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Placemaking: Valuing History, Culture and Environment in Your Community

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Placemaking: Valuing History, Culture and Environment in Your Community Municipalitythe A publication of the League of Wisconsin Municipalities March 2015, Volume 110, Number 2 Placemaking: Valuing History, Culture and Environment in Your Community In this issue: Principles of Community Placemaking Historic Preservation Tax Credit Arts and Creative Economy Municipalitythe A publication of the League of Wisconsin Municipalities March 2015 Volume 110, Number 3 Departments Contents From the Principles Executive Dir. 77 Of Community Placemaking 78 Legal FAQs 97 Road Trip! The League’s Municipal Partnership for Prosperity Tour 85 History 101 Historic Preservation Tax Credits Contribute to Making Web Wisconsin Places 86 Siting 102 Arts and the Creative Economy League Success for Wisconsin, Its People and Its Communities 89 Calendar 104 Basic Provisions Legal For Public Art 93 Captions 105 Contracts 2015 Building Inspectors Local Officials Institute In the News 107 Program 78 Cover photo: Trolls welcome New Municipal Officials visitors to Mt Horeb, by Jean 2015 Workshops Staral. Announces 100 the Municipality March 2015 75 From the Executive Director To Each Its Own y office overlooks Lake My son, a Second Lieutenant in the Air Force, works at Cape Canaveral MMonona. While in the Florida. His boss regularly kayaks to work. While Florida kayakers don’t summer that makes for amaz- need to worry about being swallowed up by ice, they do have to be on the ing views, even in the winter lookout for alligators. Gail snow- it has its unique appeal. Take shoes, the Air Force Colonel kayaks. What do the two places have in com- this morning, for example. mon? (Other than health-conscious- and-slightly-disturbed-commuters.) Communications Director Gail Nothing obvious. But on the more subtle side, what Cape Canaveral, Sumi made good on a vow to Florida and Madison, Wisconsin share is uniqueness. Where else can snowshoe across the lake to the you snowshoe to your office? Where else could you kayak to your office? office. show us is not so much that we have to create a unique place. It’s that we This month’s Municipality is about have to identify what is already there; For my part, I planned to sit up in my placemaking. And like places where to recognize what exists, and how office and take time lapse photos of you can snowshoe or kayak to work that makes our community a special what I thought was a crazy trek (and in the middle of a city, placemaking place, and to celebrate it. to call 911 if Gail was suddenly swal- is about being something other than a lowed up by a thin spot in the ice). place spit out by a copier. Milwaukee Happy placemaking (and, if someone Alas, I missed the trip and the photo is not Mountain and Mount Horeb knocks on the door of your ice fishing opportunity (and, although Gail told is not Marinette. Within the borders shanty, it’s probably Gail, looking to me the ice made ominous noises now of Wisconsin, every community has borrow a cup of sugar.) and then, there was no real danger of its own unique character; its own being swallowed up). little twist on what makes it a special place. What our writers this month Jerry Deschane The Municipality OFFICERS DIRECTORS President 2015 TERM Official Monthly Publication of the Tim Hanna League of Wisconsin Municipalities Dean Boehne Mayor, Appleton Volume 110, No. 3, March 2015 President Eileen Nickels Strum Council President, Platteville Editorial Offices — Justin Nickels Mayor, Manitowoc 131 W. Wilson St., Suite 505, Madison, WI 53703 Donna Olson Dial (608) 267-2380 1st Vice President Mayor, Stoughton Dan Devine In-State (800) 991-5502 2016 TERM Fax: (608) 267-0645 Mayor Michael Aubinger STAFF e-mail: [email protected] West Allis President, Ashwaubenon Website: www.lwm-info.org John Dickert Executive Director Jerry Deschane Mayor, Racine 2nd Vice President Neil Palmer Assistant Director Curtis Witynski The Municipality serves as the medium of exchange of ideas President, Elm Grove and information on municipal affairs for the officials of George Peterson Ashanti Hamilton Legal Counsel Claire Silverman Wisconsin cities and villages. Nothing included herein is to Alderman, Milwaukee President Assistant Legal Counsel Daniel M. Olson be construed as having the endorsement of the League unless Rothschild 2017 TERM so specifically stated. The Municipality (ISSN 0027-3597) is Tammy Bockhorst Publications Coordinator Jean M. Staral published monthly at $25 per year ($5.00 per copy, back issues Trustee, Shorewood $5.00 each) by the League of Wisconsin Municipalities, 131 W. Past President Kathey Ehley Event Manager Carrie Jensen Mayor, Wauwatosa Wilson St. Suite 505, Madison, WI 53703. Periodical postage Larry Arft Al Erickson Technology Coordinator