The latest in urban planning, placemaking and citizen action:

• Chicagoans debates the pros and cons of Olympics-driven development as the city vies for the 2016 Summer Games. [Washington Post]

• A case for keeping the water flowing in 48 public fountains in Kansas City, MO. [Kansas City Star]

• In Salem, Ohio a new grant brings library programming into the city’s public parks. [Salem News]

• An in-depth look at the battle between preservation and demolition for the historic Mellus Newspapers building in Lincoln Park, Michigan. [Metromode Media]

• The New York Times’ Nicolai Ouroussof declares it time to reinvent American cities with bold action. [NY Times]

• A proposed ordinance that radically reworks sign restrictions causes a stir in Los Angeles. [ LA Times, LA Times]

As more people digest the importance of sustainable living, conversations have often revolved around how to transform office buildings and homes, transportation habits and the choices that individuals make on the everyday basis. But, what about comprehensive strategies to use public space and green networks in creating truly sustainable cities – cities which have a reduced impact on the environment, which cope better with the consequences of global climate change and where people want to live and work? PPS is co-sponsoring Great Places, Great Cities 2009, a two-day conference that turns the question of sustainability towards public spaces this June 4-5 in Glasgow, Scotland.

Hosted by PPS’ partner Greenspace Scotland, the conference will engage attendees from around the world. Greenspace Scotland is an independent charitable company working with a wide range of national and local partners to improve the quality of life of people living and working in urban Scotland through the planning, development and sustainable management of urban spaces. Greenspace has been a strong partner in advancing the principles of Placemaking throughout Scotland. In 2007, the organization became a PPS licensee and now has a group of Placemaking Associates trained to implement projects throughout the country under the Placemaking Scotland initiative. Pilot projects have included Clyde Square in Greenock, Prince’s Street Gardens in Edinburgh, and Waterfront Park and Promenade in Girvan.

Great Places, Great Cities 2009 will feature a robust program of themed presentations, study tours, workshops and a range of keynote speakers, including PPS representatives. The wide range of topics will include discussions on green infrastructure, transforming cities through people-focused spaces, the role of civic leaders and communities in delivering sustainable cities and more. Keynote speakers include David Sim of Gehl Architects, Howard Frumkin MD and Miquela Craytor from Sustainable South Bronx.

The conference will take place in and around Glasgow City Chambers. Click here to view the conference program.

Please join us April 2 at 6:00 pm at our office for a special Reception and Discussion to celebrate the release of three new PPS publications about streets and transportation. PPS staff, both past and present, who were responsible for putting the publications together will be with us to sign the books, discuss issues and share a glass of wine with you. Gary Toth and Renee Espiau, both formerly with the New Jersey Department of Transportation, and now with PPS, along with Shirley Secunda, currently the Chair of Traffic and Transportation Committee for Community Board 2 Manhattan, and past Director of Development for PPS, Juliette Michaelson, formerly with PPS and currently with the Regional Plan Association, and Herman Volk, a transportation consultant, will all be on hand along with other PPS staff to talk about how we can get better streets in all of our communities.

We look forward to seeing you on April 2. Please RSVP to Dana Kitzes at dkitzes@pps.org if you plan to attend the reception!

Gary Toth, Senior Director of Transportation Initiatives at PPS, has recently authored a new article for Smart Growth America and T4 America titled, “Why Fast Track ‘Fix it First’ Projects are a Better Stimulus.”

Gary has been reviewing State DOT spending proposals for Stimulus funding and has found many proposals for capacity increases and major road rebuilding that would perpetuate our existing transportation problems.  In this article he further challenges this approach to stimulus spending arguing that these types of spending proposals will not create jobs and stimulate local economies as effectively as focusing on fixing infrastructure that is currently broken and awaiting repairs.

Fast Track Fix it First projects create more jobs, faster; they are also more labor intensive than other projects, use man power that can be quickly trained, and can be easily staffed by state employees. With Fast Track Fix it First projects, more money enters the economy faster because funds are not held up in plan creation, or spent on buying land or expensive equipment. Almost all preservation and short-term resurfacing can be completed in a season, whereas other highway funds spend out slowly with typically 27% of a project completed in the first year. With Fix it First projects, money gets pumped into local economies faster and is spread across the state more evenly so that construction investments are shared across the state, rather than being concentrated on a few large projects.

Please join us for a book signing and reception to celebrate the release of three new transportation publications completed in partnership with AARP.

To obtain a free copy of the books, please visit the PPS Bookstore.

People gather on the north stairs leading up the the cathedral

What: Helsinki’s main town square serves as a concert venue, a meeting place, a place to people watch and a reminder of the state’s history.

