Gaps in Parks Master Planning: Part Nine | Second stage planning for parks using the cultural landscape framework

 Gaps in park master planning frameworks

-- "Gaps in Parks Master Planning: Part One | Levels of Service"
-- "Gaps in Parks Master Planning: Part Two | Utilizing Academic Research as Guidance"
-- "Gaps in Parks Master Planning: Part Three | Planning for Climate Change/Environment"
-- "Gaps in Parks Master Planning: Part Four | Planning for Seasonality and Activation"
-- "Gaps in Parks Master Planning: Part Five | Planning for Public Art as an element of park facilities"
-- "Gaps in Parks Master Planning, Part Six | Art(s) in the Park(s) as a comprehensive program "
-- "Gaps in Parks Master Planning: Part Seven | Park Architectural (and Landscape Design) History" 
-- "Gaps in Parks Master Planning: Part Eight | Civic Engagement"
-- "Gaps in Parks Master Planning: Part Nine | Second stage planning for parks using the cultural landscape framework" 

Planning a park at the outset is about creating the landscape design and program.  Planning parks at the outset is "simple" in that land features are identified and either preserved or enhanced, and a program--who the park will serve and how it will be done through the provision of a set of facilities including landscape elements--will be created.

Plans cover land and water features, facilities, intended uses, and programming.  At the end of the process one of the ways the plan for the park gets expressed is through a map schematic.  While detailed, they are examples of more simplified planning documents.

Burgess Park, Southwark, London.  Note the level of detail specified on the schematic.

Updating the park master plan.  The planning issue comes up when you update a plan for a park.  How large is the park, what features does it have, is it cultural and historically significant or are there elements that deserve more detailed analysis, etc.  

Sugar House Park is almost 70 years old, and has different planning needs compared to when the park was created.  Items like vegetation and Parley's Creek were not covered thoroughly in the most recent (2008) master plan update process.  And there are more issues today like climate change and its effect on the park and patrons, and how to respond.   

Many of the "natural features" in Sugar House Park are specified in the post on climate change, "Gaps in Parks Master Planning: Part Three | Planning for Climate Change." including Parley's Creek, its watershed, and flood control, water conservation, turf and plants, trees/arboretum, and fauna.  Topography and viewsheds are key elements also.

When the park experienced flooding via Parley's Creek in 2023.

Mobility, heat effects  and mitigation measures, park and park architectural history, buildings and structures and other facilities, programming, strategy and management of the park are the other necessary elements to have a plan that is truly comprehensive.

So a park or park system plan, to be comprehensive should be a combination of a cultural landscape plan, a regular park design and program plan, a capital improvements plan, an organization and management plan, a branding and marketing plan if the park is signature, a programming plan, and a fundraising plan.  

Or would you call those "natural elements" environmental, and call that section of a plan an environmental master plan?  Environmental plans have five elements: land, air, water, waste, and energy, some of which you would address only parenthetically in a park plan.

Definitely complicated depending on the nature of the particular park or park system being studied.  Because there are so many items, you can call it a cultural landscape plan because that approach is so macro focused and comprehensive.  

But maybe the issue is to just make the comprehensive park or park system plan more comprehensive, by including as many of these other items as possible for study, but not calling it a cultural landscape plan per se.

Cultural landscape planning approach.  A way to tie together the various planning threads for a park and/or a park system is to use the cultural landscape planning approach, which looks at sites more comprehensively than a typical parks plan.

I think that it is in next stage planning where the cultural landscape approach becomes more relevant to parks planning.  For Sugar House Park, the elements to address in more depth would be related to the land, water, vegetation, buildings and history.  

Cultural Landscapes

A cultural landscape is a place with many layers of history that evolves through design and use over time. A cultural landscape embodies the associations and uses that evoke a sense of history for a specific place. 

Physical features of cultural landscapes can include trees, buildings, pathways, site furnishings, water bodies – basically any element that expresses cultural values and the history of a site. 

Cultural landscapes also include intangible elements such as land uses and associations of people that influenced the development of a landscape. Cultural landscapes include neighborhoods, parks and open spaces, farms and ranches, sacred places, etc.

However, the cultural landscape approach is usually applied at a large scale.  In the US, it's used most often for creating management plans for National and State Heritage Areas, which can cover hundreds of square miles and hundreds of separately owned cultural resources.  

ATHA visitor center in Hyattsville, Maryland.

Maryland has a National Heritage Area in Baltimore and a program that designates state heritage areas.  

Planning occurs at two scales, for the heritage area as a whole (ATHA management plan), focused on the big picture and identifying historic themes, and plans for individual sites like house museums, parks, etc.  

The plans for individual units range from park or museum master plans, to house museum plans (building preservation, marketing, etc.). 

-- Guidelines for the Treatment of Cultural Landscapes, The Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties
-- Protecting Cultural Landscapes: Planning, Treatment and Management of Historic Landscapes: Planning, Treatment and Management of Historic Landscapes, Preservation Brief 36
-- How to Evaluate and Nominate Designed Historic Landscapes, National Register Bulletin 18
-- Guide to Cultural Landscape Reports: Contents, Process and Techniques

-- The Alliance for Historic Landscape Preservation
-- The Cultural Landscape Foundation

The most distinctive element about large scale cultural landscape planning is that interpretation is organized around the major historic themes of the area (comparable to identifying the period of cultural significance for a historic district, "What is the Period of Significance and what does it mean for Cleveland Park?," Cleveland Park Historical Society).  So the Rivers of Steel Heritage Area in Pittsburgh didn't include one particular mining area as a resource, because it was associated with the steel industry of Cleveland.

One Maryland State Heritage area is the Anacostia Trails Heritage Area in Prince George's County, abutting DC.  The state areas focus on highlighting local historic assets and marketing them as a tourism product.  

The marketing program may include visitor centers, the organization of cultural resources into "trails," events, wayfinding and interpretive signage, brochures and other elements. 

Parks and park systems are simpler units than heritage areas and a modified approach to planning at the scale of the cultural landscape makes more sense. Obviously not all parks and local parks system are the same.  And only some parks probably rise to the level of high historic/cultural significance.

The challenge is to do more comprehensive planning for the parks that should be planned at that level of detail. I argue a more simplified approach to cultural landscape planning can be adopted for master planning for local parks systems and individual parks.  Using the principles, not the level of detail.  

Broad Branch Park in New Jersey is a rare example of a local park with a cultural landscape plan, which took several years to create.  The report has six volumes and totals over 1,000 pages.

• Existing conditions
• History of the park and critical periods of development
• Hydrology, infrastructure, and historic fabric
• Structures in the park
• Vegetation in the park
• Treatment and management

Such detailed planning for an individual park is beyond the capacity of most parks systems.  Note that many parks conduct Cultural Landscape studies using the methods of the National Register of Historic Places.  

For example, the Cultural Landscape report (vol. 1, vol. 2) for the Eleanor Roosevelt Historic Site in Hyde Park, New York makes a number of treatment recommendations:

• Improve Landscape Condition
• Protect and Enhance Historic Setting
• Reestablish Historic Field and Forest Patterns
• Perpetuate Historic Managed Vegetation
• Enhance Historic Character of Roads and Walks
• Provide Effective Deer Control
• Maintain Compatible Park Furnishings
• Expand Landscape Interpretation

The 1983 Plan to restore and revive Central Park in Manhattan is a great example of this kind of plan for a more local, but significantly historic resource. 40 years later the book still reads so well, and offers a lot of guidance for contemporary parks planning.

-- Rebuilding Central Park: A Management and Restoration Plan

Again, such reports are focused on identification and maintenance of historic resources, while for a contemporary park or park system, only some elements may be historic, but application of the analytical  framework of cultural landscape planning is relevant.  

The challenge is identifying certain resources as historic and recognizing this and treating them appropriately, while mixing in other planning approaches to other elements of park resources.

