"If a street is to become a comfortable, convenient and enjoyable place, it must be looked at holistically, that is, as a distinctive environment with many different interrelated elements reflecting the character, needs and aspirations of a particular community. It is the integration of these elements, including traffic calming, that both improves a street's balance between pedestrians and vehicles and creates a community friendly street environment."

Creating Places
A Kit of Many Parts

A Holistic Approach

Freeing up street space from the domination of vehicles is essential to restore streets from conduits to places. However, this alone will not create the kind of street that gives people a sense of community. If a street is to become a comfortable, convenient and enjoyable place, it must be looked at holistically, that is, as a distinctive environment with many different interrelated elements reflecting the character, needs and aspirations of a particular community. It is the integration of these elements, including traffic calming (see Chapter V), that both improves a street's balance between pedestrians and vehicles and creates a community friendly street environment. A discussion of such place making elements, many of which take their cue from the features of long-lasting, livable places, follows. The set of elements presented here is not meant to be exhaustive, but to introduce a selection of workable options that can serve as a jumping off point to understanding and developing a place making approach that is tailored to a local's individual issues.

Sidewalks

A woman from a Philadelphia suburb recently told PPS that she's been campaigning to get a sidewalk on her road-only street, so that her son can walk safely to school. This is the most basic function of sidewalks - to get walkers safely from here to there - and it is an important reason to have them.

Sidewalks serve a social function too. They are where you might meet someone you haven't seen in years, or stop to finish a conversation that you began the day before. Sidewalks also give you a chance to watch other people who you don't know in all kinds of different encounters and activities. As you make your way on the sidewalk, you're doing more than just going about your business. You're participating in the life of the community.

To Someplace

It's a common experience: you're walking along a sidewalk, and suddenly it runs out. Too often, side-walkers are left stranded in the middle of a trafficked road or facing a dead-end. Sidewalks need to be continuous, with east-to-follow pathways that lead directly to the destinations you need to reach - like the corner grocery store, or school, or a park, or the movies, or a shopping street, or a repair service, or a cafe - or to a place where many of these things are together, and then, the sidewalk's job is to connect you to all of them.

The Right Size

The general rule of thumb for minimum walking width on sidewalks is 8 feet, in other words, enough room for two pairs of pedestrians to pass each other comfortably. Additional room is needed on the curbside for trees, lighting, signposts, seats and other amenities with an extra 1.5 feet next to them for pedestrian clearance. Another 2 to 3 feet should be added at the building/store window side for the walkers who are window shopping. Although ample sidewalk room is essential, a sidewalk that is too wide is just as uncomfortable as one that's too narrow. People tend to fee "lost in space" when they're sparsely scattered over a large area. Consequently, a too-wide sidewalk seems isolated empty and unfriendly. Maximum width? That depends on what's going on there or planned to go on.

With Something to See

Sidewalks also can fee unfriendly when there's nothing to see along the way except blank walls, tinted or reflected glass. See-through windows at walking level can change this perception dramatically. Store windows with lively displays, windows of art galleries or with exhibits, windows that look into restaurants, offices and service businesses, all in building that meet the sidewalk, let you know there are people activities going on. They not only can help you feel more at home, but also can entertain you and stimulate your thoughts. Sometimes they can even kindle conversations, or the urge to shop.

Special Settings

Remember the old town square? It was a center for concerts, holiday celebrations, dances speeches, commemorations and all kinds of other community events. It was also where townspeople came to relax, to meet their friends, to stroll with their sweethearts, to hang out and "schmooze." Oberlin, Ohio's Tappan Square, discussed in the last chapter, was and is this kind of special setting. So is Venice's Piazza de San Marco. Our new plaza and vest-pocket parks may serve the same purpose, when they're designed so that people can sit comfortably, move around with ease and be able to enjoy what's going on there.

One successful new town hub is Pioneer Courthouse Square in Portland, Oregon. Created from scratch on the site of a parking lot, it has become the focal point and premier meeting place for the downtown Portland community. Hundreds of downtown workers bring their lunches to eat here in good weather. Thousands of people converge here throughout the year to socialize and survey the action, as well as take part in a rich program of events ranging from jazz, classical and klezmer concerts to food tasting, fund raisers and educational fairs to sports demonstrations and children's activities to an annual Festival of Flowers. The Square includes infrastructure designed specifically to accommodate theses different activities. And to make sure that everything runs smoothly, it also has its own non-profit management corporation, with a full-time director and staff.

