Healing Main Street to Heal Ourselves | Placemaking Weekly

Posted April 11, 2021 - 14:42

This newsletter from the Project for Public Spaces connects people who share a passion for public spaces to ideas and issues, news, quotes, places, and events from the placemaking movement.

Healing Main Street to Heal Ourselves

A shopping street at night in Osaka, Japan

“Main street has been both a victim of the pandemic... and it’s a tool for recovery.”

In case you missed it, we recently interviewed social psychiatrist and Walk/Bike/Places keynote Dr. Mindy Fullilove about her most recent book, Main Street: How a City's Heart Connects Us All, and how main street can help us recover from the pandemic. Read more.

More from the Blog

Creating Online & In-Person Events with a Sense of Place: A Conversation with Juliet Kahne
March 12, 2021 • by Nate Storring

How to Nurture Flourishing Cultural and Creative Hubs: Lessons from the Netherlands
March 4, 2021 • by Rinske Brand

How a Library is Reimagining Public Wi-Fi During COVID-19
February 7, 2021 • by Aaron Greiner

Events & Opportunities

Indianapolis Cultural Trail, Indianapolis, Indiana.

The early bird rate may be over, but you can still register for Walk/Bike/Places, our active transportation and placemaking conference, which will take place June 15-18 in Indianapolis, IN, and online!

This year's theme is "The Route to Recovery," and the program includes inspiring keynotes, 50 virtual breakout sessions, and a dozen covid-safe tours and workshops for those attending in person. Learn more and register.

More Events & Opportunities

April 18-25, 2021 • Global Event: Placemake Earth Challenge, PlacemakingUS

April 21 • Webinar: How to Bring Radical Truth & Joy to City-Building, Next City

Apr. 30, 2021 • Grant: Asphalt Art Initiative, Bloomberg Philanthropies

May 19-21, 2021 • Conference: CNU 29. Design for Change, Congress for the New Urbanism

Public Space News

Remote Work: Overrated or Here to Stay? New York City, long buoyed by the flow of commuters into its towering office buildings, faces a cataclysmic challenge, even when the pandemic ends, (New York Times) and the rise of remote work may ironically lead to more congestion and pollution as commutes turn into errands. (Slate)

But economist Enrico Moretti argues in a recent interview that the economic benefits of superstar cities will eventually outweigh the current trend toward widespread remote working. (Vox)

25x25. With the New York City mayoral race in full swing, several candidates have agreed to a challenge, led by Transportation Alternatives and supported by Project for Public Spaces, to dedicate 25% more street space to car-free public space by 2025. (CityLab)

Survey Says... According to a new survey of 130 U.S. mayors, while they expect their residents to spend more time in public space after the pandemic, few are looking to incorporate pandemic-fueled changes to those spaces into long-term plans. (Smart Cities Dive)

Reviving Third Places. Public hangout places like coffeeshops, gyms, and libraries are critical for building community ties and boosting social cohesion, but almost by definition, they were deeply disrupted by the pandemic. As vaccines spread and regulations change, how can cities revive this vital social infrastructure? (CityLab)

The New Highway Revolts. After the U.S. Department of Transportation asked the Texas DOT to halt a highway expansion, freeway fighters nationwide are calling on Secretary Pete Buttigieg for similar aid. (CityLab)

Placemaking Playbook

As always, here is a roundup of 10 inspiring placemaking ideas from the week:

Rewilding: Where biodiversity meets biophilia (The Guardian)
Vancouver's project to find greenspace in the built-up city (Park People)
A new park that fights "nature deprivation" in a Denver neighborhood (Next City)
The case for density done right (Philadelphia Inquirer)
An abandoned tramway in Turin transformed into a vibrant urban park (ArchDaily)
A study of changing trends in outdoor recreation during the pandemic (Planetizen)
An interactive story about how the pandemic pummeled the world’s most famous shopping streets (Quartz)
An artist's 265-mile walk following the Underground Railroad (BKReader)
50 reasons why everyone should want more walkable streets (Fast Company)
A new toolkit to help communities address trauma to shape their own neighborhoods (Next City)