A good way to contrast first stage versus second stage parks planning would be the Rebuilding Central Park plan of 1983, to revive a park constructed starting in the 1850s, or the Bryant Park program, versus the creation of the High Line in Manhattan, Brooklyn Bridge Park in Brooklyn. or Millennium Park (2009 Rudy BRuner Award: Silver Medal winner) in Chicago.

This came up with Sugar House Park and planning for replacement pavilions.  I argued the approach was a-historic and failed to acknowledge the relevance of the architectural history of park buildings and structures to the decision making process ("Gaps in Parks Master Planning: Part Seven | Park Architectural History and Design").

For Sugar House Park, the elements relevant to a cultural landscape second stage planning approach would be: 

• site history (former prison)
• architectural history of the park (some materials from the prison are used in some structures that exist today) and area
• as well as park architectural history more generally (parkitecture style)
• viewsheds towards the Wasatch Front Mountains
• Parley's Creek (natural) and the pond (man-made)
• topography, in particular the hills (my line is that hills are a competitive advantage for the park compared to other parks in Salt Lake City, which are mostly flat--two areas are especially popular for sledding) 
• tree cover and management (treating the trees collectively as an arboretum--we are in the process of getting Level One accreditation from ArbNet, and will continue to develop this concept over the years) 

Adding the cultural landscape lens to parks planning.  In parks master planning updates, agencies should endeavor to identify important historic and cultural elements for each park, although just thinking about Salt Lake County and Salt Lake City parks, most parks do not rise to this level.  

For signature parks, it shouldn't be hard to identify the elements that for future planning purposes, qualify as significant and relevant to cultural landscape approaches to planning.  

Does that mean a cultural landscape study should be conducted for each park that qualifies?  That's hard to say.  Many parks departments don't have that kind of infrastructure and funding, although they could work with local historic preservation offices to secure some. 

Maybe doing the equivalent of a "windshield survey"--a term from historic preservation where you do a quick visual assessment of a property to determine if it is a significant or contributing resource to a potential historic district--is enough (Bulletin 24: Guidelines for Local Surveys, NRHP), provided that the identified elements get the additional attention deserved within the planning process.

Salt Lake City.  To its credit, the Salt Lake City Public Lands Department (broader than "just" parks) has done an assessment of parks in terms of their cultural and historic resources (memo).  Five parks were designated as particularly significant and a cultural landscape study has been completed for Liberty Park (created 1881), while studies are underway for Pioneer Park (dating to 1847 as a public facility)--the signature Downtown park, and Allen Park (which for quirky reasons is culturally significant, dating to the 1940s).  The intent is to produce such studies for 11 parks in total.  But funding hasn't been secured.

I can't claim to have read hundreds of parks master plans, but this kind of identification of particular parks with significant historic and cultural resources is unusual.  

On the other hand, the language of the memo as submitted to the city's Historic Landmarks Commission hasn't made it into the city's most recently updated parks plan, ReImagine Nature, although this plan is more of a vision framework than a master plan.

Salt Lake County.  I am not so familiar with the Salt Lake County system, but most of the parks were created after 1960, and most don't have historic elements.  

Although, some parks in some communities across the county may date to the 1800s (that's when the area was settled by Caucasians) and early 1900s, and often have elements relevant to historic and cultural preservation.

The best way to ensure that cultural and historic resources are considered within parks master planning is to take the Salt Lake City approach and do a broad survey of park resources, and determine which parks require differentiated treatment when it comes to further planning and updated plans for specific parks. 

Campus activism: potential blowback on the Republicans?

I started college in the late 1970s.  Since "the 1960s" were really from about 1964-1974, there was still a lot of recognition of that period in Ann Arbor.  

As is my want, when I was in college I became interested in how colleges work and I read a lot of the literature of the time about "college student development" especially William Perry's Forms of Intellectual and Ethical Development in the College Years: A Scheme (book, a webpage).  Others writing along these lines included Lawrence Kohlberg and Carol Gilligan.

Plus I read works like Kirkpatrick Sale's SDS and Todd Gitlin's The Whole World is Watching about "the movement."  Me and some others even brought Gitlin to campus to speak.

Perry discusses how students start at the dualism point--yes or no--move to an everything's relative position, and then, ideally, to what he called "commitment in relativism" in that you use relativistic thinking to come to a position.

Probably most university presidents aren't familiar with this literature, because I was shocked when the Penn, Harvard, and MIT presidents were grilled before Congress last November about pro-Palestinian activism on their campuses, which was pitched as anti-Semitism, that the presidents didn't reference this work ("Lawmakers question Harvard, Penn and MIT presidents on antisemitism," "The anti-college subtext to the right-wing response to Gaza protests," Washington Post). Two of the presidents ended up resigning.

Interestingly, now that I think about it, from Perry's perspective, Republicans in Congress reason dualistically, which isn't particularly sophisticated.

Roger Martin, former dean of the Rothman School of Business at the University of Toronto has a related concept called integrative thinking where people simultaneously consider multiple ideas that conflict and come up with a way to resolve them. 

In any case, you can be pro-Jew/pro-Israel, which I am, because my father was Jewish, and I remember books in our house about the Arab-Israel conflict, while recognizing at the same time that the Palestinians have a co-equal right to live, and the way that Israel treats the Palestinians is abominable.  

Sure Hamas was terrible and should be condemned, but Hamas, in effect, was created (blowback) by Israel's treatment of Palestinians.  And you can be against killing of all sorts.  I think Hamas was wrong.  And so is Israel, which has killed over 30,000 people in its war in the Gaza Strip.

I do think universities have the obligation to better integrate understanding college student development and working with students to move along the ladder of cognitive and ethical development.  Obviously that's not happening in a purposeful way in most universities, even "the best" ones.

The Columbia University president came up before Congress last week and she completely capitulated, and later asked the NYPD to remove a protest sit in student camp out staking a pro-Palestinian position ("Columbia Students Arrested Over Campus Rally May Face Other Consequences," New York Times).  

And USC told the Palestinian valedictorian that she wouldn't be able to give the traditional speech at commencement ("USC got it wrong in canceling valedictorian’s speech. Here’s what the school should do now," Los Angeles Times).  

Police officers stand near tents erected by pro-Palestinian protesters on the South Lawn at Columbia University in New York, on Thursday. C.S. MUNCY/The New York Times/Redux

Last week students were removed from an encampment at in California.

FWIW, I participated in a sit in back in the day about disinvesting from South Africa.  I'm sure the administration was indulging us, but they didn't call the police on us even though we remained in the Regents board room overnight.  

Contrast that to now sadly, as UM is considering much harsher policies ("Some concerned University of Michigan proposed policy on protests could quell free speech efforts," CBS).

I don't think students are wrong to support Palestinians.  Wrong is violence against Jews or destruction of property.  Reporting by the student newspaper at Columbia found that most of the incidents were off-campus by people not related to the university ("Rabbi advises Jewish students to ‘return home as soon as possible’ following reports of ‘extreme antisemitism’ on and around campus," Columbia Spectator).

In response to the Columbia action, students at Yale and others created tent camps supporting Columbia students and the Palestinian cause ("Students at more universities announce solidarity rallies after 108 pro-Palestinian activists are arrested at Columbia," CNN, "UM students set up encampment on Diag protesting war in Gaza," Michigan Public Radio).

Photo: A.J. Jones, Michigan Public Radio.

I wonder if this will wildcat across the country, the same way demonstrations did after students were killed at Kent State (and Jackson State) in 1970 when they were protesting against the Vietnam War  ("It began with defiance at Columbia. Now students nationwide are upping their Gaza war protests," AP).

There are protests at University of Washington today ("Student walkout: Updates as WA students protest Israel-Hamas war," Seattle Times).