Special Facilities

Certain kinds of civic, cultural and entertainment spaces, like museums, libraries, theaters, movie houses, concert halls, city halls, post offices and other public buildings, give people a feeling of belongingness, civic identity and pride when they're centrally located and near one another. Some cities have specific districts - civic centers, arts districts, theater district - that bring many of these facilities together in one area. These give a place its own distinctive personality, while offering convenient access to the facilities all in one place and good reasons to be there.

A Zesty Mix

A healthy balance of uses, with a mix of shops, services and housing close to each other, enlivens an area. It makes it easy for people to get around and do some of their favorite things as well as complete the day-to-day activities that make their lives go round - without needing to use cars all the time to do them.

Eateries and "Drinkeries"

Most people like to stop for a bite to eat or a refreshing drink. That's why dispensers of food and beverages always seem to be welcome, from the humble hotdog vendor to the coffee or sandwich bar to the sidewalk cafe and restaurant.

A Nice Place to Site and other Amenities

The street is our outdoor living room, along with the public spaces that surround it. Just like our living rooms, these spaces need to be furnished for our everyday use and comfort, and with their own individual flavor.

Seating is the street furniture (that's what it's really called!) that people usually seem to want most. William H. Whyte, both an eminent urbanologist and student of human behavior, has noted that people will go to great lengths to sit down - and that they "sit where there are places to sit."

Whyte also said that "the best places to sit are often the simplest," like ledges or steps, where "people can sort themselves out in an infinite variety of groupings." It was this observed need for free-wheeling sitting choices that led him to praise the merits of movable chairs. Upon his recommendation, 1,000 of them were ordered as part of the successful restoration of New York City's Bryant Park to a popular midtown oasis. Today, there are some 2,000 chairs in the part at all times, and they are left out overnight.

In the case of permanent seating, PPS has found that it's most successful when it's located near the "action," where people can sit and watch other people. This includes seating thatÂ’s right outside an active destination point, like the main entrance of a department store or next to a food takeout place or a laundromat. As for the comfort of a seat, this has a lot to do with its height, shape, size and substance. William Whyte tells us that a truly important (and often ignored) dimension is "the human backside." When the New York City Parks Department did and evaluation of benches, they found that the most comfortable ones were wooden, with backs and contoured seats.

Among the other furnishings that can make our outdoor living room more pleasant and comfortable to use are:
Lighting
Trash Receptacles
Clocks
Phone Boots
Bus Shelters

As lovely as these amenities appear to be, they cannot do their job of improving the urban environment unless some "decorating hints" are followed. And the first hint is not to view them as just decorations! Amenities that are placed in regimented rows with fixed spacing and no regard for how they might be comfortable used often turn out to be no more then superficial frills, as do those that are scattered haphazardly in an attempt to provide widespread embellishment. There also can be too many amenities crowded into one place.

In order for an amenity to work, it must respond to the needs of a location, to the activities that take place there and to people's patterns of use. Anything that is far away or difficult to reach, such as a telephone booth blocks away from the center of activity across a wide road filled with traffic, will provide neither comfort nor a convenient service. The placement of amenities in relation to one another also is a consideration, affecting the way a space is perceived and used. For example, a bench, food vending cart and waste receptacle located next to each other give people an opportunity so sit down, have a snack and then dispose of the food container, all in the same place.

Weather protection and the provision of enough light and shade are also important variables that can be affected by both the selection and siting of amenities, as well as by decision about the use and placement of many of the following elements.

Flower Power

One of PPS's favorite maxims is "Start Small." Small, doable improvements can get a project into gear, and flowers are a good way to make that start. Flowers, with their beautiful colors and delicate, varied shapes brighten up any area, whether in tubs, pots, gardens or hanging planters. Besides flowers, other kinds of greenery, like shrubs and bushes, grass and, of course, trees, can offset a harsh environment, lend a natural lushness, refresh the air and screen noise. What's more, they can create pathways and define one area from another. An avenue of trees can make a street look narrower than it really is, discouraging drivers from speeding.

Public Art

Art enhances our public living room as it does our private ones, but in public it does much more: When it fits its surrounding, public art expresses the spirit of a place. It brings people together, provides a setting for diverse happenings and elicits conversation and interaction. It can highlight the function of one particular part of a place. Sometimes public art even breaks down barriers in a way that leads to all kinds of creative expressions and encounters.

