail Station Master plan for transit-oriented development at a new light-rail facility Hoboken, NJ
3rd, 4th, 5th, 7th, and Roseville Avenue Bridges Community Placemaking Opportunities (Schumann Fund) Newark, NJ
Partnership for Public Spaces Technical assistance, training and partnership activities with PPS' Czech counterpart organization (Rockefeller Brothers Fund) Prague, Czechoslovakia
Place-making Around Train Stations Improving access to three train stations through traffic calming, transit-friendly housing development, and improved integration into the central business districts of Redwood City, San Carlos, and San Mateo County (SamTrans, CalTrain) San Mateo County, CA
Transit-Friendly Communities Program An award-winning program with NJ Transit to renovate 11 train stations and the spaces around them (Transit Cooperative Research Program & Federal Highway Administration) New Jersey
Public Markets and Local Economies
Eastern Market Action Plan Management and design improvements for Detroit's Eastern Market Detroit, MI
Public Buildings and Civic Design
GSA Courthouse Mobile, AL
GSA Office Complex Atlanta, GA
GSA Federal Courthouse Salt Lake City, UT
Brooklyn Children's Museum Brooklyn, NY
Downtown District Place-making workshop (City of Beaverton) Beaverton, OR
City Hall - Federal Courthouse - Waterfront Promenade Public space improvement (General Services Administration) Boston, MA
INS Building Place-making and improvements (General Services Administration) Chicago, IL
Federal Courthouse Place-making and improvements (General Services Administration) Denver, CO
IRS Buildings Revitalizing public spaces around these buildings in downtown Ogden (General Services Administration) Ogden, UT
Federal Courthouse and INS Building Public space-improvement plan and designation of a Federal District (General Services Administration) San Diego, CA
City Hall Annex Seattle, WA
Federal Courthouse Public space-improvement plan (General Services Administration) Syracuse, NY
Education Plaza (pictured below) Design, plan and implementation guide for a new public front yard for the Department of Education Building (General Services Administration) Washington, DC
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