However, protest has become much less effective in changing society over the years.  I don't know why exactly.  Some argue it's co-opted by elites and there's definitely truth to that.  And corporate interests are much more organized and active in protecting their interests ("The small business tyrant has a favorite political party," New York Times), "The UAW’s Chattanooga Victory: Score One for the North in Our Endless Civil War," American Prospect).

-- "How violent protest can backfire," Stanford News
-- "The end of protesting," Comment
-- "Can protests lead to meaningful changes in government policy, particularly around economic redistribution?," Brookings
-- "Do Protests Even Work," The Atlantic

Some is because back in the day there were just a few communications sources and they had disproportionate power and authority and most people read or watched them.  

But with cable television and social media and the decline of newspapers and traditional television news, effect can be dissipated, even though social media had some success wrt both Tahrir Square in Cairo and Chiapas state in Mexico.  Not to mention the development of a fabulist conservative media ecosystem.

Still, the Republican/conservative response to the Israel-Palestinian issue may in fact spark a new activism. And revive the strength of protest movements.

Although the conservatives have some advantage in that the winter term is almost over, and students would tend to go back home for the summer.

=====

FWIW, a lot of my peers at the time thought that activism in the 1960s had failed.  I used to respond, "the US got out of Vietnam, what do you mean?"  But definitely after the US took out the troops, the big reason or impetus for activism faded.  But at least when I was at school there were two more waves, Divestment from South Africa and then US involvement in Central America, specifically El Salvador.

Gaps in Parks Master Planning: Part Eight | Civic Engagement and Positive Promotion of Democracy

 Gaps in park master planning frameworks

-- "Gaps in Parks Master Planning: Part One | Levels of Service"
-- "Gaps in Parks Master Planning: Part Two | Utilizing Academic Research as Guidance"
-- "Gaps in Parks Master Planning: Part Three | Planning for Climate Change/Environment"
-- "Gaps in Parks Master Planning: Part Four | Planning for Seasonality and Activation"
-- "Gaps in Parks Master Planning: Part Five | Planning for Public Art as an element of park facilities"
-- "Gaps in Parks Master Planning, Part Six | Art(s) in the Park(s) as a comprehensive program "
-- "Gaps in Parks Master Planning: Part Seven | Park Architectural (and Landscape Design) History" 
-- "Gaps in Parks Master Planning: Part Eight | Civic Engagement"
-- "Gaps in Parks Master Planning: Part Nine | Second stage planning for parks using the cultural landscape framework" 

Civic engagement.  Public facing civic assets--libraries, parks, schools, sustainable mobility programs like walking, biking, and transit, Safe Routes to School, public markets, farmers markets, etc.--should seize the opportunity to strengthen civil society through how they organize and deliver services and opportunities for participation.

-- "Community cleanups and other activities as community building and civic engagement activities" (2011)
-- "Outdoor library book sale as an opportunity for "social bridging"/triangulation"
-- "Here are 10 new year resolutions for saving American democracy," Guardian
-- "2024 resolution: Save democracy," Washington Post

I argue that urban planning is upside down in that elementary schools are the basic building blocks of stable neighborhoods, yet for the most part this is ignored by planning systems.

Schools can bring neighborhoods together (although they need technical assistance and support to be able to do so.)

-- "National Community Planning Month: Schools as neighborhood anchors"  (2022)
-- "School closure and consolidation planning needs to focus on integration planning at the outset as a separate process" (2023)

Civic Agriculture and community food systems. A few years ago when I was doing research on public markets I came across the book Civic Agriculture: Reconnecting Farm, Food and Community, which posits a more locally controlled and democratically involved regional food system, as opposed to the one we have, dominated by huge corporations.  

That's the basis of the farmers market and public market movement, although more recently it's morphed into the concept of local-regional food hubs to support small business.  It's an interesting book.

Projects like the Tomato Independence Project in Boise ("Foodies and Farmers Wage War Against Tasteless Tomatoes," Boise Weekly, Building a Better Tomato," Edible Idaho) planting fruit trees ("How Angelenos are battling food insecurity by using hyperlocal apps to share their bounty," Los Angeles Times) and the UK's Real Bread Campaign focus on shifting people from manufactured mass production bread to artisan bread, even the creation of micro-bakeries and "community supported bakeries" ("Real Bread Campaign gears up for 10th annual Sourdough September," Bakery&Snacks). 

In any case, people like to volunteer, hold classes, do demonstrations, etc., at farmers and public markets.

These kinds of ideas can be extended to other public facing programs.

Civic Environmentalism (paper)

is a type of social action where citizens come together to solve environmental problems as a means to improve their communities. The goal is to ensure a sustainable community for future generations through participation in democratic processes. 

Ecological place 

is a concept related to civic environmentalism. It is the idea that people are attached to their place or immediate habitat, which is a portion of the greater environment. The feelings of ownership attached to their place are what bring community members together and motivates them to become democratically involved to make their place a sustainable community.

Los Angeles has citizen oversight committees for every park facility (Park Advisory Boards, "Park Advisory Boards in Los Angeles," 2023).  Most parks don't.  

-- Park Advisory Board: New Member Handbook, Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks

Similarly, parks with Friends groups--I participate in Friends of Fairmont Park because I think the parks in the area of Sugar House should be planned as a network--have the opportunity for more involvement and input compared to the average park. 

Parks agencies can engage citizens as programming providers, community experts, and volunteers, by creating parks and recreation committees and systems for developing and offering program for each facility. 

William H. Whyte and "triangulation."  Whyte, who had been editor of Fortune Magazine, became interested in cities and public space, and pioneered methods of urban observation, including how people used public space.  He wrote a particularly important  book on cities and activation, City: Rediscovering the Center.

One of his concepts is what he called "triangulation," where people who didn't know each other talk to each other.  Triangulation is the process: 

in which a stimulus provides a social bond between people. Strangers are more likely to talk to one another in the presence of such a stimulus. The stimulus might be musicians, or street entertainers, or an outdoor sculpture. Museum professionals will note the relation of these stimuli to landmark exhibits which have a similar effect.

Anne Lusk and the social bridge. In her dissertation on greenways, she calls this same phenomenon a social bridge. 

I joke that in neighborhoods, kids--walking them around the block, in strollers, on playgrounds, etc., and dogs--are the primary social bridges. 

The opportunity for triangulation is fostered by designing flexible spaces that provide for these kinds of opportunities.

Lusk wrote about how to design greenways to promote social interaction: 

Except for a minimal number of elements, the environment does not facilitate interaction between strangers. While someone could hold open a door and a person passing through could say thank you, necessary ADA regulations are making many doors automatic. 

If social capital is to be increased and interaction between people who know one another and people who do not know one another improved, environments that might foster positive interaction should be built. At the destinations, social bridge elements could be incorporated in the built environment. These social bridge elements include four types:  

1) Assist, 2) Connect, 3) Observe, and 4) In Absentia. 

An assist social bridge is the built element that allows one person to assist another person. A connect social bridge is a form of William Whyte's triangulation where a third element is watched, such as people kayaking, and strangers talk as friends. An observe social bridge is the positive feeling when a kindness is witnessed and that kindness is facilitated by the element in the built environment. An in absentia social bridge could be experienced in the perception of the person who created or maintained the space for the enjoyment of the recipient. 

Designing spaces to foster interaction.  There's an article, "‘Sticky’ places are urban planning lifelines Shared spaces build community and are key to alleviating America’s loneliness epidemic. Here’s how to create them," in the Boston Globe about how to design park spaces to foster interaction and connection.  From the article:

These spaces make people feel welcome, represented, and connected to their neighborhoods, and this, in turn, builds social connections between visitors. Though the Lincoln Park volleyball group formed organically, it was no accident. 

The park was designed to spur the interactions that allowed the spontaneous group to grow. In 2018, the City of Somerville renovated the park, turning it from baseball fields into a lively space with a skate park, parkour area, basketball court, multiple playgrounds, hammock poles, a community garden, and much more. 

