Streets as Places

Spring 2012

“If we can develop and design streets so that they are wonderful, fulfilling places to be – community-building places, attractive for all people – then we will have successfully designed about one-third of the city directly and will have had an immense impact on the rest.“
- Great Streets by Alan Jacobs

All around the US, communities are increasingly becoming concerned about the consequences of designing streets that function exclusively for the efficiency of automobile movement versus those that serve broader economic and social needs of communities.  And this is a bigger problem than it seems on the surface.  We have built residential streets that parents are reluctant to allow their children to cross and that senior citizens feel unsafe walking  in their own neighborhoods.  We have also allowed for fast moving traffic on commercial streets to have a negative impact on shopping.  With the dramatic decrease in walking by people of all ages and parents feeling the need to drive their children everywhere, there has been a growing concern with obesity. Environmentally, increased traffic has contributed to increased concerns about energy security and global climate change. Sadly, when taken together, streets, sidewalks, transit centers and parking lots take up the majority of outdoor space in most urban and metropolitan areas. There is hardly any person in the world today who is not affected by how their community’s streets function.

To address the pressing issue of how our streets are impacting our communities, PPS is offering Streets as Places, a two-day capacity-building workshop about how to redirect future investment in transportation and streets to build communities, not simply to move cars.  This workshop will shed light on how to rebalance the transportation system so that it not only fosters the mobility that we need, but also helps communities solve quality of life, economic vitality, aging in place, social equity and health issues challenging 21^st century leaders.

Streets as Places (SAP) will help workshop participants understand how to rebalance the transportation system in their communities, building upon the high speed network with complementary streets and transit solutions that bring vitality back to urban and suburban communities.   As importantly, SAP provides solutions for rural areas and communities as well, helping to create a transportation infrastructure that shapes future growth to avert the homogenous, sprawling growth that has been the result of the past approach.

Presentations and discussions will focus on policy, design, community process, and implementation strategies, all of which will emphasize how participants can work within their community to influence the creation of their transportation system.  The training will describe and equip participants with practical tools for assessing a variety of types of streets including case studies of cities and towns that have moved beyond simply trying to address mobility to building community.  Participants will also share their experiences, both positive and negative, with each other, and work together on our unique group exercises, in order to find solutions.

Topics will Include

• Community based Street Typology – how to define a wide range of street types that address both transportation mobility and community goals drawing upon the pioneering work of cities such as Charlotte, Portland, Savannah and rural communities such as Brunswick Maine

• Healthy Street Design – how street design can promote community health and economic vitality

• Placemaking and Streets –tools and techniques such as context sensitive solutions, shared streets, and complete streets for designing streets as places

• Community Engagement – how to do it effectively and without pain

• Dealing with  your Transportation Agency – how citizens can succeed in getting better outcomes from transportation departments and engage them in making short term experiments on streets and sidewalks

• Pedestrians and Bicycles – linking destinations through pedestrian and bicycle friendly streets and how to incorporate bicycle lanes and multi-modal infrastructure in urban and rural areas where street space is limited

• Sidewalk Design – using amenities, retail displays and storefronts to generate foot traffic and economic return

• Thinking Beyond the Station – designing and planning neighborhoods around transit stations

• Placemaking and Sustainability Campaigns – sidewalks, streets, and highways that benefit communities

• Action Planning – how communities such as New York City, Pittsburgh, Seattle, San Francisco, and Brunswick, Maine are using Action Planning and street improvement experiments to transform their streets into quality public spaces

 

Who Should Attend

It is intended for anyone who is interested in creating a great street, learning more about how streets can contribute to better communities, and understanding the social and economic benefits that can result from changing the way that streets are thought about and designed. The course is also intended for transportation and health professionals, civic and elected officials, street designers, citizen advocates, city planners and designers, downtown managers, and people who understand that the time for change is now!
.

Training Course Location

Visiting New York City is an educational experience in itself. And, in recent years, the streets of New York City have been undergoing a transformation – from congested conduits for vehicular traffic to streets that are now making room for separated bicycle lanes, dedicated bus lanes, wider sidewalks, and public plazas.

The training course will take place in New York City at PPS’ new office at 419 Lafayette St, 7th Floor as well as in the streets of New York, where we will showcase some of these improvements, with before and after comparisons and first-hand knowledge of how to transform streets into places for people.

 

Project for Public Spaces (PPS): Training Course Host

Project for Public Spaces, Inc. is a non-profit technical assistance, research, and educational organization.

We believe that transportation investments – in both streets and transit facilities – have enormous potential to reshape communities and be catalysts for more livable, economically viable and sustainable cities. PPS’s initiative, Building Communities through Transportation, provides the framework through which cities can work in partnership with transportation agencies to achieve this critical goal. Streets as Places is a key component of this initiative.

Click here for more information on PPS’s Building Community through Transportation initiative.

Instructors for this course are:

• Gary Toth, PPS Director of Transportation Initiatives and former Director of Project Planning and Development for the New Jersey Department of Transportation.

• Fred Kent, President and Founder of PPS

• Cynthia Nikitin,Vice President

• Norman Mintz, Senior Associate, Main Streets

• Aurash Khawarzad, Associate

• Pippa Brashear, Project Manager
  .

Training Course Cost

The registration fee covers breakfast and lunch on both days and a cocktail reception, along with educational materials. Enrollment in training courses also includes a PPS membership! You can view all the benefits of being a PPS member here.

Early registration: $550

Late registration: $600

Groups of 3 or more are eligible for a discount rate. Prices per person: $450.

We do offer a limited number of scholarships based on merit and financial need. Please contact Casey Wang at cwang@pps.org for more information.
.

Registration

Registration is currently closed.  Please check back for updates!
.

Questions?

Please contact Casey Wang at cwang@pps.org