Discover Downtown Middlesboro

Friday, October 18, 2013

30 Ideas in 30 Days: #9 Sidewalk Stencils and Signs

30 Ideas in 30 Days

Here are some clever ideas about how to get the word out about your event in the actual place that the event is occurring.

Idea #9: Sidewalk Stencils and Signs

Given that temporary interventions are rooted in their place, it is only natural then to use that place to promote your event. Yard signs are a cheap and effective tool to use. Keep it simple. Just include the name and date of the event, and some way people can find more information. A catchy graphic that grabs the attention of people will help to finish your sign off.

Sidewalk stencils hold great promise promoting the event and as a semi-permanent to permanent improvement. Candy Chang has a wonderful project in New Orleans titled "It's Good to be Here." These words are display in an arc and strategically positioned on sidewalks, in front of stores, and in other unexpected places. The technical process of creating the stencil involved getting a high durability cardboard. Printing out the letters to be stenciled using a large format printer. Then overlaying the paper the letters is printed on over the cardboard and cutting out letters with an exacto knife. And, presto! You have your sidewalk stencil.

"It's Good to be Here" stencil and creator. Credit: Candy Chang.

A fairly elaborate stencil promoted the Better Block Norfolk event.

Stencil from Better Block Norfolk. Credit: kombuchick!

Better Block Middlesborough was held from October 25-27, 2013, in Middlesborough, Kentucky. To help with planning for future events like this, please consider making a donation today!

Managing the Event

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The Street and Public Spaces

Thursday, October 17, 2013

30 Ideas in 30 Days: #10 Blackmail Yourself

30 Ideas in 30 Days

A key to the Better Block concept is how you get the word out. Hear a bit more about how we went about blackmailing ourselves to get results for our downtown.

Poster for Better Block Middlesborough. Credit: Discover Downtown Middlesboro.

Idea #10: Blackmail Yourself

We take this cue from Jason Roberts himself, progenitor of the Better Block movement. In minute 17:30 of his TEDxOU talk, Jason explains the need to "Blackmail Yourself" by publishing the name and date of an event well in advance. Otherwise, folks feel prone to back out. We're thankful to CommunityMatters for helping us to get focused and blackmail ourselves months ago through their Successful Communities Contest. And, yes, Middlesborough was a resounding winner. Check out the video from the master himself. Other communities take note - contest or not, the best time to blackmail yourself is today!

Better Block Middlesborough was held from October 25-27, 2013, in Middlesborough, Kentucky. To help with planning for future events like this, please consider making a donation today!

Managing the Event

Welcoming People

The Street and Public Spaces

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

30 Ideas in 30 Days: #11 The Power of 10

30 Ideas in 30 Days

Continuing in our theme of giving people things to do, we return to walking and a clever introduction that encourages it to occur.

Power of 10 on display in Melbourne, Australia. Credit: Project for Public Spaces.

Idea #11: The Power of 10

We have the Project for Public Spaces to thank for this next idea. PPS is an organization based in New York City that has done pioneering work in the field they helped to name - placemaking. Their projects may be seen all over from Bryant Park in New York, to Campus Martius Park in Detroit, and countless other places all over. When working with the Seattle Art Museum in 2004, senior level officials with PPS were on hand to brainstorm ideas to generate more public activity around the museum that is located in the center of Seattle. Naturally the idea of public art came up. When asked how many sculptures they should place, after some thought, the answer by the advisors from PPS was 10. They further elaborated that there should be at least 10 unique places with 10 things to do, in order to create a truly great public space. PPS has been preaching about the value of "The Power of 10" ever since.

Some activities to consider are places to sit, playgrounds to enjoy, art to touch, music to hear, food to eat, history to experience, and people to meet. Having activities unique to the particular spot that placemakers are seeking to activate will make it interesting enough to get people to come back. Local people who use the space regularly will in turn generate ideas of what uses will work best. Listening to those ideas and undertaking constant improvements will lead to continuous improvement.

Better Block Middlesborough was held from October 25-27, 2013, in Middlesborough, Kentucky. To help with planning for future events like this, please consider making a donation today!

Managing the Event

Welcoming People

The Street and Public Spaces

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

30 Ideas in 30 Days: #12 Walk [Your City]

30 Ideas in 30 Days

Continuing in our theme of giving people things to do, we return to walking and a clever introduction that encourages it to occur.

Walk [Your City] sign in Middlesborough, Kentucky. Credit: DDM.