Mary K. Malone paid at Madison & additional offices, WI. POSTMASTER: Manager Mayor, Mosinee Send address change to: The Municipality, 131 W. Wilson St. Dean Kaufert Member Engagement/Comm Gail Sumi Beloit Suite 505, Madison, WI 53703 Mayor, Neenah Administrative Assistant Ginger Contreras the Municipality March 2015 77 Feature Article “Create places where people want to live and where they feel good about living.” – Sir Peter Hall, Good Cities, Better Lives 78 the Municipality March 2015 Feature Article Principles of Community Placemaking By Professor Steve Grabow ver the last 20 years, concepts such as new urbanism, tra- and examples of ways to initiate placemaking activities. ditional neighborhood design, livable communities, and O CONCEPTS AND DEFINITIONS OF community placemaking have emerged in the fields of community PLACEMAKING planning and design. While planning had traditionally focused on Several concepts and definitions relate to the notion of place, place the physical layout of a community, these newer approaches focus identity, community vitality and on less tangible and often hard to define aspects of a community placemaking. A few of these ideas are explored below: such as sense of place, community vitality and community place- Place. A place is a geographical space making. Many efforts are aimed at creating vital and quality places that is defined by meanings, senti- ments and stories (Hague, 2005). and improved communities. But what do these terms and concepts Places are places (and not just spaces) because they have identity (Hague, really mean? How can they be communicated to and among local 2005). officials, aspiring citizen planners, design professionals and people Place Identity. Place identity rep- who care? And how can they be applied in the community? resents the values and meaning we impart on a place based on what oth- ers tell us about the place along with This article describes, including through visual means, 19 principles of com- our own socialization shaped by age, munity placemaking. These qualities of place were derived from the research class, gender, ethnicity, education, of leading planning scholars, refined through planning practice and affirmed by etc. (Hague, 2005). Place identities leading design professionals in Wisconsin. Former UW-Extension Specialist are formed through a milieu of feel- Gene Bunnell was instrumental in conceptualizing these principles (Bunnell, ings, meanings, experiences, memo- 2002). It is understood that there are many who are making important contribu- ries and actions that, while ultimately tions about placemaking and urban design. The literature has revealed both short personal, are substantially filtered lists and long lists of recommended principles. UW-Extension has concluded, through socialization (Hague, 2005). through research and testing, that these suggested 19 principles or features of place represent an accurate and representative description of meaningful place- Planning and Placemaking. We see making elements. community planning as being about placemaking; that is to say that a This article begins by exploring the meaning of community placemaking, moves key purpose of planning is to create, through the description of principles, and wraps up with practical applications reproduce or shape the identities of places through manipulation of the By Steve Grabow, Professor and Community Development Educator, UW- activities, feelings, meanings and Extension, Jefferson County. He may be contacted at (920) 674-7295; email fabric that combine into place identity <[email protected]>. All photos provided by author. (Hague, 2005). Placemaking continued on page 80 the Municipality March 2015 79 Feature Article Placemaking realm, streetscapes and from page 79 related infrastructure and Placemaking and Public Places. the general imaging and Creating a vision around the places re-imaging of places. that citizens view as important to (Szold, 2000) community life and their daily experi- ence based on community needs and • The process of adding aspirations. Placemaking is both an value and meaning to overarching idea and a hands-on tool the public realm through for improving a neighborhood, city or community-based revi- region. It has the potential to be one of talization projects rooted the most transformative ideas of this in local values, history, century. (Project for Public Spaces culture and natural en- website). vironment. (Zelinka and Harden, 2005) Community Vitality. Defined as the NINETEEN PRINCIPLES OF community’s collective capacity to Principle 1: A clear strong edge defining city from PLACEMAKING respond to change with an enhanced rural shows Fort Atkinson’s growth boundary. level of participation (process or pursuit of) with aspirations for a The 19 principles of com- Functional Area I: Effective and healthy and productive community
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