Tactical Urbanism Workshop and Implementation PLan

Transcription

1 Tactical Urbanism Workshop and Implementation PLan Type: Workshop and Implementation Plan Size: Multi-Neighborhood Status: Implementation Underway Awards: CNU Charter Award: Best Tactical Project The Hamilton/Burlington Society of Architects and (HBSA) and Ontario Architects Association (OAA) retained Street Plans to lead a tactical urbanism workshop aimed at five prototypical challenge sites found throughout the city. Tactical urbanism utilizes direct, low-risk, and low-cost action to inform and help cities and citizens catalyze long-term social and physical change. While tactical urbanism is not necessarily new in Hamilton - Parking Meter Parties, the Sew Hungry Food Truck Festival, and Open Streets are three local examples - the workshop aimed to further educate the citizenry about similar actions being taken across North America and to inspire citizens to become more involved in the physical improvement of their city. A variety of architects, professional planners, neighbourhood residents, journalists, and advocacy group representatives attended the April 19th, 2013 workshop. Following an introductory lecture led by Mike Lydon of Street Plans, participants were divided into five teams and tasked with identifying the challenges and opportunities associated with one of five sites representing a variety of conditions found within the city. Each team was then asked to develop low-cost and low risk interventions intended to communicate possibilities for creating positive change in both the short and long-term. Seed money was then provided by HBSA for the implementation of a select number of projects before the public lecture, which was scheduled for May 2. With several projects pilot tested by citizens, the workshop had an immediate impact. While the City of Hamilton pushed back on the activity of workshop attendees, they soon saw the value of approaching existing challenges with short-term, inexpensive pilot projects. Within 6 months of the workshop more than 65 intersections (Update: now more than 100!) had received pilot improvements, including the initial Locke/Herkimer Street intersection, which now has permanent infrastructure.

2 MARKET STREET PROTOTYPING FESTIVAL PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT Type: Public Workshop Series Size: 100 Attendees The Market Street Prototyping Festival is an initiative led by the San Francisco Planning Department in partnership with the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. The 2015 Festival engaged stakeholders and designers in creating prototypes that served as pilots for physical improvements along Market Street. Leading up to the Festival, teams from all over San Francisco and all over the world submitted prototype proposals. In the Spring of 2015, the Festival transformed Market Street into a public platform showcasing roughly 50 of the most exceptional ideas for improving the corridor. The Planning Department hired Street Plans to design activities for two public involvement events as part of the early stages of the Prototyping Festival. For the first event, Street Plans created activities for a public open house, held at a free experimental art space on Market Street. This event was designed to engage a broad audience in thinking about short and longterm solutions that would improve the Market Street corridor. The feedback gathered at the open house helped frame the design assignment for teams creating prototype proposals. The second event was an Idea Lab, hosted at the Autodesk Gallery. The Idea Lab brought design teams together with residents, business owners and other stakeholders. Street Plans created activities for the Idea Lab that allowed attendees to work together to get familiar with the issues stakeholders identified on the corridor and brainstorm early-stage prototypes. Street Plans also created a framework for fostering ongoing partnerships among attendees. For this activity, attendees were asked to share their contact information and any skills or resources they were willing to devote to a prototyping project. This Collaboration Directory was an important capacity building component, as it allowed Idea Lab participants to connect across industries to create strong prototype proposals.

