You can help improve the health of your local economy in many different ways, from changing your shopping habits to starting a business of your own. 87. The St. Paul, Minnesota-based Friendly Streets Initiative holds community visioning events that display large images of potential neighborhood improvements, asking neighbors to vote for their favorites via Post-It. Overheard #PAFMemorial pic.twitter.com/O14y2tqaV2. Simple, down-and-dirty DIY swimming holes can make all the difference on a summer day. We swap our lemons for another neighbor's superior kale. In Lexington, SCAPE recently went subterranean, tracing the historic buried stream channel of Town Branch, and creating a podcast tour that describes this forgotten waterway and how it shapes the city's past and future." Advocate for accessible parks. In the UK, Spacehive, a site launched in 2011 by a London architecture writer, provides extra transparency that helps civic ideas get off the drawing board. 79. 36. To learn more or opt-out, read our Cookie Policy. Vancouver took the protected bikeway one step further, turning the typical painted lanes into a planted greenway. — Alexandra Lange, architecture critic, Curbed. 101 ways to improve transportation in your city. Greater Cleveland, which includes the surrounding suburbs, has close to 2.1 million residents and is the 32nd largest metro area in the country. Bikers who ignore rules don’t help the cause for better bike lanes and better enforcement. In 2015, Boston architect Chris Haynes and his wife Kristy Nardone turned #Snowmageddon into happy hour by carving a bar out of the massive mounds of snow accumulated on their block. Check out 14 beautiful car-free cities. Because loving where you live is just the beginning—it’s about making it better, too. Rapid urbanization around the world is leading to unprecedented building construction. "Create an anonymous prompt in public space using simple tools like chalkboard paint, stencils, and chalk." 71. Here are some creative solutions. The grassroots, no-drama effort had earned the town a place in the media spotlight by building community around a shared effort. Share your idea with your neighbors. The Neighborhood Design Center has a great guide. "I love that in Indianapolis, near their new transit center, they looked at a traffic lane as they were redeveloping, and realized they didn't need it. — Mike Lydon, The Street Plans Collaborative. Explain your plans and help build grassroots support. 31. 46. Nearly one in five people have a disability in the U.S., but most parks aren’t built to accommodate them. Turn Your Cornerstore into a CSA Pick-Up Point: When a University of San Francisco professor assigned her students to increase the sustainability of a corner store in the city's diverse, low-income Western Addition neighborhood, they came up with a nifty suggestion: make the store a pick-up point for a local Community Supported Agriculture box. An even better idea is to combine several alleys into a network of public spaces that stretch on for blocks. 2. By commissioning artists to create striking bike racks and railing, the city gets more exciting, eye-catching infrastructure. — Kim-Mai Cutler, columnist at Techcrunch. The #MeatlessMonday movement has gotten governments and schools all over the world pledging to stick to veggies one day of the week. Officials in Burlington, Vermont, mindful of their citizen’s commitment to community projects, drafted a Tactical Urbanism and Demonstration Projects Guide, making it easier to launch neighborhood projects or organize small-scale interventions, and giving active citizens a green light to experiment. By collectively deciding on what will make the park or square desirable to come to, they will attract a range of people for a multitude of reasons, coming together for a shared public experience. Tell a … By Patrick Sisson and Alissa Walker via Curbed. By choosing I Accept, you consent to our use of cookies and other tracking technologies. Need a movie recommendation? 80. By thinking about what makes a city sustainable. Public spaces are increasingly being recognized as a crucial ingredient for successful cities, and for their ability to revitalize and create economic and social development opportunities. 101 small ways you can improve your city 1. Create a swimming pool from a dumpster. "Often, your neighbors need a little help figuring out how to make their ideas happen, and you can easily share suggestions or donate money on Neighborland. Need a way to brighten a blah block and add whimsy to a dark sidewalk? pic.twitter.com/Bcx2FLQRbG, 85. 39. The Chandelier Tree in Los Angeles has become a local landmark for the dozens of lighting fixtures ensconced in a sycamore. No city resident is too old to play, and no city space is too small to become a playscape, even if just for a few hours. 10 ways analytics can make your city smarter By Paula Henderson, Vice President, State & Local Government Practice For many of us, the term “smart city” conjures up images of sensors collecting data about everything from traffic patterns to energy use. Okay, there’s gonna be a ton of regional slang to fight through here: You know that little sliver... 