Also see "Third place issues" (2024) and "Strangers are good for us," an op-ed by David Sax in the New York Times.  Plus an interesting article about picnic tables versus benches as staging points for interaction ("The power of the picnic table (bench)," Guardian).  The picnic table promotes interaction while benches tend to promote isolation within more active spaces.

Create civic engagement plans for parks at the macro and micro scales for the parks system as a whole, as a network and mechanisms for individual parks and facilities like Park Advisory Boards, friends groups, etc.

-- Barriers and Strategies to Connecting Urban Audiences to Wildlife and Nature: Results from a Multi-Method Research Project, NC State Extension 

Create a citizen capacity building infrastructure on parks, open space, and recreation practice. 

I believe in conferences can be great training events.  Park Pride, the friends group in Atlanta, and the Bay Area Open Space Council have annual conferences.  The latter conference includes advocacy activities, while Park Pride focuses on technical training.

Park People of Canada does local events and a national conference.  But a series of programs/training events doesn't have to rise to the level of a conference.  In NYC the CityParks Foundation runs Partnership Academy as a training resource.  Tree-focused groups like DC's Casey Trees group provide trainings for citizen foresters.  Seattle's Department of Neighborhoods supports neighborhood-initiated projects and other programs.

In Calgary, neighborhood associations run the recreation centers and represent their neighborhoods on a variety of issues.  The Federation of Calgary Communities provides technical assistance to these groups ("Community association planning committees a hidden gem," Calgary Herald).

It goes without saying that when there are friends groups, to some extent conservancies, etc., there are more opportunities for citizens to weigh in on parks issues. 

But often planning engagements are constrained in terms of knowledge development and the ability to truly participate.  I argue that the Project for Public Spaces "How to Turn a Place Around" workshop (outlined better in the first edition, less so in the second edition) is a great model for citizens addressing issues in their communities, including underperforming parks.

But there is also A Citizen’s Guide to Improving Your Park, by Building Memphis and the national organization Trust for Public Land is active in many communities, helping citizens to improve their local parks.

Volunteerism.  There are many ways to volunteer, including picking up litter, planting trees, monitoring dog parks, teaching sports, organizing a picnic, etc.  (The National Park Service has a model program for volunteers and their printed materials are good resources for other programs.) 

In the past, I took the child next door to a volunteer event during National Parks Week, and I became involved in Friends of Fairmont Park here in Salt Lake, because of a tree planting and trash pick up event on Earth Day two years ago.

We can categorize volunteer programs in terms of how activities are directed--internally or externally focused programs.  

For example, trail and parks ambassadors deal more directly with park patrons, so it is externally focused, while some people are content to volunteer on plant maintenance, and not deal with the public very much.  The Regional Parks Ambassador Program in Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul is focused on reaching traditionally underserved segments of the population.  

Citizen science programs ("How volunteer butterfly catchers help climate-change research in WA parks," Seattle Times) are another way people can participate.  There are many types, including measuring water and air quality, counting various types of fauna sightings, etc.

Veteran Cascades Butterfly Project volunteers 

Ellen Steel and Rich Booman admire a fritillary butterfly being released after capture and identification. Booman is in charge of recording species information on the survey data sheet. (Photo: Karen Povey / National Park Service.)

Red Butte Garden in Salt Lake City has a very active volunteer program where people help to maintain the space.

Citizen-delivered programming.  More places are "allowing" citizens to deliver recreation programming.  Baltimore County has set up their recreation program where programming is only provided by citizens.  They started this as a budget measure in the 1970s (now Harford County, Maryland does something similar too). 

Instead of by staff, programming is provided by interested citizens, organized and funded by volunteer Recreation and Parks Councils. While there are problems with this approach: 

(1) the County Parks Department doesn’t provide programming planning and guidance

(2) the Parks Department doesn’t provide capacity building training to the groups

(3) citizen interest tends to focus on team sports

(4) although nothing prevents citizens from offering programming outside of team sports

(5) wealthier communities tend to raise more money than poorer communities

(6) in the case of such significant financial disparities, from an equity standpoint, the County should step in with supplemental funds for the lower income areas; 

there is no question that citizens are engaged users and committed to and involved with the facilities.  

Buena Park kindergarten teacher Leslee Milch reads “The Pigeon has to go to School!” to children as part of her summer “Read to Me” program at George Bellis Park in Buena Park on Wednesday, July 12, 2023. Milch has been reading to the children during the summer for more than 25 years. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Interaction systems.  Depending on the park, like the concept of "sticky spaces," set up systems to make it easier for people to connect to act, such as running together, walking your dogs together, playdates at the playground, programming at the playground like reading ("For 25 years, a Buena Park teacher has brought summer reading to the park," Orange County Register), being able to use creative street furniture, etc.

Create a networked structure for "friends of the parks" organizations.

-- Park Friends Group Guidebook, Park People of Canada

I don't understand why communities require separate friends organizations for every park, recreation center (and library). Why aren't they organized as a network, with administrative functions providing legal services, accounting, and technical support, with separate sub-groups for each facility.

The administrative team would negotiate sponsorships, provide training, etc., while the affinity groups would focus on programming and fundraising "for their park," without having to deal with "the boring" but important stuff like dealing with the IRS.

Conclusion. The Friends of the Parks organization in Chicago calls its annual conference, "Parks as Democracy?" focusing on topics each year that illustrate the theme.

From The Hill article, "Why public spaces are our best hope for community and democracy":

The shrinking number of opportunities to interact with people who look and think differently from us is undermining our ability to empathize and trust one another, and these trends are a threat to the future of democracy. While increasing trust, cooperation and communication across differences requires fixes at every level of society, we believe civic infrastructure is a key piece of the puzzle. 

Civic infrastructure — high-quality parks, libraries, community centers, and trails where everyone is welcome — provides the potential for people to connect across divisions of race, income and beliefs. These are places of gathering, belonging to everyone. For the most part, we haven’t invested in them for decades. 

However, things are changing. At the national level, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences’ Our Common Purpose Report called for building a Trust for Civic Infrastructure. Local communities across the country are also beginning to bring diverse people into public space in ways that will help build a vibrant, diverse democracy for generations to come.

It's a different way of working, but parks systems should consider expanding the opportunities to engage citizens in multiple ways, as a way of strengthening parks and developing stronger support for park funding and expansion (although generally, but not always, park funding referenda tend to pass without incident), but also encouraging civic engagement more broadly and as a way to strengthen democracy in a country where it appears to be weakening ("Do beautiful parks strengthen democracy?").

It can be tough to balance citizen self-interest and community interest.  OTOH, some citizens aren't so much interested in parks issues more generally, but just their own park, and specifically their own interest.  

In an old publication I can't find anymore, parks planner David Barth wrote about getting a broad response about park uses because otherwise very specific types of athletic fields can end up being the dominant preference.  

In the photo, someone wants to preserve a flexible field used for frisbee golf, while Salt Lake County proposes converting the field to soccer.  And they are trying to gather support.

On one hand, I can understand the change as a soccer field is in higher demand (for example I favor converting an underused baseball field to a super duper playground and again, the latter would have much greater use).

On the other hand, it's important to have flexible spaces that can be used for more than one thing, including "unprogrammed" uses.

Demographics of the area, and other extant facilities in the park, should shape this decision.

Include a civic engagement element in parks plans.  FWIW, I think there should be civic engagement elements in Master Plans, Transportation Plans, School Plans, Library Plans, Housing Plans, Economic Development Plans, etc.  Parks too.

Earth Day, Part 2: April 22nd

Earth Day anti-pollution rally at Philadelphia Museum of Art. April 23, 1970. Philadelphia Inquirer Photo: Lou Zacharias.

What’s lost since Philly’s amazing 1970 Earth Week," Philadelphia Inquirer

According to the article, Philadelphia was the most active community participating in the first Earth Day in 1970.  They had so much participation they created "Earth Week."