3 MIAMI New york Living Beyond Expectations Demonstration Project Type: Tactical Urbanism Demonstration Project Size: Three blocks The Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) Living Beyond Expectations Lifelong Community Demonstration Project temporarily transformed two blocks of Auburn Avenue in Atlanta s Historic Old 4th Ward neighborhood into a model Lifelong Community - a healthy, walkable place with housing, transportation and service options for people of all ages. As a first step, Street Plans facilitated a Living Beyond Expectations Visioning Workshop, inviting stakeholders from across the Atlanta region to share ideas and become actively involved in shaping the demonstration project. Then, over the course of three days, Street Plans worked with stakeholders and volunteers to temporarily transform Auburn Avenue using inexpensive or donated materials and engaging programming. The transformation included a number of mobility enhancements, such as a protected bike lane, with improved pavement markings and footrests for cyclists stopped at intersections. Volunteers also installed over a dozen pedestrian wayfinding signs indicating estimated walk times to key destinations. These enhancements demonstrated potential improvements to active transportation infrastructure in preparation for the new street car route that will soon open on the corridor (see tracks and platform on the left side of the second image to the right). Sweet Auburn LIVING BEYOND EXPECTATIONS Community Art > > > YUM YUM Shop! Experience a Two-Day Street Transformation Featuring: Pop-up Shops Outdoor Cafés Live Music Local Food Protected Bike Lanes Community Art Celebrations of the History of the Old Fourth Ward & Sweet Auburn JUNE 20 AUBURN AVENUE TH Friday 9AM - 5PM Hands-on Lab & Project Build-Out ST JUNE Sat. 10AM - 10PM Sun. 10AM-4PM Temporary Street Transformation FROM FORT ST. NE TO JACKSON ST. NE Join us as we temporarily transform two blocks of Auburn Avenue into Lifelong Community Better Blocks - places where people young and old can live, work, and play throughout their lifetime! In partnership with: Civil Bike 3x3 Project Social Bicycles HDDC Ebenezer Baptist Wheat Street Baptist Living Walls Wonder Root Neighborland People for Bikes Georgia Conservancy Sweet Auburn Digital Media Initiative Central Atlanta Progress Atlanta Housing Authority The Creatives Project OPERATION P.E.A.C.E For more more information and an event schedule, visit our Facebook page: or contact Rosalind Tucker at the Atlanta Regional Commission at or rtucker@atlantaregional.com ND Old 4th Ward Business Association Atlanta Bicycle Coalition Truly Living Well Wheat Street Gardens Madam CJ Walker Beauty Shoppe & Museum The Goat Farm Arts Center Fulton County Office of Community Development In addition to mobility enhancements, the project included wellness programming, such as yoga classes and capoeira demonstrations, new public spaces complete with seating and shade, participatory art projects, and an ideation wall inviting attendees to share their thoughts about what makes a neighborhood a true Lifelong Community. This demonstration project allowed planners, community leaders, neighbors and individuals from throughout the Atlanta region to work together to create a tangible demonstration of the concepts and practices that create a community that works for people of all ages.

4 temporary park for a placemaking master plan in Penrith, Australia Type: Placemaking Master Plan Size: 0.4 acre plaza Penrith is a regional city on the edge of Metropolitan Sydney, Australia. In 2012, the city commissioned a master plan focused on revitalizing its retail core, which had been in a state of decline due to competition from big box stores, an economic downturn, deteriorating infrastructure, and other factors. Street Plans worked with the Sydney-based consultancy Place Partners to integrate Tactical Urbanism into the master planning implementation process. The goal was to work with businesses and community members to quickly design and deliver a temporary public park that would be in place for a one year trial period. The pilot was designed to test uses and design elements before committing to a fixed design and the associated costs. The project team hosted a public workshop in fall 2013, bringing local government staff together with business owners, student architects, designers, and community members. Workshop attendees formed teams and worked together to design sections of the park using a priced pre-approved kit of parts. Participants were instructed to consider how different users would be engaged in the space and how the park could support local businesses. They were also asked to consider flexible uses of the park for special events such as markets or celebrations. Following the workshop, the park design was finalized using a basic and low-cost materials. The park was then installed the following month, quickly delivering economic and social benefits to the community. Over the course of one year, an independent consulting firm was hired to assess the park s success. Behavior mapping, business owner engagement and traffic studies were employed as tools for learning. Following a successful one year pilot project, Penrith City Council decided in May 2015 to not only make the park permanent, but to also maintain the interim design until construction could begin. Moreover, City Council utilized a similar approach to project delivery elswewhere in the city.

5 Fairmount station area placemaking workshop + Plan Type: Workshop and Plan Size: Neighborhood-scale, Implementation in progress Transit stations are a tremendous community asset and often become magnets for social and economic activity. The Fairmount MBTA (Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority) Station in Boston s Hyde Park neighborhood is no different. However, community leaders recognized that improvements were needed to make the station a great place for people of all ages, and to increase the appeal of riding the Fairmount/Indigo Line. With these goals in mind, the Southwest Boston Community Development Corporation (SWBCDC) and the Fairmount/Indigo Line CDC Collaborative retained Street Plans and Principal Group to launch a placemaking planning effort to create a vision for station area improvements. FAIRMOUNT STATION AREA PLACEMAKING WORKSHOP SUMMARY REPORT DRAFT: NOVEMBER 13, 2014 Street Plans began with a site visit to gather existing conditions data. Street Plans then led an initial planning meeting with representatives from neighborhood groups, local organizations, and the City of Boston. The meeting introduced placemaking principles and gathered input to inform the design of the larger public placemaking workshop. Approximately 40 people attended the public placemaking workshop, including neighborhood leaders, residents, business owners, and high school students. Street Plans began the workshop with an introductory presentation, including an initial analysis of existing conditions and a presentation of case studies applicable to Hyde Park. Following the presentation, Street Plans led attendees in a walking tour and visioning exercise. Participants worked together to complete Street Observation Worksheets, documenting challenges and opportunities throughout the study area. Finally, attendees returned to the community center and worked in small groups to flesh out their best ideas. Facilitators led the groups through a 48x48x48 visioning exercise, helping them map out a long-term vision, identifying what could be done in 48 hours, 48 days, and 48 weeks. For each time frame, the groups generated initial ideas for how the actions might be completed and who should be involved. Following the workshop, Street plans produced an engaging, image-focused summary report, outlining a path for short- and long-term implementation of priority recommendations. Southwest Boston CDC PRINCIPLE