Signs to:
Show what's happening (and What's Happened)
Show the Way
Show the Rules

People feel at home in a place where they have their bearings. The see the mane of the street where they've just arrived or directions to where they're heading, both pedestrians and drivers need signs that are positioned (and lettered large enough) for their easy reading and, if necessary, ones that are posted in different spots to accommodate their different vantage points. If rules are needed, it's important that they be stated clearly and courteously. Signs with colorful illustrations or even some humor can further help people accept and understand reasonable rules, while also contributing some interesting ambiance to a place.

Some signs give information about a specific place: about events that are going on that people might want to attend or public transportation schedules or details about history and unique local features. Again, clarity, visibility and attractive design will provide people with the orientation they need while adding to their enjoyment.

An all too familiar sight is the street post loaded with a cacophony of signage, issuing an assortment of divergent messages and pointing in different directions. Too many signs create an overload of confusion even for those familiar with a place.

Good Housekeeping

Once physical improvements are in place, they need to be maintained. They need to be cleaned and scrubbed and shined. If they break, they need to be repaired, and if they show wear, they need to be spruced up. It also helps to have a visible presence on hand to help promote a place's security. These are the key elements of any management program, an approach to running places in order to ensure their effective use that involves the joint funding and cooperative efforts of the private sector and city governments. Although the nuts and bolts of management programs are maintenance, sanitation and security, the management entities set up to run them do much more than that. They also arrange for activities and events that enliven the areas that these programs cover and that create an environment where people like to come. Such as:

Public Markets

We used to shop for what we needed at the town market, where farmers and craftspeople would bring their goods to sell on designated days. Markets are coming back again on closed streets, in parking lots, on sidewalks, in parks and in traditional market hall, enlivening places with their colorful wares and vibrant activity. Their fresh produce, home cooked foods and original handicrafts are a popular attraction in a world of packages, mass-produced products. Markets add another plus to place by providing a link to past traditions, as well as direct connections between urban buyers and rural producers. In addition, they give fledgling entrepreneurs a venue for start-up business.

Vendors

The success of public markets reveals a favorite people-pastime, shopping. It's the kind of shopping that involves small, sometimes spontaneous, purchases in public spaces. Vending carts and stands, when they are carefully designed and located according to community needs and specific guidelines, can provide this type of intimate shopping experience while enhancing a place's friendliness and character. Vendors give people easy access to conveniences such as newspapers, magazines and food as well as opportunities to buy interesting jewelry, art, accessories, clothing and other on-the-spot acquisitions.

Celebrations, Shows and Gatherings

The July 4th fireworks celebration or the Labor Day Parade are examples of traditional events that used to bring communities together, and in some places they still do. Nowadays, an abundant array of local events that fit the needs and interests of today's communities are being programmed by cities and management organizations, who also arrange the space, equipment and logistics. Some of these have developed into large-scale celebrations that attract thousands of people, like Portland, Oregon's ArtQuake that arrives in the fall, with sculpture and painting exhibits in downtown public spaces, accompanies by local restaurants ballyhooing their wares at food boots lining temporarily closed streets.

Live performances, like jazz, rock and fold concerts, classical music series, dramatic presentations, magic shows, even lecture and demonstrations, also are bringing people back to public spaces to share the collective enjoyment and connection that has always helped add substance to places and enrichment to communities. At the true grassroots level, new local traditions are also being introduced that are helping to build community bonds and new sense of pride and belonging.

Community Stewardship

Every now and then, we hear about a place that has been rejuvenated, only to fall back into disrepair. However well designed a place may be, it will remain on the "endangered list," unless there is a committed community constituency that has taken on the responsibility of ensuring its continued health. This commitment usually evolves from people's first-hand participation in the planning and design process. When people have a direct had in deciding the course of action to better their environment, they often develop a strong sense of ownership that leads to their active involvement in improvement and maintenance activities. This might result in merchants sprucing up their storefronts and the areas around the, residents planting trees and flowers and tending to their upkeep, school children painting murals, citizens taking part in clean-up campaigns and innumerable other endeavors that bring community members together in a dedicated effort to keep on improving. This community stewardship gives citizens the confidence that they can control their destinies and is one of the most crucial ingredients in the creation and preservation of livable places.