2.  FWIW, I think that April should be "Earth Month," with Earth Day still celebrated on April 22nd.  It's hard to pack everything in one day.

3.  National Volunteer Week is Sunday April 21st to Saturday April 27th.  In Utah, some organization put together a flyer listing a variety of volunteer possibilities for the week.  

I think this flyer is a great model that is adaptable.  E.g., a parks department could list a week's worth of activities.  A library system.  Or an Earth Month.

In any case, I went to a tree planting event last year for Earth Day, and it ended up getting me involved in Friends of Fairmont Park.  So that's something about Earth Day too, it can be an entry point for people to become more civically engaged in their community.

4.  Community cleanups.  The Orange County Register reports that a "14-year-old aims to clean 5 beaches in 5 weeks; he’s no stranger to helping the environment."

Clean ups are a great way to get people involved in their community ("Every Litter Bit Hurts," 2005, "Community cleanups (and other activities) as community building and civic engagement activities," 2011).

DC has Advisory Neighborhood Commissions, set up as individual Single Member Districts, united within a particular geography.  

This is up from our DC house.  And that area, abutting Georgia Avenue and commercial businesses and the police precinct tends to be pretty dirty.

Most commissioners do a bad job with holding regular meetings.  I think they should do at least one per quarter.  I suggested to an ANC4C commissioner years ago that one of the meetings should be a community cleanup.  Looks like they're doing it.

FWIW, DC is 100x dirtier than Salt Lake.

5.  Recycling versus zero waste.  Yes, there are lots of problems with recycling ("Recycling in the U.S. Is Broken. How Do We Fix It?," State of the Planet, "Recycling Reality Check: Addressing the Recycling Problems & How to Fix Them," Upper Route) in particular plastic and glass.  

Ryan Hickman, 14, walks along the surt to collect trash on T-Street Beach in San Clemente on Wednesday, April 17, 2024. At 7-years-old Hickman made national headlines when he embarked on a project collecting recyclables and donated the money to Pacific Marine Mammal Center. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Ryan Hickman became concerned about the environment starting with recycling.  

So recycling is a good thing from that standpoint.  But now it should be more about zero waste.  Which is broader than recycling, getting back to the line of "reduce, reuse, recycle."

As people drink artisan products (e.g., craft beer, Kombucha) and as plastic replaces glass bottles, there is less demand for mass production bottles, hence less demand for recycled glass.  It happens in Utah that there is an insulation plant which uses glass threads, so glass is recyclable here.  That being said, a major firm estimates that only 10% of the glass here is recycled. 

Salt Lake City puts pro-recycling, pro-zero waste messaging on its garbage trucks ("Every year Salt Lake City puts new pro-environmental messages on its sanitation trucks," 2018)

It happens that an elementary school in Salt Lake, Indian Hills Elementary, is probably national best practice for a school, and they open their programs to residents.

But there need to be more regulations forbidding the production of products that are impossible to recycle.  The EU has addressed this issue for years.  The US, given its neoliberal approach and opposition to any sort of positive environmental regulation by a majority of Republicans means the US will lag for a long time.

6.  Special opportunities with multiunit residential buildings and offices/restaurants ("Reformulating building regulations to promote sustainability," 2016).  I made the point that DC could drive best practice forward by addressing this.

7.  Watersheds.  In places with streams, I recommend "Adopt-A-Stream programs.  We have a stream in Sugar House Park and we need to address it as an element of our future master plan.  The city did a plan in 2010 that still isn't fully realized.  It's pretty clean in our park, but the banks need to be stabilized.

In DC, I argue that Advisory Neighborhood Commissions abutting the Anacostia River should have a committee on Rivers and Watersheds.

8.  Expos and Festivals.  Two weeks ago, DC had a "Healthy Homes Fair" to promote pro-environment, pro-sustainability practices for the home.  That's a good thing.  But four hours is too short.

I've always been a fan of Montgomery County's GreenFest.  This year it's April 27th.

These type of events can also be entry points into citizen involvement.

9.  Urban neighborhoods, especially rowhouse neighborhoods, use less energy than suburban houses.

10.  Helping seniors do sustainable mobility.  This is a tough issue.  Washington Area Bicyclists Association has been sponsoring short expos for seniors to encourage biking and walking.

OTOH, as people get older their mobility can become more constricted.  E.g., I never thought I'd have to use a cane and can't bike (I hope this will change after my course of treatment but I don't know).

But encouraging the people to use sustainable modes when their mobility isn't constricted is a good thing.

11.  Electric motor vehicles sales dropping.  Electric motor vehicles are experiencing a serious fall off in sales ("E.V. Sales Are Slowing. Tesla's Are Slumping.," New York Times).  Although much of the drop is a cratering of sales by Tesla.  

Still, from the standpoint of "diffusion of innovation" (also see "Crossing the Chasm"), I am not surprised at all.  The early adopters have bought.  There are still too many pain points for an average person:

• The upfront cost of an EV is much higher than for a ICE vehicle.  Even with tax credits and a lot of times, tax credits aren't available
• Software problems with the vehicle
• Range is an issue, depending on how much you drive
• Charging in the field can be difficult.  Not enough chargers, expensive, and often broken ("Why America's EV chargers keep breaking," Politico).  Plus some conservatives are a* and block access ("‘Don’t be this guy’: Experts say electric car haters feel ‘threatened, inferior’," Drive).
• If you want to power up your vehicle at home you need special connections that also cost money.
• If you live in a multiunit building, maybe they don't have enough connections
• If you live in a rowhouse, what do you do?  (Some cities are working to create charging options in such neighborhoods)
• Cost and complexity of repairs
• Battery failure and high cost of replacement; Tesla voiding of warranty when using third party
• Poor quality of Tesla customer service

The point about the adoption of new products is that they are supposed to be easier to use, not harder.  Although traditional motor vehicles went through a similar technology improvement process in the 1900s-1920s.  The thing was a car then was so much better than a horse or transit for so many people that they could overlook the difficulties.  

Now people don't need to, so an electric vehicle needs to be competitive on that basis and it isn't.  Companies were smart to focus on high end buyers, who cared more about the environment or status,

and didn't mind the hiccups.  The mass market isn't so forgiving.

12.  But EVs aren't that great.  Electric bikes are better.  The problem with EVs is that they are what I call "next generation asphalt nation."  Sure they lead to less use of gasoline, in fact it is predicted that this year or next might be the peak of oil consumption, which will then start to drop off.  But they are often powered by coal, also natural gas, and sometimes wind and solar, when it comes to power generation.

With electric vehicles, people don't drive less, and remain dependent on automobility, and automobility and sprawl waste a lot of resources.

Electric bikes can extend the distance that people are willing to bike, especially for commuting.  And every trip shifted to an e bike from a car is a big plus.  An electric bike trip versus an electric automobile trip is significantly better for the environment ("The Environmental Impact of Bikes and E bikes," Environmental Protection, "Why aren’t more big bike firms tracking their environmental impact?," Guardian).

Carbon Dioxide emissions per kilometer

Regular car	Electric car	Regular bike	Electric bike
220 g/C0₂	160 g/C0₂	25-35 g/C0₂	21-25 g/C0₂

Not dissimilar to the pain points with electric automobiles, there are some pain points with electric bikes too ("If you're going to promote electric bikes at scale, there needs to be complementary investment in secure bicycle parking and charging"): 

• Cost
• Need for secure parking, especially because e-bikes are more expensive
• heavy
• charging 
• heavier bikes can be harder to transport within multiunit residential buildings up to the room, unless secure parking is provided

WRT cost, some cities and states have e-bike rebate programs.  Generally, they provide more support for low income users.  But the programs are oversubscribed.  No one seems to be addressing secure parking, which should be addressed regardless of e-bikes ("Bike to Work Day as an opportunity to assess the state of bicycle planning: Part 2, building a network of bike facilities at the regional scale").  And charging options beyond home are hit or miss.  