Idea #12: Walk [Your City]

A temporary strategy for encouraging walking has come out of Walk [Your City] based in Raleigh, North Carolina. The temporary to semi-permanent signs they fabricate give an approximate time to get to different attractions. A QR code on the sign gives people with smart phones who scan it step-by-step directions. The mission of Walk [Your City] is "Getting More Feet on the Street™!" Potentially a limitless number of signs like this can be created.

Walk [Your City] interface showing how a potentially limitless number of signs may be created. Credit: Walk [Your City]

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Monday, October 14, 2013

30 Ideas in 30 Days: #13 Mobile Vendors

30 Ideas in 30 Days

Having extolled the virtues of food carts and trucks, we'll move on to another temporary favorite of ours - Mobile Vendors.

The boxes of Les Bouquinistes. Credit: Acscosta via Wikipedia.

Idea #13: Mobile Vendors

Mobile vendors help to offer needed commercial services, activate public spaces, and help citizens earn an income. They may sell a variety of goods besides food, including art, photographs, clothing, and various other merchandise. Oftentimes vending is a second source of income for many households.

With all the attention paid to economic development and job creation, there are few better or lower cost ways to inspire enterpreneurship than mobile vendors. By filling small commercial voids, they respond to consumer demand and bring life to public spaces. Vendors can operate from cars and trucks, though bicycles are becoming a more common vending platform for books, ice cream, and water.

The Center for Urban Pedagogy’s Vending Power! A Guide to Vending in New York City does a fantastic job explaining the city’s confusing mobile vending regulations to a wide audience of current and future vendor. It is in the interest of cities everywhere to make the rules surrounding vendors easy to understand in multiple languages.

The Four Types of Vendors. Credit: Candy Chang/Center for Urban Pedagogy.

Welcoming People

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Sunday, October 13, 2013

30 Ideas in 30 Days: #14 Food Carts and Trucks

30 Ideas in 30 Days

One key of making a place that attracts people is giving them things to do.There are few better ways to attract people than with food.

The Proxy food court is a temporary placeholder for a long-term development plan. Credit: Inside Scoop SF.

Idea #14: Food Carts and Trucks
Many ordinances prohibit the presence of food carts and trucks. There is a national movement underway to reverse this trend. Food trucks even have their own TV show. Some of the features that make food trucks attractive are their ability to provide low cost food, incubate small business, and activate underutilized sites. Food has a great attractive power. People will congregate around a good food vendor. The success of that vendor then generates higher pedestrian volumes.In places where people already gather where there is no food, the presence of food carts and trucks attract even more people.

Designated lots have been established in some areas with the possibility for multiple food trucks to locate. They have supportive services like tables, chairs, trash removal, and bathrooms. When properly designed they can fit in quite nicely with the streetscape of a city. The addition of porches, bar stools, and garden seating have the potential to create a space that is even more inviting. Food trucks and carts in this setting and on the street can generate license fees and rent to municipalities or private property owners for the space they take up. Lastly, food carts and trucks that are successful may lead to the business transitioning and opening up in a more formal bricks-and-mortar space.

The process of testing out spaces for food trucks and carts may also serve as a sort of market research function, helping to determine what the public wants.

Better Block Middlesborough was held from October 25-27, 2013, in Middlesborough, Kentucky. To help with planning for future events like this, please consider making a donation today!

Managing the Event

Welcoming People

The Street and Public Spaces

Saturday, October 12, 2013

30 Ideas in 30 Days: #15 Plant Trees

30 Ideas in 30 Days

Surroundings are one key to making people feel welcome in a space. Few better things can be done than to provide a lush and ample canopy of trees.

Trees enhance the life of an active public space. Credit: Project for Public Spaces.

Idea #15: Plant Trees
Most cities recognize that trees are good, though relatively few are willing to pay properly for them. Jeff Speck in Walkable City claims street trees are related to improvements in property values and retail viability. Some transportation seek to eliminate trees altogether, positing that sidewalks are recovery zones where cars that have jumped off the street can regain their control. This is reckless and dangerous not just for pedestrians but also for drivers themselves. In a funny sort of way these wide open spaces invite more reckless driving and lead to more frequent and deadly crashes. In a study in Toronto it was found that streets with street trees compared to streets without had a 5 to 20% lower likelihood of crashes. Another benefits of trees is keeping temperatures lower and diminishing the heat island effect on city streets.

Picking appropriate trees for the location and climate is important. Trees that double as bushes, such as crepe myrtles and spruce pines do not have the same advantages as fully grown mature trees. Even despite the threat of pandemics that wipe out trees of a single species, planting trees of the same species in a row helps to promote a visual consistency that give streets a distinct sense of character.

Trees added during a Better Block event in Kansas City, Missouri. Credit: Team Better Block.

Welcoming People

The Street and Public Spaces