News from PPS

Announcing a new book by PPS Board member and former Congressman Richard Swett. And -- from Seattle to New Jersey to Eastern Europe -- read about how PPS is turning around places across the globe.

Ambassador Richard Swett releases new book

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In Congress, Swett authored the Transportation for Livable Communities Act, coauthored the landmark Congressional Accountability Act, and introduced bills on energy conservation and the use of renewable energy. In the private sector, his experience includes architectural design, project and corporate management, and development. Leadership by Design draws on Swett's experiences from both aspects of his career to present an eloquent plea to architects, leaders, and citizens alike to expand our tool chest as we seek new leadership to design good solutions for the complex challenges facing our nation and the world.

PPS expands Placemaking efforts in Croatia, Serbia, and Montenegro

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Forty participants attended the Placemaking workshop in Slatina this November.

Over the past two years, PPS and the Urban Institute have trained a core group of Placemaking "consultants." Overall, through presentations and workshops, over 1000 people throughout Croatia have been trained in the Placemaking methodology. Fifteen of these consultants will work with multiple communities throughout Croatia to initiate Placemaking pilot projects.

The city of Slatina is the site of one of the first in this series of pilot projects. On November 9, The Slatina city government hosted a Placemaking workshop facilitated by The Urban Institute and PPS, with the goal of developing a vision for the re-use of two military barracks structures and a neighboring park in the city center. While a technical school is already planned for the larger barracks structure, the city wanted to involve citizens and young people in improvements to the public spaces, including the smaller barracks structure.

The ultimate goal is to create a country-wide, self-sustaining Placemaking network.

Over 40 people, including about 20 youth, attended the three-hour workshop. Participants agreed that the smaller barracks should be redeveloped as a community activity center for all age groups. They proposed transforming the underused open spaces with play areas, a skateboard park, a summer stage, and game areas -- with better landscaping, seating, and gathering places, including a cafe. Participants also identified low-cost projects that could begin immediately, including a clean-up, a mural project, a New Year's Eve Celebration, and a festival in the Spring to raise awareness of the space's potential as a community center.

As more pilot projects get underway and more Placemaking consultants are trained, the Urban Institute and PPS will seek to attract additional partners and funding. The ultimate goal is to create a country-wide, self-sustaining Placemaking network -- modeled on PPS's successful program in the Czech Republic -- in which U.S. involvement is phased out and a local NGO continues the work of providing technical assistance to communities and small grants for implementation.

A map of the proposed Path of Peace. Serbia is to the east, Croatia to the west, and Hungary to the north.

Elsewhere in the region, the initial PPS workshops in the Serbian province of Vojvodina have yielded major results. Our local partner, the Green Network of Vojvodina, received a large grant from the Balkan Trust for Democracy to begin work on "The Path of Peace," a bike path and greenway that will link a diverse group of communities in both Serbia and Croatia along their shared border.

Meanwhile, in neighboring Montenegro, PPS Vice President Steve Davies spoke to 40 representatives of local towns and NGOs on November 5th. The response was very enthusiastic, and we expect to work in partnership with the Urban Institute on future projects there.

In New Jersey, highway improvements lead to better places

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Newark's North Broad Street.

The predominantly Latino North Broad Street neighborhood stands to gain immensely from the proposed improvements. Bounded to the south by I-280 and the east by Route 21 and the Passaic River, the neighborhood is located along the north end of Broad Street (Newark's main street). It also happens to be the nexus for an extraordinary combination of transportation improvements, including:

• The elimination of obsolete access ramps to I-280.
• The reconstruction of a section of I-280 including the Stickel Bridge over the Passaic River.
• Improvements to New Jersey Transit's Broad Street Station and plaza, and the construction of a new light rail station near Broad Street.
• A streetscape plan "to re-establish Broad Street as a world-class boulevard at the heart of Newark."

While North Broad Street is at the center of the proposed changes, the full scope extends from downtown Newark to the neighboring town of Harrison. PPS has worked with local transportation agencies, the firm Parsons Brinckerhoff, and local residents to create a vision for how these various improvements can result in a cohesive network of walkable streets, lively public spaces, and enhanced transit facilities. Altogether, the proposed changes signal a major advance toward adapting the goals of transportation planning to the more holistic goals of Placemaking.

Two Seattle parks look to recapture former splendor

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City officials sought out PPS because they recognized that Occidental Park had untapped potential to serve as a dynamic neighborhood anchor. In the spring, PPS led community workshops to evaluate the park and develop short- and long-term strategies for improvement. City officials acted quickly upon PPS's recommendations to implement a series of experiments in the park over the summer. From small additions like chess and other games to large productions like outdoor movies and musical performances, the huge variety of experiments helped officials see which times of day and which activities were most effective.

Nighttime movie screenings were a big hit in Occidental Park this summer.

The major events, including the "First Thursday" art market and a festival called "Discover the Klondike" that celebrated an 1897 gold rush, delivered a large boost in visitors. The adjacent Grand Central Bakery noticed the difference, attributing an increase in their sales to the new programming in the park. Now, the Parks Department is determining ways to market Occidental Park's activities, such as matching particular days of the week with recurring events.

Meanwhile, the revival of Freeway Park--still in the early stages--presents another intriguing case study. Famously built over I-5 to "heal the scar" created by the highway, Freeway Park was a celebrated place immediately after its completion in 1976, yet gradually sunk into a decline that reached its nadir with the murder of a blind and deaf homeless woman in broad daylight in 2002. Since that time security has improved, but visitors are still rare.

This year, Seattle Parks and Recreation hired PPS to work with local stakeholders to evaluate the park and generate ideas for short- and long-term improvements. Following a series of community meetings and public workshops, the vision that emerged positioned Freeway Park as the active focal point of a larger district that encompasses part of the residential First Hill neighborhood and part of downtown Seattle.

One of Freeway Park's many concrete structures.

Freeway Park's complex design--characterized by an array of concrete partitions and edifices--presents many hurdles to achieving this vision, yet much could be accomplished in the near term to address its shortcomings. Simply making its hard-to-find entrances more visible would greatly improve access to the park. In lieu of major design changes, which are neither feasible nor desirable in light of the affection many people still possess for the park, simple physical improvements like adding pedestrian scale lighting, seasonal horticultural displays, and brightly colored benches and movable seating would make the park a more welcoming place.

Long-term improvements, like creating better connections between the park and surrounding neighborhoods, will require more time and effort. But with the continued dedication of Seattle's leaders and the consistent involvement of all the people who care deeply about it, Freeway Park could become downtown Seattle's premier public space.