3. It instantly makes the world a better place." "Most public zoning and development meetings are dominated by people who have a vested interest in the project. The least you can do to make a big difference where you live. If you think your apartment is cramped, maybe all it needs is a few paintings on the wall: Paul Soto turned his 300 square-foot apartment in Los Angeles into a functioning gallery. In Dallas, the Little Free Libraries/Libros Libres project helped construct and decorate makeshift shelves positioned across the community, part of a wider community literacy project. 20. These key parts of urban infrastructure desperately need an upgrade, and people around the world are taking action. It’s helped fund $7.4 million worth of projects, and even hosted campaigns sponsored by the Mayor of London. The need for sculptures and installations extends far beyond major parks, central squares, and high-trafficked tourist areas. Analyze Your Waste Trends . Gather loose parts (wood scraps, old tires, cardboard boxes, stones) and sponsor a session of Pop-Up Adventure Play. 10. Come together to combat climate change. pic.twitter.com/fIg1IVgR4B. Fix up your porch. If you are a business owner and you’re looking for simple ways to improve your Twitter strategy, here are ten easy-to-apply Twitter tips that you can use. • Develop a neighborhood association, or join one. Some people lose their housing because they went through a medical bankruptcy after a partner became terminally ill. So, here are 10 ideas to help you reach out to those in your community, and in doing so, improve your overall wellness and well-being. Image source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/designforhealth/6997870849/in/photostream. 10 things to do to help improve cities in PH 1. An assessment is needed to create a city-side inventory of the performance of existing public spaces across the city. Too many of us don’t vote at the government level that most affects our actual lives on... 2. Back in 2004, Detroit homeowners frustrated by people tagging and vandalizing their property decided if their garages were going to be canvases, they might as well benefit the community. You can exercise all you want, but if your diet isn’t healthy and balanced, your physical health will suffer. Help build a more inclusive city by advocating for accessibly designed playgrounds. 42. Trust a Rust Belt city to find a way to make this infrastructure beautiful. 10. Think bigger. 10. Swim your local waterways. If you’ve got a good idea, share it. Turn snow piles into sidewalk ice bars. Create a fit path. It’s the sort of comprehensive goal that municipal decision makers can strive for while giving citizens something tangible to create at the local level. From a small gathering with neighbors to a larger, site-specific, artistic spectacular, cinema can expand horizons and bring people together. 10. Building on that, aim for a neighbourhood to provide 10 of these great places. 81. A photo posted by 5 Every Day (@5everyday) on Sep 7, 2016 at 2:16pm PDT. Nonprofits such as Public Lab offer the advice and knowledge needed to create citizen-made maps. The idea is that if you can provide 10 things to do that attract people to one spot, you’ve started to create a great place. That’s where we need your help! Many cities give away free trees, have planting services, or require tree planting permits, so check your local rules before you start digging. This is an area of marketing that I'm incredibly passionate about. 62. To get started, the American Community Gardening Association offers a set of resources and recommendations on how to manage and maintain a public patch. Pedestrians should pay attention while crossing busy streets. Become a tour guide for your neighborhood. Volunteer. But paddling to work is another thing entirely. 16. 11. "I think the best small thing we can do for our neighborhoods is educate ourselves on the kind of huge changes American cities need to pursue to build their way out of the terrible housing crises most prosperous cities face, divest themselves of auto-dependent infrastructure, improve access to education and job re-training, ruggedize themselves for a changing climate and drop their greenhouse gas emissions to zero in the next couple decades. Network your alleys. Public art can illuminate a street, but protecting the work over time can truly define a neighborhood and foster creativity and talent. Removing bureaucratic obstacles helps to make participation monetarily feasible for all and quickly implementable. Throw a block party. 41. Involving children in the creative process for local parks and playgrounds not only guarantees the end results will be more engaging to the end user, but also it fosters an early appreciation for design. Make Parks a Multi-Use Destination. Working under the banner "free your soil," the Portland, Oregon-based group Depave has been kicking asphalt for a decades, turning unused parking and abandoned lots into community gardens and parks. Extend basic services to help your city’s most marginalized residents feel more welcome. Recognizing these challenges, the Project for Public Spaces (PPS) released earlier this month a draft of their handbook Placemaking and the Future of Cities. The city of Cleveland is part of Cuyahoga County and is home to approximately 380,000 people. This is a brilliant idea: Life in dense cities … "I have the habit of trying to pick up someone else’s dog’s poop every time I pick up my own. There are dozens of groups in your neighborhood doing their part to make your city a better place. Brushing your teeth after each meal, or at least 2-3 times per day, is the best way to keep your teeth clean and prevent gum disease. 