Earth Day Part 1: DC isn't achieving its sustainability goals wrt waste diversion

According to the Washington Informer article, "DC's new plan to slash its trash," DC is adding ten years, one decade more, to its waste diversion goal, from 2030 to 2040  That's 16 years!!!!!!!!!!

From the article:

The Sustainable DC Plan, which came out in 2013, said the District should begin diverting 80% of its waste away from landfills and incinerators by 2032. Two decades later, the city has made some progress, particularly when it comes to composting and recycling—but it’s not likely to achieve the original goal. 

A long-awaited Zero Waste DC Plan, which the D.C. Department of Public Works (DPW) released earlier this year, pushed the target date back eight years. To reach 80% waste diversion by 2040, the plan lays out 43 actions aimed at seven overarching goals, which include reducing how much waste we generate, increasing how much we reuse and expanding access to recycling and composting services.

Ironically when the plan was introduced in 2013, I wrote that the city wasn't likely to achieve these goals especially wrt "waste," that it wasn't adopting best practice goals and examples from the best performing cities, but was watering the goals down ("Realizing all aspects of Sustainable DC: it all comes down to chickens...").

One problem is responding to "politics and interest" rather than best practice, like diverting food waste from households.  It's important, but hard to do at scale when you only focus on food waste. It's boutique, not substantive.

I've written about DC's waste practices for years ("More on zero waste practice and DC," 2015).  There's a lot more that can be diverted than recycling and yard waste.  But yard waste is a huge component of the waste stream.

The solution, which I wrote in 2013 ("Urban composting redux," "A way for DC to begin adding yard waste collection as a separate element of waste collection and reduction programming") is to divide the city into two: (1) rowhouse neighborhoods and (2) detached housing neighborhoods.

Salt Lake brands their waste program slcgreen,  They assign 3 cans to households: brown for yard waste and food scraps, green for trash, blue for recycling.  

They send waste inspectors through neighborhoods a few times per year to check for contamination and will post information on cans, and/or forbid their pick up, when there is a high rate of contamination.  

Separately Momentum has gray cans for glass and purple for food waste, which people pay for separately.  (Salt Lake also charges for waste pick up separately.)  Momentum also offers glass drop off recycling in various locations around the city, which is what we use.

Why so long, so obtuse, about developing a yard waste diversion program?  Detached housing neighborhoods tend to generate a lot more yard waste than rowhouse neighborhoods.  But unlike neighboring jurisdictions, DC has never developed a yard waste diversion program for these neighborhoods.  That's the major reason why DC lags so much.

Salt Lake City puts pro-recycling, pro-zero waste messaging on its garbage trucks ("Every year Salt Lake City puts new pro-environmental messages on its sanitation trucks," 2018)

If DC had a regular yard waste diversion program, like Salt Lake, people could put their compostable food in the same can, not wasting money on the very small artisan diversion program at present. 

Start a yard waste diversion program with the Outer City and the detached houses, figure it out, and then introduce a more specialized program to the rowhouse neighborhoods.  

Alternatively, simultaneously with the launch of an Outer City focused diversion program, the city could also do a pilot program in one rowhouse neighborhood, and work from there.  But it's obvious they lack the capacity to do two different programs at once.

(Separately, in Salt Lake, Momentum Recycling, which is contracted to do the glass recycling, has started a boutique composting program too, but it takes everything, meat etc., and then does bio-digestion to produce natural gas. So it expands the range of what's offered towards zero waste, but I don't think the latter program could work at scale.)

Other DC area jurisdictions have done yard waste diversion for decades.  Montgomery County also promotes on-site yard waste composting in many ways.  That's what we did, although it's an issue with tree branches.  Having portable chippers go through neighborhoods every so often would help.  

Maryland even makes compost (Leafgro) and sells it based on getting yard waste from Montgomery and Prince George's Counties.

Um, paying attention to me 11 years ago, probably means that DC would have achieved its waste diversion goals by 2030...

What should the program for a Transportation Management District look like?

So for almost 20 years, I've suggested DC create TMDs, based on the concept of what Montgomery County Maryland does for its business districts but also what are sometimes called "Transportation Management Associations" like the one that covers Potomac Yard in Arlington/Alexandria (FAST Potomac Yard) or the Robinson District in Suburban Pittsburgh (Airport Corridor Transportation Association).  There are tons of these organizations across the country.

-- "Parking districts vs. transportation/urban management districts: Part one, Bethesda," 2015
-- "Parking districts vs. transportation/urban management districts: Part two, Takoma DC/Takoma Park Maryland," 2015
-- "Parking districts vs. transportation/urban management districts: Part three, jitneys/shuttles/delivery and the tertiary transit network," 2015
-- "Transportation demand management requirements for large developments and the MGM National Harbor Casino as an example of why this is absolutely necessary," 2015

Note that DC has created a MID, a "mobility innovation district" to support an electric shuttle in the Southwest Business Improvement District.  And they had "parking innovation districts" for awhile, but they were idiosyncratic, not systematic, and had many restrictions.  

A TMD is the way to go, focusing on everything, not just parking, which is more typical.  The famed Don Shoup approach in Anaheim includes revenue from parking meters, parking structures, and parking tickets as part of the business improvement district (I hope they are investing in the kinds of programs listed below).

At the time, my focus was trying to create a shared parking scenario, and to invest in sustainable mobility.  Often places have "lots of" parking, but it's spread out across multiple properties, and they don't coordinate. So people spend most of their time complaining about lack of parking.

-- "Testimony on parking policy in DC," 2012

It happens that Salt Lake has the potential for a TMD, in the Sugar House business district which is mixed use commercial and taller multiunit housing, as well as for the residential neighborhood which is across the street and mostly single family housing, not so much to coordinate commuter traffic and throughput, but to encourage sustainable mobility in response to the surgical addition of significant density, the existence of a streetcar and bus service, etc. 

This came up in an email discussion a few weeks ago, and I started listing what I thought should be the elements of an ideal TMD program.

Transportation Demand Management programming

The reality is, especially in a place like Salt Lake, most people drive.  The issue is two-fold, dealing with nonresidents working in or visiting the district, and with residents in their trips outside of the district and within the district.

Photo: Leah Hogsten, Salt Lake Tribune.  While this might not be dense for a much bigger city, Sugar House is becoming the densest SLC neighborhood outside of downtown, especially along the Trax light rail line.

But Sugar House is intensifying, the area is served by multiple bus routes traveling east-west and north-south, as well as a (minimally used) streetcar service which connects to the light rail line further west.  

Note that the streetcar has been particularly useful in stoking development ("Streetcar through Sugar House and South Salt Lake has spurred up to $2B in economic growth," Salt Lake Tribune), which contributes to density, which helps to build the foundation for shifting more trips to sustainable modes.

The best way to do this is to put out a survey on people's travel behavior, for the businesses, the residents of multiunit buildings, and the residents of single family and small apartment buildings.  In serious TDM programs there are people ready to help individual clients make the shift.

One thing the downtown district did in Columbus, Ohio is give all the workers free transit passes as a traffic management strategy ("Columbus Shows What Free Bus Passes Can Do for Ridership," Columbus Dispatch, "Free bus passes for workers: Columbus's big idea to relieve a congested downtown," Guardian).  

The program, by a different organization, has also been extended to the Short North neighborhood ("Free Bus Passes Coming Back for Short North Workers and Residents," Columbus Underground).

I would think that such a program should be encouraged for workers, and it should be offered promotionally for the residents of multiunit buildings, especially along the streetcar route, to get them to experiment with transit.

The Tribune article asks the question of whether or not the streetcar is contributing to traffic reduction.  I'd say definitely not, the ridership is abysmal.  But that is partially the result of expecting changes to "trickle down" rather than working to make the change in purposeful ways.

