TACTICAL URBANISM WEEK STARTS TODAY

TACTICAL URBANISM WEEK STARTS TODAY

Union Square and East
Somerville residents invited to events and workshops on building community and active neighborhoods

SOMERVILLE – Union
Square and East Somerville residents: learn how to change the landscape of your
city, encourage physical activity, build social connections and make a positive
impact on your neighborhood during Somerville’s first-ever “Tactical Urbanism
Week” starting today.

Beginning
Wednesday, May 28, and running through Sunday, June 1, Somerville by Design will hold
brainstorming sessions and workshops on urban design concepts, such as how to
build parklets and pallet furniture, build better streets and activate public
spaces. Participating Somerville residents will work with leading experts in
tactical urbanism, including Team Better
Block
in Union Square and the Street Plans
Collaborative
in East Somerville. A full schedule with locations of workshops and events is
below.

 

The
week culminates on Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. with Carnaval at
SomerStreets,
kicking off the annual SomerStreets series that, like the tactical urbanism
workshops, “This is East” community
placemaking project, and “Dancing in the Streets” festival, all
use the existing urban environment to promote civic engagement and social
capital.

 

Tactical
urbanism is a strategy for public engagement in city-building, using low-cost,
temporary changes to the physical environment to test ideas for public space,
pedestrian safety and economic development. Prominent examples include New York
City’s re-establishment of Times Square as
a pedestrian plaza
and San Francisco’s popular “Pavement to Parks” program. The
tactical approach draws heavily from the research of urbanists like Jane
Jacobs, William H. Whyte and Jan Gehl, who proposed a more nimble approach to
city building than the conventional wisdom of their era.

 

“Somerville’s
civic life is one of our greatest assets, and the tactical urbanism philosophy
plays to this strength,” said Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone. “In a city of only
four square miles, you need a little creativity if you want to use the built
environment to promote active living and community-building, and we are lucky
to have great organizations like the Somerville Arts Council, East Somerville Main Streets and Union Square Main Streets doing just
that. When cities ask residents to diagnose problems in the built environment,
brainstorm solutions and get their hands dirty building physical improvements,
everyone benefits. Our award-winning, grassroots SomerVision Comprehensive Plan commits the
City to continued innovation in municipal government, and the Somerville by
Design program is helping us live up to that promise. I can’t wait to see what
our residents come up in Union Square and East Somerville.”

 

“This
type of planning activity has been gaining popularity all over the country, but
Somerville already has its own well-loved examples,” said Ward 2 Alderman
Maryann Heuston. “Each fall, we hold a ‘Bulb Blitz’ where
residents work with the City’s Department of Public Works to plant thousands of
tulips in our squares and parks. Every spring, the Somerville Arts Council
coordinates the incredible PorchFest music festival
on front porches all over the city. These are great examples of low-cost,
temporary neighborhood improvements that build community pride as well as
momentum toward larger projects.”

 

“Here
in East Somerville, we have great community organizations like East Somerville
Main Streets and Teen Empowerment that are getting residents and small business
owners plugged into the world of public policy,” said Ward 1 Alderman Matthew
McLaughlin.  “A project like the Broadway Streetscape reconstruction takes
years of planning, design and construction.  It’s very important to me
that the City is able to simultaneously make meaningful small-scale
improvements like the Cross Street East Cultural Corridor that was launched in
April.”

Events are scheduled as follows:

·        

Wednesday, May 28

o  

6:30 – 8:00 pm: “This is East”
Brainstorming Session, 165 Broadway

·        

Thursday, May 29

o  

2:30 – 5:00 pm: “This is East” Building
Session, 165 Broadway

o  

6:00 – 8:30 pm: “This is East” Building
Session, 165 Broadway

o  

6:30 – 7:30 pm: “How to Gather Metrics
on a Block”, 35 Prospect Street

o  

7:45 – 9:15 pm: “How to Activate Public
Space”, Union Square Plaza

o  

7:45 – 9:15 pm: “How to Make Wayfinding
Signage”, Union Square Plaza

·        

Friday, May 30

o  

2:30 – 5:00 pm: “This is East” Building
Session, 165 Broadway

o  

6:00 – 8:30 pm: “This is East” Building
Session, 165 Broadway

o  

6:30 – 8:30 pm: “How to Build a
Parklet”, Union Square Plaza

o  

6:30 – 8:30 pm: “How to Build Pallet
Furniture”, Union Square Plaza

o  

7:00 – 8:30 pm: “This is East”
Completion Celebration, 165 Broadway

o  

9:00 – 9:45 pm: “How to Build a Better
Street”­, 35 Prospect Street

·        

Saturday, May 31

o  

1:00 – 2:00 pm: “How to Make Wayfinding
Signage”, Union Square Plaza

o  

2:00 – 4:00 pm: “How to Build a Better
Street”, Union Square Plaza

o  

2:00 – 4:00 pm: “How to Activate Public
Space”, Union Square Plaza

o  

2:00 – 4:00 pm: “How to Build a
Parklet”, Union Square Plaza

o  

3:00 – 4:00 pm: “How to Build Pallet
Furniture”, Union Square Plaza

o  

3:00 – 5:00 pm: Somerville Arts Council
“Dancing in the Streets”, Union Square Plaza

o  

5:00 pm: Major League Bocce Association
“Introduction to Bocce” class, Union Square

o  

6:00 – 7:00 pm: “How to Gather Metrics
on a Block”, Union Square Plaza

·        

Sunday, June 1

o  

12:00pm – 4:00 pm: Carnaval at
SomerStreets, 165 Broadway

In
September 2013, the “Somerville by Design” community planning initiative used
three-day, temporary tactical urbanism installations to bring residents into
neighborhood planning processes. A small parking lot in Davis Square was
transformed into a public plaza, and in East Somerville two parallel parking
spaces on Broadway were transformed into a temporary “parklet.” Vacant
storefronts adjacent to the installations became open design studios, with city
planners and elected officials hosting community meetings from dawn to dusk to
solicit public input on neighborhood planning issues.

 

Additional
information is available at www.somervillebydesign.com.