Real places. Not things. Not architecture. Not streetscapes. Not even just ‘open space’. But real places. A real place is one that brings life, energy, satisfaction and pleasure to everyone….even if you only pass by the place. Think of Mallards Ice Cream shop when it is filled with Saturday soccer teams. Think of the Fairhaven Village Green on an open air movie night. Bay Street Coffee house on Sunday mornings. Saturday’s Farmers Market. Real places are fun and we feel good when we are there.
A community that contains hundreds of real places is a community where people love to live.
This was the focus and purpose of the visit to Bellingham by Fred Kent, director of the Project for Public Spaces (PPS) on June 26th through the 28th, accompanied by Ethan and Juliette, two of the PPS staff.
During this visit approximately 75 people were trained in the principles and techniques of Placemaking. Participants included three City Council members, a County Council member; dozens of staff from the City of Bellingham, Port of Bellingham, Western Washington University; representatives from the Association of Bellingham Neighborhoods and the Mayor's Neighborhood Advisory Commission and other citizens. Additionally, Mr. Kent gave a presentation at the Mt. Baker Studio Theater to about 100 interested citizens about the importance of real places in a healthy community.
I was introduced to PPS in May of this year when I attended training along with Tara Sundin, the Special Projects manager for the City of Bellingham. It is no exaggeration for me to say that the Placemaking training is the best I have ever had, so good in fact, I wanted more of our community to share in it. The timeliness of this training is nearly perfect, in light of the many issues we face in Bellingham: population growth, increased traffic congestion, waterfront development, the need for a new main library building, establishing height and bulk standards for our downtown and other important land use questions.
Placemaking is a collaborative effort to create special places throughout Bellingham that reflect what our citizens want to do in those places, not just deciding what buildings and spaces should look like. It does not necessarily require lots of money to create great places; what it does require is partnerships. Citizens and communities will choose how to reshape the space they already have into great places. The community is the expert – not an architect or consultant. Our public spaces are for us to use and enjoy. Placemaking is not about attracting people to Bellingham, it is about providing us, the people of Bellingham, with great places to enjoy our city and each other.
Just how do we create great places? First, we work together. Great public spaces require more than any one individual or organization can offer. Partnerships will broaden the impact of the project. Second, the community creates a vision using the place-oriented approach rather than professionals using the typical design solution approach. We come together and ask what do we want to do in that space? How can that space be utilized as an extension of what the neighborhood already does? What is missing? What events would they like to host? Lastly, design ideas are generated that support the community’s vision. In this case, the City and the designers are your resources and help facilitate implementation of the vision.
We have a tremendous opportunity to apply Placemaking now as we work to reshape our waterfront and we look to make our neighborhoods even better than they are today. What we get in the end will not just be attractive parks, buildings, and streetscapes. We will get places where people want to be. Our neighborhoods will be vibrant and engaging. Our citizens will engage with one another. Bellingham has a lot of good places – together we can make them into great places.
The June 27 Project for Public Spaces presentation held at the Mt. Baker Studio Theatre is being televised on BTV10, the city’s television channel; check the BTV10 schedule for airtimes. To find out more about the work of Project for Public Spaces and Placemaking, visit www.pps.org.
~ Mayor Mark Asmundson
Posted: July 3, 2006
