Gary Toth following up on his reflections on the USDOT webinar, Forum on Livability.
As a career transportation geek, I found it particularly encouraging to hear talk about a new transportation planning process attached to performance measures which go beyond the overused and myopic focus solely on auto oriented benchmarks such as pavement quality, bridge inspections and level of service (congestion). To be clear, I am not saying it is bad to keep our bridges standing and safe and the roads that I use to travel to Vermont, Pennsylvania and Delaware from getting overclogged with traffic. Keep it up DOTs! However, we the public allow government to tax us because we want our lives improved and our agencies responsive. Having worked in the state DOT world for 34 years, I can tell you that most DOT insiders have lost track of that concept - and the public has noticed. There is no doubt in my mind that this is a major part of the reason why states and federal politicians will no longer vote for increased gas taxes.   Do we transportation professionals need to be hit in the head with a rock to figure this out?

USDOT gets this, as evidenced by last months webinar on Livability. So what would a more robust, 21st Century planning process look like?

For starters, it would be one which addresses environmental, energy, housing, economic, land use and development, and equity policies. There are ample models out there within some of the more progressive Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs), which are the regional planning organizations mandated by federal transportation legislation. For instance, the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Council (DVRPC) has generated a number of Scenario Performance Measures including amount of land development, average annual household transportation expenses, vehicle miles traveled and relationship within planning areas of jobs to housing. California’s State Bill 375 mandates Blueprint planning, which - like the DVRPC model — measures success of transportation planning against benchmarks that matter to the average citizen in every day life: how much does transportation cost eat into their budgets; is the regional planning helping folks to find affordable housing; does the transportation network help economize personal time or it is forcing them to drive around everywhere to bring kids to school, get a quart of milk, to take mom to the doctor?

These kinds of people based performance measures must count for as much (if not more) than how smooth the pavement is. Examples like DVRPC and California’s SB 375 must become the standard, not the remarkable case study.

This robust and accountable planning process must then be used to drive transportation investments. Sounds like a no brainer, right? Yet, the American public would be disillusioned to find out how much mismatch there is between long range plans and how state DOTs actually invest the transportation dollars that we provide to them. Federal law requires only that the investment plans (Transportation Improvement Plans or TIP for short) be “consistent” with metro or long range transportation plans. “Consistent” has become a term of art and is subject to strong-arming by the DOTs, which come equipped with bridge, pavement and congestion performance measures: DOTs can threaten to move money from one MPO to another if they don’t toe the DOT line. Politics also plays a big role in distorting the planning process. A majority of MPO voting members are elected officials who feel compelled to press for investment in the sub region that they represent. Fix it first projects often give way to huge investments in freeways or roadway widening. These have much more political visibility, satisfy economic interests in opening up new land for sprawling development or to satisfy the complaints of voters sitting in traffic. The end product barely resembles the plan.

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For more information about the conference, click here.

On the 23^rd and 24^th of September Agenda Cascais 21 will be holding a conference which will, for the first time, bring together Local Agenda 21 practitioners from all the country. The aim is to exchange experiences, discuss best practice and define a path for the way forward. Regarding the latter, it is also our objective to prepare the ground for the implementation of a National LA21 Network. Each day will begin with the presentation of a keynote speaker who will focus on the process of public participation, a major cultural hindrance in the Local Agenda 21 process in our country. For more information, click here.

What: A mainly pedestrian street lined with cafes, clothing shops, bookstores, restaurants and apartments above the street level.

Why it Works: Istiklal Caddesi is a lively, constantly changing scene. Throughout most of the 20th century, the street was famous for cars speeding down it and pedestrians were unwelcome. Recently, it has been turned into a pedestrian mall, and has become one of Istanbul’s most fashionable streets. If the main street itself weren’t attractive enough, the stroller can also step into perpendicular passageways that contain shopping galleries, food markets (with stalls for vegetables, fresh fish, and all sorts of unexpected things), or simply beautiful courtyards. This creates a dynamic pedestrian experience filled with choice. The area is easily accessible by bus from the nearby Taksim Square and by foot from several surrounding neighborhoods. There are always clumps of young people forming here, and as in other parts of the city, street vendors make their way through the crowds. Istiklal Caddesi is certainly a meeting place that gets heavy use by both tourists and locals.

Read the entire profile here.

Click here to nominate your favorite public space!

What: A thriving market with an incomparable mix of architecture and cultures.

Why it Works: The Zanzibar Old Town Market is a classic Swahili public space, mixing architectural and cultural influences from East Africa, Arabia, Persia, and India. Rather than the open-plan “plaza” of Western societies, descended from the Forum, the heritage of the Zanzibar market is the “Casbah” or “bazaar.” Thus, the market winds along dense city streets bracketed by the tall sandstone and white coral-wash mercantile buildings indigenous to the Swahili coast. The market is daily thriving with people seeking supplies for household board, from equatorial fruits to grains, fish, vegetables, and the famous spices. There are several different markets nestled throughout Zanzibar Old Town: some specialize in fresh-caught seafood, others in household wares, used clothes, local and imported cloth, jewlry, crafts, and tourist goods. The market defines civic sociability in a culture with very firm separations between private and public spaces. Zanzibar Old Town Market is a superior public arena because it is busy, industrious, purposeful, and valuable to people in the everyday conduct of life in the town.