Promoting biking, walking, and other sustainable modes is another element of TDM.

Coordinating Parking/Developing a shared parking scenario

One of the big problems with capitalism is every property does its own thing.  Ideally there would be a shared parking scenario so people would park once, and go to multiple places, without worrying that their car will be towed.  Ideally this is complemented by district wide valet systems where you can drop your car off at one location but get the car at another location.  

This is discussed in the links above.  Two examples are the Chestnut Hill Parking Foundation in Philadelphia, which coordinates off street parking, and College Park, Maryland, where a number of shopping centers gave their rights to the city to manage the parking lots, as a way to discourage all day parking by commuter students.  The lots are metered, the city collects the revenue, and maintains the lots.  And in many "neighborhood commercial districts" across the country, the city will maintain off street parking comparably.  

Arlington and Montgomery Counties provide parking structures in certain districts, and these are usually paid parking but not always (e.g., pay in Silver Spring but not Bethesda).

Intra-district shuttle systems

Item # 5 in "Creating a Silver Spring "Sustainable Mobility District" | Part 2: Program items 1 - 9," discusses how to implement an integrated parking-shuttle system in Silver Spring, Maryland.

This is an example of what I call tertiary transit ("Intra-neighborhood (tertiary) transit revisited because of new San Diego service," 2016), focused on movement within a neighborhood district, although mostly it's done in tourist areas and downtowns ("Low cost electric shuttle services debuts in Lake Worth Beach and Boynton Beach" Palm Beach Post, "Looser rules on transit tax bringing ‘Freebee’ shuttles to cities. Is Uber next?," Miami Herald, Long Beach, California, "FRED, San Diego's subsidized shuttle, will give free rides Downtown for another year," San Diego Union Tribune, "They're like Uber but free new electric shuttles are popping up all over South Florida," Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel), and using vans and small buses, to from and to transit stations ("It was very fast’: A shuttle service starts free rides from this Tri-Rail station," Sun-Sentinel).

The Turkish bus firm Karsan produces a 16 passenger electric bus which would also work but is bigger ("What Kind of Big Impact Will a New Minibus Have on North America’s Small Bus Market?," Mass Transit Magazine).  

The idea is that intra-district transportation, especially by SFH residents, could be shifted to shuttles rather than by car.  Go to the grocery store, bring back your purchases, without driving.  Go out to dinner, you don't have to drive.  Get to and from the transit station, you don't have to drive.

Getty Images photo of buses in London.

Marketing Transit. Besides the general TDM approach, utilize other methods to promote transit. 

I hadn't thought about it, but maybe SLC is ripe for the double deck bus approach ("Making bus service sexy and more equitable," 2012) for rebranding and repositioning of bus service as sexy, even though the ridership numbers wouldn't justify it otherwise. 

The route on 2100 South would be a great place to start.

-- Marketing in the Transit Environment, National Rural Transit Assistance Project
-- Best practice guide #5: Public transport | Citizens requirements, Hi-Trans, EU
-- Marketing your transit agency: a step by step getting started guide, TripSpark
-- "Public Transit Marketing 101: Why and How Public Transit Agencies Need to Market," Agora, 2012

The Times has an article, "Could Better Buses Fix Your Commute?," on improving bus service.  It's not particularly scintillating, and one of the points, dedicated bus lanes, won't work in Salt Lake because ridership is so small it doesn't justify it.

UTA does do different liveries for BRT.  Maybe they could do an exciting one for 2100 South.  I think a Roy Lichtenstein influenced livery, or the Multiplicity branding from Luxembourg would work.

Above: Multiplicity bus.  Below: Roy Lichtenstein did do a painting of VW microbuses.

Campaigns, especially focused on workers and the multiunit buildings, are in order.  

Arlington County requires transportation information kiosks for multiunit and public buildings, like libraries.  A TMD should create the same for its district.  The Palo Alto school district has safe routes to school maps posted in building foyers, which is another strategy.  Surprisingly, a Walmart in DC had a map posted similar to Palo Alto's.

Creative treatments of bus and streetcar shelters--my point is that shelters are marketing touchpoints for transit.  An exciting livery for the streetcar, which is super boring.  Work with UTA to support free transit days.  Etc.

Bobby Fouther public art on the Portland Streetcar.

Salt Lake Streetcar reminds me of the little girl next door saying:

"boring, boring, boring boring."

Marketing Biking

Salt Like is doing a nice job putting in dedicated cycle tracks.  Sugar House has some on Highland Drive, by Fairmont Park on 900 East, is adding more cycle tracks on 1300 East and other streets.  

Cycle tracks are proven to qualm safety concerns and increase the number of cyclists.  

There are also some trails in the neighborhood, including along the streetcar line.  Bike parking is pretty abysmal.  

There are at least two bicycle shops, one dedicated to e-bikes.  And there are some bike sharing stations, with an expansion coming.  There aren't many free air pumps or bike stands.  I don't know if some apartment buildings have high quality bike parking.  

The journal article "Making Cycling Irresistible," inspired my own blog entry in 2008,  "Ideas for Making Cycling Irresistible in DC."  Besides investing in better facilities, and Sugar House has some trails, traffic calmed streets, bike sharing stations, and bicycle boulevards,  

-- I argue that there needs to be real assistance programs in helping people transition to a bike for transportation, this entry, "Revisiting assistance programs to get people biking: 18 programs," lists a number of ways to do it.  One of the methods lends bikes, helmets, and locks, so people can try biking without having to pay for it up front.

-- Electric bicycles are maybe a quantum leap forward in getting people willing to commute longer distances by bike, plus they have significant environmental benefits over cars. E-bike promotion through voucher-based discounts, as some communities are doing, including Salt Lake, might be worth doing by TMDs.

-- There should be a program to promote high quality secure bicycle parking in large apartment buildings.

-- Bicycle sharing is expanding.  I've suggested a special parks focused concept with stations at Sugar House Park, Allen Park, Westminster University, Fairmont Park, Highland High School and other locations, including along the streetcar line and in the abutting City of South Salt Lake up to the Central Pointe station.  Ideally we could get a sponsor so that trips starting and ending in parks can be free. 

-- also special tours and occasional promotions to encourage people to use bike share.

-- There needs to be a system of secure bicycle parking, especially with the adoption of more expensive electric bikes.  Bike theft is a problem in Salt Lake. Currently, bicycle parking quality is pretty hit or miss.  Much, even at public facilities, doesn't meet the most basic standards of the Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals.  

I've argued for creating such a network at the metropolitan scale ("May is National Bike Month too: Part 1 -- a good time to assess planning and programming").  No reason to not start by creating such a network in Sugar House.  It could include high quality air pumps and bike stands as accessories.  (At the very least, the library and post office could have them.) 

-- Some places have Bicycle-Friendly business districts programs and ride to shop days, which should be offered (Case Studies: Bicycle Friendly Business Districts, League of American Bicyclists).  In Denmark, Ikea stores have borrow-able cargo bikes.  Is that something to promote at the local supermarket?  Or to develop a community-based delivery service using bikes.

E.g., it bugs me that supermarkets offer free gas points based on sales, but nothing for people who walk or bike or use transit.

-- Regularly scheduled community bicycle rides are a way to get people out and biking.  I am always amazed seeing photos from Open Streets events, and I wonder, how come I don't see that many bicycles out in the community ordinarily?

-- Produce a brochure promoting biking in the greater neighborhood.  Like the old bikeways brochure produced by the Silver Spring Maryland urban district.

-- Bicycle shops in the area are more oriented to recreational bicycling.  Work with shops to better support biking for transportation. (E.g., I got pissed at the bike shop on 2100 South, when--because I am old--they suggested a cruiser bike.  Cruisers are totally unusable for real transportation.) Install mobility kiosks at their stores.  Maybe wall maps of the area bike routes, like at the Takoma Park shop in Maryland.  Or a brewpub in Pocatello.