6 Morgan Hill Complete Streets Demonstration Project Type: Tactical Urbanism Demonstration Project Size: Two blocks Monterey Road is a vibrant and compact commercial corridor at the heart of downtown Morgan Hill, CA. The roadway s current condition features four lanes of vehicle traffic, two in each direction. In response to the community s request for a less noisy, safer, more bike and pedestrian friendly downtown, the City of Morgan Hill initiated a Complete Streets project that will result in a comprehensive redesign of Monterey Road. The design and public involvement phases that occurred throughout 2014 identified two preferred alternatives for stakeholders to consider. Street Plans worked with Alta Planning + Design, the City of Morgan Hill, and the Morgan Hill Downtown Association to produce a weekend-long Tactical Urbanism demonstration project that illustrated the two alternatives - one on each side of the street. The goal of the demonstration project was to increase public understanding of both alternatives, and to gather feedback from a broad base of downtown stakeholders. For the project build out, Street Plans led volunteers in transforming one vehicle lane into a protected bicycle lane with a 3-foot buffer (Alternative 1 - pictured at right) and another into an expanded and activated sidewalk space (Alternative 2). Both transformations used temporary and low-cost materials and leveraged donations from local organizations. Once the demonstration project was installed, Street Plans led activities on the sidewalk to engage passersby in providing feedback throughout the course of the weekend. Following the Tactical Urbanism demonstration project, the Morgan Hill City Council authorized a more permanent, six-month version of the pilot to further test the two alternatives. This secondary pilot phase will allow the City to measure traffic impacts, as well as benefits to cyclist and pedestrian safety.

7 Strong Towns Memphis Bootcamp Street Plans Principal Mike Lydon joined Chuck Marohn of Strong Towns and Joe Minicozzi of Urban3 in a three-day boot camp style workshop for Memphis city leaders. The training was hosted by the City of Memphis, the Urban Land Institute, and a variety of other local foundations, businesses and non-profit organizations. The Memphis Bootcamp focused on helping city leaders identify opportunities for more economically productive patterns of development and delivery methodologies for the short-, mid-, and long-term. On the first day of the training, Mike Lydon led a session that introduced high-level city leaders to placemaking and the high-value return that may be gleaned from the Tactical Urbanism delivery methodology. Pointing to several local examples, an emphasis was placed on connecting local leaders with more bottom-up, incremental efforts to improve the city and its finances at the neigborhood scale. Mike also delieverd a public lecture about how Tactical Urbanism may be used to change the culture of a city, as well as a workshop for select public, private, and third sector leaders for the Edge neighborhood. The effort helped attendees identify a number of short-term projects, including the use of the City s emerging MEMFix program, to bring economic vitality back to the downtown-adjacent neighborhood using the incremental 48x48x48 approach. Several of the identified projects were implemented within days, weeks, and months of the initial workshop, bringing more value to the public and private assets found throughout the neighborhood. These include low-cost bicycle lanes, wayfinding signs, a public plaza, and pedestrian curb extensions that have helped support continued private sector investment throughout the area. I Want... In The Edge. 48x48x48 Hours Weeks Months Long-Term Vision: 48 Hours 48 Weeks 48 Months Graphic: Inspired By Neighborland

8 Bayfront Parkway Type: Tactical Urbanism Pop-Up Park Size: 3/4 acre Transforming Biscayne Boulevard s six median parking lots into a green doorstep for downtown Miami has been planned and discussed for many years. However, until recently action had never been taken. Bayfront Parkway was a one-week living rendering designed and organized by Street Plans to allay fears about loss of parking and demonstrate how the underutilized parking lots could be tran formed into a viable public space. Using a small grant, Street Plans convened nearly 30 downtown stakeholders to support and contribute to the 3/4 acre project, which was built in less than a day. As built, the park not only provided a natural expa sion of Bayfront Park, it also helped traffic calm the 8-lane boulevard, which acts as a barrier between the park and the growing number of residents and businesses along Biscayne Boulevard. The tactical urbanism project brought thousands of people to the space, which was activated by planned and spontaneous activities throughout the week, including live music, yoga, food trucks, exercise equipment, and public seating. The project allayed fears about the loss of parking spaces, while also galvanizing the community in support of fast tracking the permanent implementation of the park.

9 Before: Six 100 wide, parking-filled medians separate downtown Miami from Bayfront Park. After: Implemented in just a few hours, Bayfront Parkway instantly added needed park space in downtown Miami.