In 1980, PPS worked with the town of Madison, New Jersey on a strategy to improve their Farmer’s Market. As part of the plan, PPS recommended the borough move its market downtown, claiming that it would thrive at the new location if properly managed.

On September 25, 2008, the market moved from its regular home on the former Bayley-Ellard High School campus to a trial run downtown on Waverly Place. Many local business owners were enthusiastic about the plan, while others voiced concerns that patrons would purchase market produce and immediately head home.

Studies show that 60% of farmers market visitors also patronize local stores on the same day.

More Information:

• Madison’s farmers market makes ‘guest’ appearance on Waverly Place [NJ.com]

Existing conditions on Myrtle Ave service road.

Brooklyn’s Myrtle Avenue, once notoriously crime-ridden, has made amazing strides in the last several years. Today, thanks to the hard work of the Myrtle Avenue Revitalization Project, the street is now a bustling thoroughfare home to restaurants and shops, many of them owned by local entrepreneurs.

In 2006, PPS worked with MARP, Pratt Institute’s urban design program, and residents of the neighborhoods of Fort Greene, Clinton Hill and Bed-Stuy to analyze three specific areas where Myrtle Ave could be better connected to the surrounding neighborhood.
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• The Future of Urban Waterfronts Conference to be held in Toronto [Strategy Institute]
• Attention turns to waterfront revitalization in Poland [Warsaw Business Journal]
• Campuses turn to Placemaking for expanding and improving campuses [Chronicle for Higher Education]
• What would public spaces look like if they were designed with women in mind? [Taipei Times]

Today, PPS’s Gary Toth appears on Streetsblog to talk about engaging the DOT, as well as to discuss A Citizen’s Guide to Better Streets, one of three new PPS books to be published in conjunction with AARP.

The PPS-AARP partnership aligns with both PPS’s Building Community Through Transportation campaign, as well as AARP’s Livable Communities initiative, which seeks to provide adequate mobility options for aging Americans to help them maintain personal independence and engagement in civic and social life.

The Congress for the New Urbanism has just published a list of the top ten aging elevated highways that are ripe for removal and redesign.  The removal of these highways could lead to revitalization movements in the cities and regions they currently occupy.

A large percentage of these highways are located in the northeast.

CNU, like PPS, advocates for replacing elevated highways with surface streets that connect destinations and promote walkability.

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• Guerilla Gardening takes off in New Orleans [The Times Picayune]
• The Olympic and Paralympic Games in Bejing have increased public space access to those with disabilities [China View]
• Buskers add value to farmers markets in Tacoma [The News Tribune]
• Old trams become new public parks in Portugal [Oeiras and Environs Daily Photo] 
• A Ventura City Manager reflects on the concept of Placemaking [City of Ventura]
• The Billboard industry calls for tree-cutting, while some in Florida provide small resistance [On the Commons]

Park(ing) Day is an international event that reclaims over 200 parking spots in 50 cities around the world and transforms them into engaging public spaces for one day a year. In NYC, this event creates small, temporary public spaces that provide a breath of relief from the auto-clogged reality of the city. For more info on the event, visit http://parkingdaynyc.org/

The PPS Parking Day Spot this year will be on Broadway and Great Jones St, one block from the PPS offices!  We should be up and running by 10am and plan to stay until around 4pm.  The theme of our spot is Mini Bryant Park; we will be providing reading material, movable seating, games, and lemonade.  Please stop by anytime and bring your friends!

• A Ventura City Manager reflects on the concept of Placemaking [City of Ventura]
• The Billboard industry calls for tree-cutting, while some in Florida provide small resistance [On the Commons]
  
  

PPS is working with the grantees and partners of Inspiring Places Initiative of the Central Indiana Community Foundation to build capacity for Placemaking in the Indianapolis region. One focus of this effort has been on Monument Circle, one of the city’s most iconic public spaces. The Circle, which hosts numerous events throughout the year, has the potential to become an even better destination for downtown activity.

PPS provided a report outlining a process for improvements, which included a management plan, additional amenities and flexible activities.

“From a European perspective, this could be one of the great public spaces in America, it seems to me,” said Simon Crookall, president of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, which performs at Hilbert Circle Theatre. “It has enormous potential.”

More information:

• Reshaping the Circle [Indianapolis Business Journal]
  
  

• Urban agriculture is a growing industry [The Star]
• Ethisphere predicts the most sustainable cities in the year 2020 [Ethisphere]
• Londoners lobby for the use of Segways in public spaces [County Times]
• A new focus on reviving the US’s urban waterfronts [Kitsap Sun]
• Park(ing) Day - September 19, 2008 - allows activists the chance to create temporary public spaces in metered parking spots [PARKing Day]
• Abu Dhabi plans for new rail system to meet projected population growth [Khaleej Times]
• Technology could increase efficiency of public and shared transportation [Planetizen]