-- Annual Urban Mobility/Biking Expo during Bike Month.  There are various forms.  Years ago, Arlington County, Virginia used to sponsor a sustainable mobility expo.  The UTA transit agency in Salt Lake City a Bike Expo.  Berlin has an annual Urban Mobility Day ("Berlin’s Urban Mobility Day showcases E-Mobility and new Apps," Urban Transport Magazine), and some colleges have Bike Weeks ("This week is Bike Week at the University of Utah").  NYC sponsors(ed?) a Bike Expo in association with the 5 Boro Ride, which had more than 100 exhibitors and 50,000 attendees in 2014.  Richmond hosted a Bike Expo in association with the UCI Race.

The TMD should sponsor at least two.  One in September when school starts with Westminster University and Highland High School as primary targets.  And one during Bike Month.  Such an activity should be a key event during National Bike Month, in every major metropolitan area.

Although major colleges should have a Bike Week/Bike Expo event during the first few weeks of the Fall Semester.  And for K-12 schools, 

-- During Bike Month, support "Bike to Work" Day.

-- There's talk about doing an Open Streets event at Sugar House Park.  A TMD should be a lead partner.  Open Streets events could also be held on Sugarmont Avenue, along the streetcar line and adjacent to Fairmont Park.

-- consider misters on the S Line Trail for hot summers.

-- map signage for bicycle trails and routes (we're adding the first such signs in the area to Sugar House Park).

Marketing Walking 

The blog entry, "Planning for place/urban design/neighborhoods versus planning for transportation modes: new 17th Street NW bike lanes | Walkable community planning versus "pedestrian" planning," suggests planning for walkable communities versus "improving pedestrian conditions."  

Some cities like Boston, Denver and Seattle have active pro-walking groups which are a model for improving places, technical assistance, and advocacy.

-- In Arlington County, WalkArlington does community walks.  Sometimes they're led by the elected official for that district.  Sometimes they are in parks or commercial districts, or cover history, etc.

-- improve sidewalks and street conditions along sidewalks.  Salt Lake is hot in the summer.  Maybe have misters.  More trees for shade.  Etc.

-- address lighting at night and in the early hours, especially an issue in winter.  Sugar House's main commercial streets do have light poles with "car lighting" and lower lights placed to light sidewalks for pedestrians.  But probably this can be expanded.

Safe Routes to Schools/TDM for schools.  Not typically part of a TMD, but increasingly traffic is generated in the morning and afternoon by parents dropping off/picking up students after school. 

Cars lined up to pick up students at a school in Reading, Pennsylvania.  Reading Eagle photo.

Apparently it can be quite gnarly ("Tantrums and Turf Wars: The School Car Line Is Chaos," Wall Street Journal).  All the reason to include it in TMDs.  Plus improvements to the walking and biking environment for children also helps neighborhoods simultaneously.

-- "Why isn't walking/biking to school programming an option in Suburban Omaha | Inadequacies in school transportation planning," 2022
-- School Walk and Bike Routes: A Guide for Planning and Improving Walk and Bike to School Options for Students
-- Safe Routes to School program, Washington State
-- City of Tacoma SRTS program, including SRTS Action Plan.  

-- Like with a TMD, the approach at a school should be the creation of a transportation demand management plan for teachers and staff, and students/parents.  

In 2009, I was able to spend half a day at Stoneleigh Elementary School in Baltimore County Maryland on International Walk to School Day.  They had a very sophisticated approach.  I've heard a school in Oxnard, California does something similar.  But it's rare.  What's needed is a school-based full scale TDM plan dealing with cars, buses, and kids on foot.

-- While SRTS is oriented to elementary schools, some districts like Palo Alto, do it across K-12.  In Boulder, Colorado, certain schools with SRTS programs have 50% or more mode split of kids coming to school by sustainable means.

-- organize "Walking School Buses" and "Bicycle School Buses" for each school in the TMD.

-- Promote International Bike and Walk to School Day which is October 6th, or the US one, when the dates differ.

-- schools need high quality secure bicycle, scooter, and skateboard parking too.  Showers and lockers in schools can encourage teachers and staff to bike to school instead of drive.

-- lighting is also an issue in mornings, evenings--especially as school buildings are used more in the evenings, and in the winter

Public space maintenance including public spaces like plazas, trees, and public art/Aesthetic qualities of transportation infrastructure.  A lot of communities dependent on the car have pretty ugly roads.  And by default, this is the environment that defines the community.  

In "Extending the "Signature Streets" concept to "Signature Streets and Spaces"," I argue for a focused approach to improve these aesthetic conditions and to address all modes.  Ed McMahon, now of Urban Land Institute, has made this point for decades.

Like business improvement districts, TMDs could take more responsibility for public space design and maintenance than is currently the case.  I suppose my model here is half a transportation district, half business and neighborhood promotion.

One thing would be to promote public art lighting of the freeway underpasses.  But also expanding the tree cover, providing and clearing trash cans.  Here a big thing is medians, and too often they don't have plantings.  Which yes, are tough to maintain, but add a lot of aesthetic value when they are.  Lighting is also an issue of public space maintenance as well.

Light Channels, Bill FitzGibbons, San Antonio.

Public art crosswalk by Carlos Cruz-Diez commissioned by the Broad Museum, Los Angeles.

Provision of wayfinding and identity systems ("Basic planning building blocks for urban commercial district revitalization programs that most cities haven't packaged: Part 2 | A neighborhood identity and marketing toolkit (kit of parts)").   

Salt Lake has a couple different systems which can be integrated.  Basically there are two scales, for pedestrians and for cars, with identity signs for civic spaces like parks.  Nothing for transit.  And there are some monument signs identifying the district.  Downtown they also have map signs.

Map and historic interpretation signage should be added to the system.  And business district brochures focused on the independent businesses.  

Boise has a great identity system for neighborhoods, which could be adapted for Salt Lake's residential areas.

Newcastle's Ride and Walk wayfinding brochure, also made available as signage, is a model too.

Traffic calming.  Salt Lake already has a best practice program called Livable Streets, and they are implementing it across the city.  A separate citizen initiated project by a friend is interesting because rather than focus on one street in Sugar House, it addresses multiple streets simultaneously.  

In those communities where there aren't good programs, a TMD could step up.  For example, the Memphis Medical District Collaborative created a Streetscape Lookbook to shape the look of the streetscape and road network.

Car sharing. Car sharing works in certain conditions ("Car sharing and integrated sustainable mobility planning," 2013, "Another example of DC's failures in transportation planning: carsharing," 2011, "When the one over neighborhood is in the county next door, and housing prices have been in the tank: Mount Rainer, Maryland," 2016, section on car sharing).  While it won't work across Salt Lake, it could potentially work in Sugar House and maybe Central City/Downtown.  (And don't muck it up with EV requirements.  That adds complexity and seems to have doomed many programs.)

It's worth exploring providing it, perhaps on a nonprofit basis, to discourage car ownership and promote sustainable mobility, while still providing access to cars as necessary.  

Hoboken, New Jersey has been particularly successful (""Car-sharing program finds home in crowded Hoboken":," AP) as has been DC.  Those places and their successes alongside the many failures prove that the necessary preconditions are very specific, although I do think Sugar House could pull it off.  But the mode split for transit, walking, and biking has to increase simultaneously.

EV charging.  I'm going to put EV charging as an issue, but I wouldn't say the TMD should install it per se, because management and maintenance is a problem, but it should actively encourage its provision in larger commercial properties, in multiunit housing buildings, parking structures, maybe at certain public facilities, etc.  

TMDs could regularly inspect such facilities (and inspect secure bike parking, air pumps, repair stands too) to ensure that they are working and to take the necessary steps to make them work when they aren't.

Planning and advocacy.  Goes without saying.  The TMD should be planning all these elements, and advocating for improvements as needed.