67. Spend a few hours pitching in. Fight crime with neon. 10) Keep learning and building habits: Little by little, develop simple, practical, daily habits that impact our environment in positive ways. 86. We are on a first-name basis with all the store owners in our little 'downtown,' from bakery to bookstore. Government needs to develop and implement bottom-up policies for this purpose, strengthening inclusion in the process. Stage a scene. Understand search engine optimization. Join a time bank. Post-industrial sites pockmark many major cities, remnants of old industries that often fall into disrepair. Are there supportive swings, activity panels at ground height, descriptions in Braille, accessible merry-go-rounds, and elevated play tables? Using Vayable, you can create and share guided tours of the hidden gems in your neighborhood, or discover a unique experience nearby that allow you to become a tourist in your own city. 2. 99. 37. Participatory design shouldn’t have an age limit. Open a gallery in your living room. Bryant Park, New York. Great spaces are the products of an evolution which have increased in complexity over time, beginning with small, inexpensive improvements. In Boston, the annual swimming events sponsored by the Charles River Swimming Club have bolstered restoration efforts for the once-polluted, now-swimmable river. Bustling streets can do much more than handle automobile traffic. Share public spaces. We often learn some of our most valuable poker lessons through trial and error at the poker tables. Take over an empty storefront. Healthy communities have healthy local economies. Start a YIMBY group. Using this inventory, public space goals can be created for the community that strengthen existing successes and improve areas that are underperforming. Light, quick, and cheap improvements are low risk and low cost, but with time, money and effort, successes will lead to more successes, and great public spaces will emerge. The concept has already played out in cities such as Mount Hope, West Virginia, and Santa Fe, New Mexico. In Denver, Colorado, Crush Walls is an annual urban art festival that transforms the street walls of the city’s former industrial neighborhood. Consider these different ways to help: Redesign a crosswalk. Read 5 ways we're increasing walkability scores by improving the first/last mile gap, encouraging pedestrian first policies, and more by highlighting the benefits of walkable communities. Emergency hubs provide a centralized meeting place and a strategy that allows neighborhoods to remain self-sufficient in the days or weeks after natural disasters. Curbed just published a great list of small things people can do to improve their community. If there’s not one near you, the documentary Time as Money highlights several successful programs around the world and provides inspiring resources. From Studs Terkel to StoryCorps, there’s a rich tradition of storytelling as a time capsule of modern life. 73. An increasing number of cities and designers are providing adults with places to relax, recreate, and workout. Turn a freeway overpass into a coworking hub. Here, we’re sharing 101 urban interventions and ideas that show how even the tiniest changes can make our cities better places. 56. While it’s possible to get burned occasionally when the hype of Kickstarter or Indiegogo meet the realities of city planning, not every crowdfunding platform is created equal when it comes to changing cities. 29. Illuminating the off-the-beaten-path places with high-profile public art, such as the Picasso statue found amid New York University student housing, or Marc Chagall’s Four Seasons mural, set amid the Exelon plaza in Chicago’s Loop, gives the impression that wonders may hide around any city corner. Give directions to your entire city. 15. Mobile showers and easily accessible public restrooms give people a moment of privacy and peace. Learn more about the Project for Public Spaces and their work at their website: http://www.pps.org/. Build swing sets for adults. After noticing how many figs hanging over property lines remained unplucked, Fallen Fruit started making maps to help neighbors discover unharvested edibles growing on sidewalks and alleys. Every city exudes a different attitude, a different scene, and one great way to get to the heart of a community is to take in it’s art. My husband bartered with our house painter neighbor: he designed the painter's website and the painter painted our house! "So much of what happens at the city surface is impacted by what happens underground. ... Green space has even been shown to improve urbanites' physical and mental health. — Kate Tooke, Sasaki Associates. With our