Read the entire profile here.

Click here to nominate your favorite public space!

The Placemaking Chicago campaign is asking Chicagoans to nominate their favorites places.  PPS and Metropolitan Planning Council kicked off the campaign last fall with training courses for municipal and community leaders and publishing PPS’s first handbook for community-based placemaking.  The campaign is now seeking to broaden the conversation in Chicago about places and placemaking by asking “What Makes Your Place Great?” The content will allow engaged city residents to take pride in their neighborhoods, and learn about the interesting ways other neighborhoods capitalize on their local assets and sense of place.

From June 3 through July 27, 2009, entrants can e-mail original photos or videos showcasing their favorite public places across Chicagoland, along with a 250-word-or-less description, to placemakingchicago@metroplanning.org. (Complete rules and submission criteria are available at PlacemakingChicago.com. Entrants may feature places in the City of Chicago or in Chicago suburbs located in Boone, Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kankakee, Kendall, Lake, McHenry, and Will counties in Illinois; or in Lake, Porter, and La Porte counties in Indiana; or in Racine and Kenosha counties in Wisconsin.)

“Show and tell us not only why your favorite place is special to you, but also how it contributes to your community,” said MPC Associate Karin Sommer, who manages the Placemaking Chicago project. “Is it somewhere people go to relax or meet up with friends? What are some unique ways people use the space? And what is it about this place that keeps you and your neighbors coming back day after day, and year after year?”

PPS has its own catalog of Great Public Spaces, featuring the best places from around the world.  Nominate your favorite here!

More Information:

The Best Places in Chicago [Chicago Journal]

What: A park and adventure playground where kids can do everything from build a tree house to learn to cook.

Why it Works: Playgrounds are often a child’s first introduction to public spaces, where youngsters discover the joys and responsibilities of community places. Kolle 37 is an interactive park and clubhouse complex, where children of all ages, their families, and community members can engage in a variety of activities, from building a tree house to cooking a healthy meal. The word “Abenteuerspielplatz” means ‘adventure playground,’ and the guiding philosophy behind the park is that children should be exposed to the many ‘dangerous’ elements of life—hammers, live animals, fire—in a safe and supervised atmosphere. The park is located directly between a subway station and the neighborhood’s main square, on a tree lined street that has regular foot traffic, many cafes and shops, but relatively little automobile traffic. One of the most pleasant aspects of Kolle 37 is the complete comfort and conviviality that its users demonstrate. Every day a simple meal is cooked and offered to those in the park during the hour just after school lets out, and the meal is often a time when newcomers will share their names and a bit about themselves.

Read the entire profile here.

Click here to nominate your favorite public space!

What: An open-air food market in downtown Munich.

Why it Works: Roughly the size of a city block, Munich’s Viktualienmarkt has everything you could want, from a number of good bakeries and cheese shops to a horse butcher (if that’s what you’re looking for). The Schlemmermaier sausage stand is great for lunch in the summer, perhaps followed by a trip to the beer garden. The soup stand is perfect even on the coldest winter day, preferably followed by a hot honey wine at one of the honey stands. It is accessible by train, subway, bus and streetcar, and very tied into its surroundings. The market is crowded on weekends, and busy all year round.

Read the entire profile here.

Click here to nominate your favorite public space!

What: A unique urban forest in the middle of Vancouver.

Why it Works: Stanley Park is a unique place, not only for its magnificent trees–like giant fir and cedar–which are unusual for an urban park, but also its variety of activities, which make it one of the top destinations in Vancouver for locals and visitors alike. The park spans 1,000 acres and includes sandy beaches, swimming pools, lakes and stunning vistas from the sea wall. The large expanse of grassland through the park provides an ideal spot for picnickers, and many groups organize outings and sports activities here: family reunions, groups of friends hanging out, or even company picnics. Only minutes from downtown, it is easily accessible by foot, bike and car. A road meanders through the park taking drivers from downtown to the Lions Gate Bridge, which hosts marathon runs in the summer months. The seawall, which circumnavigates the park, is a great way to take in the scenery on a Sunday afternoon stroll.

Read the entire profile here.

Click here to nominate your favorite public space!

Our first full day of the Public Markets Conference was a success!  An opening session, plenary, breakout sessions on a variety of topics and a delightful opening reception brought people together from around the world in their support of public markets and sustainability.

A highlight of the morning’s opening remarks was a live video address by USDA-second-in-command Kathleen Merrigan, the leader in creating stiffer regulations for the labeling of organic foods.  A champion for farmers and preservation of farmland in the United States, Merrigan is highly respected in her field.

Kathleen Merrigan addresses the crowd via live video feed

Addressing us on just day eight of her new position, Merrigan spoke from Washington, DC, lauding the works of conference attendees.  She spoke of the partnership with PPS on creating a comprehensive resource guide about public markets and EBT benefits, and the importance of creating and assuring access to healthy, fresh food.  Additionally, she relayed the support of markets work on behalf of President Obama and Dept of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.

She closed noting the joy and celebration that occur at farmers markets, saying she was off to visit the First Lady’s new White House garden.  (That, of course, drew a round of applause!)

The view from DC: Merrigan sees the conference via live video feed