Why it Works:

Senate Square has been the main square of Helsinki since the 17th century. It was transformed into its current form in the early 19th century, when Russian Tsar Alexander II, moved the capital of Finland from Turku to Helsinki. The buildings on the four sides of the square represent the four powers of the state as conceived at the time: senate, church, university and commerce. The old merchant houses are now mainly occupied by city offices, but there is also a nice café, and a bazaar. While the square is a popular tourist destination, the steps on the north side are commonly used as a meeting place, a venue for student meetings, sun bathing or even studying.

Read the entire profile here.

Click here to nominate your favorite public space!

The latest in urban planning, placemaking and citizen action:

• The U.S. Departments of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and Transportation (DOT) announced a new partnership committed to sustainable communities. [US DOT, US HUD, DOT Blog]

• Maryland farmers are optimistic about farmers markets amidst financial downturn. [The Washington Post]

• A case made in Calgary for the way student campuses benefit downtowns. [Calgary Herald]

• USA Today reports a new trend in urban outmigration across the country. [USA Today]

• Rethinking transit, building use, housing and public space could be the key to saving the suburbs. [Boston Globe]

• A call for action in Savannah based on momentum from Fred Kent’s visit last month. [Savannah Morning News, Creative Coast Alliance on Fred's visit]

• New York’s Farmers’ Markets Nutrition Program sees success with ‘veggie coupons’. [MPNnow.com]

• Peter Norton’s Fighting Traffic: the Dawn of the Motor Age in the American City traces the history and development of motor-oriented city streets . [Discovering Urbanism, MIT Press]

The New York Times recently reported a major upswing in library patronage, attributed to the country’s economic downturn.  As discretionary incomes take a hit and families have less money to buy piles of new books and videos, people are rediscovering libraries as important gathering places.

In addition to offering free access to books and videos of all sorts, modern libraries are a central place to access the internet.  Job searchers and researchers alike have been crowding the computer stations.

Libraries offer other opportunities as well.  Often, as is the case in Bryant Park in New York City, a local library will turn itself “inside out,” offering outdoor spaces for people to read quietly and creating a seamless connection to a public park.  Other libraries partner with local organizations to offer free programming - classes, seminars, performances - to further create a public place where people are encouraged to gather, mingle, interact and learn.

Our country’s current economic situation has created a ripe opportunity for the local library.  In a time when people are staying close to home, saving money and looking to connect with one another, libraries have the power to provide the breadth of services and resources the public needs, acting as important cornerstones of the communities they serve.

More information on PPS’ work with libraries:

• Libraries that Matter
• Libraries and Placemaking
• Our Approach to Civic Centers

Today, First Lady Michelle Obama will put a shovel in the ground of the White House lawn. Mrs. Obama, like many home gardeners, is celebrating this first day of Spring by getting her home garden ready for the season, and she promises that the garden will be maintained by the entire First Family, President Obama included. The 1,100-square-foot plot will soon supply the White House with fruits and vegetables for the Obama’s healthy, family meals, and the total cost to plant the garden will be just $200.

This isn’t the first First Family to use the nation’s lawn for a garden; President Adams and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt both tended to their own White House vegetable gardens, and President Wilson even used a flock of sheep to mow and fertilize the grass!

Perhaps Mrs. Obama always planned on planting a garden if she moved to the White House, but a great deal of thanks still goes out to those people and organizations that worked tirelessly to make this happen. Both The White House Organic Farm Project and Eat the View spent the past year advocating for a White House garden and gathering signatures from thousands of citizens who wanted to see “the people’s lawn” used for something healthy, active and social. This garden will not only supply the First Family with fennel, spinach and blueberries, it will be a symbol that our front lawns can be used for more than just landscaping. Now, let’s hope that President Obama reconsiders his position on beets!

A breath of fresh air on the Hill: Secretaries LaHood and Donovan told Congress yesterday that they’ve formed a new partnership between DOT and HUD to promote livable, sustainable communities and transportation.

And they’re speaking the language we always dreamed of hearing from our government. The partnerships aims to “revitalize our downtowns, foster walkable neighborhoods, and bring people, employers, and housing closer together through public transportation,” LaHood announced on his blog yesterday.

The most exciting part wasn’t just the fact that our government is talking seriously about livability and sustainibility. It was the recognition, finally, of how interlinked are our society’s choices about where we live and how we get around — and that the disparate agencies in charge of these issues can’t keep making decisions in isolation.

It was also brilliant to frame the issue of sustainability not just as a long-term benefit, but a short-term one as well. After housing, transportation is the biggest expense for most households, LaHood pointed out – so if we can “bring people, employers, and housing closer together through public transportation,” that’s going to be a lot easier on our wallets as well as the ozone.

It’s a little soon to rejoice, though. The bulk of the stimulus transportation spending is still going towards highways, and it’s hard to see how this will reconcile with their message of sustainability.

But it’s a promising start. Here’s hoping that LaHood and Donovan’s message – and the example they’re setting with their historic inter-agency partnership — trickles down to the state and city government level, too.