As You Wish project, our artists made versions of people’s wishes with cheap materials we had on hand. I think it would be emotionally very hard to be ignored or overlooked the way our community is in San Francisco. Vote in municipal elections. Improve Streets as Public Spaces. — Michael Bierut, partner, Pentagram. You can also build DIY sensors to collect key data points such as pollution levels, which can help inform larger public debates about the environment. Putting art and visuals in a city boosts its overall aesthetics, and... 3. A pop-up dog park that’s become part of a weekly Sacramento farmers market became so popular it inspired a permanent park for pooches to be built nearby. Shade, serenity, sustainability—trees add so much to the urban landscape and ask so little. Or more accurately, over the road. "In a city like New York it's easy to burrow inside your house and ignore the outside. Image source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/wallyg/1440461890/sizes/l/in/photostream/, Bryant Park, New York. Being good stewards of the world has a significant and positive impact on your environment and helps to preserve the planet for the next generation. Bike share and ride share have become commonplace. "If you are feeling Southern enough, actually speak. But isn’t the idyllic vision of sitting under an apple tree a few blocks from your apartment worth the wait? Ask kids to help design their own playgrounds. Municipal leaders can get the ball rolling by creating demonstration projects of light, quick, and cheap improvements that the public can add to and expand upon to suit their needs. In Charlotte in 2015 and 2016, the Take 10 project recruited city workers to function as "ambassadors" who engaged in simple, direct conversations with residents, asking them what they like about their city and how to make it better. Donec pretium, tortor vitae porttitor suscipit, sapien purus aliquet risus, eu finibus arcu ante nec risus. In the Rod Hook neighborhood of Brooklyn, an often isolated pocket of the borough, a local non-profit initiative decided to bridge that gap by building its own mesh wireless network, creating a tool for local communication and a platform for community development. Don’t forget the suburbs when building bike lanes. It's always interesting, and then you start to understand the sheer scale of the problem and how difficult it is to keep people housed in this city, with all of their idiosyncratic financial or medical needs." 1. 93. 61. This story is part of a group of stories called. Forge a fancier garbage can. This simple, striking beautification project, co-funded by the University of the Arts and Washington Square West Civic Association, turned more than a dozen aesthetic afterthoughts into colorful neighborhood symbols. A 2016 Oxford University study showed reducing the amount of meat in Western diets by half could significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and save over $31 trillion (trillion, with a T) in healthcare costs. Cars that swerve into bike lanes or don’t watch out for two-wheeled commuters definitely deserve to be called out and ticketed. Like parks and squares, they bring together all types of people to share in the space including low income groups who are given an entrepreneurial opportunity with little capital investment. And they’ll all be connected with a way-finding system using bright paint and eye-catching graphics. 100. Especially in a city strapped for cash, streetlights are low on the priority list as they’re expensive to install, maintain, and keep powered. From Project Pop Up, which hosted an array of displays and shops in abandoned Pittsburgh Storefronts (some of which have become permanent tenants) to initiatives such as Chashama and SmartSpaces in New York, creatives are breathing new life into these underutilized spaces. Be consistent about recycling. You'll be surprised to find that not everything you read—both positive and negative—is true." Set up neighborhood Wi-Fi. Need more inspiration? Does barely functional equipment take the fun out of your local playground? In Seattle there are about 50 groups specifically organized for such events. Create a Comprehensive Public Space Agenda. Both of their houses look brighter and friendlier, like they bothered to accessorize." Small businesses can help make a difference by placing some DIY rackspace out front to make the parking situation more bearable. 83. If action follows knowledge, than getting good data about your neighborhood can be the first step toward improvement. Check out Atlanta, Los Angeles, and Santa Monica for more examples. From practising daily positive mantras to keeping in shape , however you find your … Slow down. 95. As if you need a reason to throw a party. 77. There is real power in sharing our ideas openly, connecting with others who share the same desire, and working together to make great ideas happen, like this streetscape improvement for the Mission District of San Francisco." The good news is, people want this and it works. Now, those alley-facing doors have become public galleries thanks to The Alley Project, which works with more than 100 young artists to showcase their work, hold art classes, and beautify the neighborhood. This principle embraces that history and recognizes that that essential function has not changed. Protect your bike lanes with plants. Better yet, petition your city to implement a "20 is plenty" zone for dense urban areas—98 percent of pedestrians hit at that rate of speed will live. Would new basketball courts or equipment make the park next door more enticing? Related: 5 Ways to Build an Audience for Your Blog and 10 Ways to Make Money Once You Have. The great public parks and squares of the world, just like other great places in cities, are multi-use destinations. Using self-watering planters instead of utilitarian poles not only safely separates bikes from cars, it improves the streetscape for all its users. 60. 12. The illuminated work of art has become a social-media destination after dark, putting eyes on the street at a time when the neighborhood needs it most. Over the course of five years, CreateHere helped dozens of artists relocate to Chattanooga, stimulating an estimated $4 million in local real estate investments and launching 300 small businesses. David Montague, the owner of a Boston company that makes foldable bicycles, wanted to encourage cycling in an area where many faced long commutes, and hit upon an ingenious hybrid solution: Organize a cycling-based version of the park and ride systems utilized by city commuters. The community nonprofit CreateHere opened a space on a blighted Chattanooga street with a simple goal to improve the neighborhood. Lighter, Quicker, Cheaper: Start Small, Experiment, West Philly Parklet 25 simple resolutions you can make to improve your city in 2019 1. It’s highly recommended you don’t use a fire hydrant as a water source, however, since it may draw the attention and ire of city officials. 6. The Power of 10 aims to develop a critical mass of public space elements that comprise a larger whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. From sewer systems to bedrock geology to culverts, what happens below the urban crust can highlight the history of a place, revealing why and how a city develops. — Alex Steffen, writer, speaker, planetary futurist, The Heroic Future. With Listening Booth, we simply have somebody sit and listens to anybody who wanted to talk." After breaking bread with someone, it’s hard to consider them a stranger. Want to be inspired? Build your own bridge. Another way to really make the world a better place is to reduce the negative impact you have on the world around you. While the projects and proposals covered in this list lean towards DIY, the "yourself" part is optional. Richard Reynolds, one of the leaders of the movement, maintains a blog with invaluable tips on how to reclaim "unloved public spaces. Villagers in the rural English town of Ashton Hayes didn’t need government help, special technology, or some special funding grant to fight climate change. Sometimes the smallest things we can do for our neighborhoods can have the biggest impact. With Forensic Friends, people stopped by our artists on the street and described a friend like you would if you were doing a forensic sketch of a criminal. 34. ", 14. Philadelphia’s iconic Mural Arts Program, which started in 1984 and turned the city into a street art mecca, includes a restoration initiatives, to make sure creative expression is prized and protected. Make an alley into a public art studio. Form a bicycle-friendly district. Measure and draw a two-mile radius circle around your house to determine your "walkshed," the places you can easily walk. Do not use your personal photo or stock images. The principles listed above are about catalyzing local leaders, funding, and strengthening local resources for the goal of creating great public spaces. could reduce urban transportation CO2 emissions by 50 percent worldwide by 2050. spot-on replica of a Los Angeles freeway sign in 2001, A photo posted by 5 Every Day (@5everyday), 2015 study by the University of California at Davis, Tactical Urbanist’s Guide to Materials and Design, Tactical Urbanism and Demonstration Projects Guide, natural disasters—like the recent Hurricane Florence—worse. With a mission to get more "feet on the street," the Walk Your City project promotes more conversational, community-oriented wayfinding. So they put out an RFP for a developer to turn it into housing. Running a new route through the city’s food deserts, a decommissioned Chicago Transit Authority bus transported market-fresh produce—not riders—for eight months in 2017. 45. The frighteningly official looking faux signage installed by Michael Pederson stops people in their tracks and engages citizens with their cities, as they look around to see if anyone else noticed the caution sign placed next to a sidewalk crack or a rating system for the quietness of a local park. Optimize Your Brand’s Twitter Profile. Since the boat docks are connected to the city bike share system, it uses both modes of transportation to get you to work. 5. German art group Raubdruckerin uses a "pirate printing" technique that, in essence, screenprints manhole covers, a process that creates graphic T-shirts with a clever connection to different European cities.