CIVILIZING PLACES:  PROJECT 7 OF 20


CENTER CITY FARM


Image:  A 3-D Computer Model, a site plan, and exploded view of Light Imprint drainage and irrigation systems of a City Farm Block template


PURPOSE: Create an education and demonstration garden on a center city block.


OVERVIEW:  The Center City Farm is an education and demonstration garden designed as a scaled replica of Center City. Garden paths are signed streets and the raised plots represent city blocks.  The city blocks throughout the garden are themed based on the actual businesses and organizations in that area. For example, a Center City Healthcare will be home to Health and Wellness Gardens and The Cultural District will be represented by Cultural Gardens. This concept provides endless opportunities for social and environmental education as well as sponsorships from many Center City businesses, non-profits and government agencies.  Visitors of the Center City Farm will develop a keen sense of place as they become familiar with the map of Center City, while learning about organic gardening, composting, solar energy, rainwater harvesting and much more. It’s like traveling through downtown but the buildings are cucumber laden trellises and the only traffic is a wheelbarrow full of produce making its way up Main Street to be washed and prepped for donation to the local city market. 


With the newly opened Charlotte City Market in Seventh Street Station this is a great opportunity celebrate and to build on the momentum of local food and urban living with a Center City Farm.


DECEMBER 13 EVENT:  Civic By Design will present concepts for creating a Center City Farm on a standard urban block.  Participants will receive a presentation on the city farm theme, the farm program, sustainability & innovation; discuss how city farms can benefit our cities and towns; and explore locations for proposed city farm blocks.


PARTNERS:  Charlotte City Market, and urban growers and dwellers across the region


As part of our initiative:  CIVILIZING PLACES


Tuesday, December 13, 2011  |  5:30pm — 6:30pm 

Levine Museum of the New South

200 East Seventh Street

Charlotte NC

Free and open to the public

Free parking at 7th street parking garage

info@civicbydesign.com   

www.civicbydesign.com

Civic By Design on Facebook

Civic By Design on Twitter




                                                         


        
   
  


CIVILIZING PLACES:  PROJECT 6 OF 20


MIXED INCOME NEIGHBORHOODS

 

OVERVIEW:  The Mixed Income Housing Coalition is partnering with Civic by Design to sponsor an interactive workshop this fall. We will form small groups to develop templates for neighborhoods of multi-price point housing in a mixed use environment. We’ve identified several locations in different parts of Charlotte and are inviting neighborhood leaders, housing advocates and others to identify a potential mixed income housing site in their community. It can be an infill site, a few blocks or a broader neighborhood. Join us to begin the process of developing communities for people with different backgrounds across Charlotte-Mecklenburg. We need to have you at the table to help get this started.


NOVEMBER 10 EVENT:  The plan is to bring people from the communities with different perspectives and interests to formulate their plan; representatives from the school, the clergy, the local businesses and neighborhood groups. We’re working on the final agenda and hope you will join us. It will be educational, interactive and fun!


PARTNERS:  The Mixed Income Housing Coalition

Your task: Invite team members. Suggested to include but not limited to:

Neighborhood Association leaders and individuals

School representatives (could be a PTA rep or someone the principal suggests)

Neighborhood Clergy or representative

Neighborhood public safety representatives – police, fire fighters

Retail businesses (don’t forget to talk with the bank in the neighborhood)

Other business interests

Local developers and realtors

Other interested people.

Do not limit yourself – a community can form multiple teams if there are enough people.

Don’t have a team?  We’ll find a place for you.

contact: info@civicbydesign.com

Images:  Action images from recent Mixopoly workshops across the country: site redevelopment work sessions, neighborhood design teams, and calibrating the community preference buffet.  Mixopoly provides a mix of housing in walkable compact connected neighborhoods.



SPECIAL THURSDAY WORKSHOP

CIVIC BY DESIGN ONE DAY WORKSHOP

Thursday, November 10, 2011  |  9:00am — 3:00pm 

Charlotte History Museum

Free and open to the public

Free parking 

info@civicbydesign.com   

www.civicbydesign.com

Civic By Design on Facebook

Civic By Design on Twitter 







CIVILIZING PLACES:  PROJECT 5 OF 20


FORM-BASED CODE


\mage:  Form-Based Code Section Maps of the Regulating Plan for Charlotte's 11-mile streetcar corridor.


The Streetcar Corridor runs along Beatties Ford Road, Trade Street, and Central Avenue.


FORM-BASED CODE


PURPOSE: Establish a Form-based Code for Charlotte starting with the Streetcar Corridor.


OVERVIEW:  Form-based codes use physical form, rather than separation of land uses, as their organizing principle. They foster predictable results in the built environment and a high quality public realm. While form-based codes are not in use here in Charlotte, they have been around for a while. These codes are being used successfully by other municipalities around the country to streamline and advance sustainable, place-based land-use zoning and development for 21st century living.    This list now includes the large metros of Miami and Denver and dozens of smaller cities and towns.  In addition, for several years smaller municipalities in this region have increasingly applied elements of form-based codes including Belmont, Davidson, Huntersville, Cornelius, and Locust to curb sprawl during the former boom economy.   


The new economy challenges us to think outside the box when preparing for Charlotte's future, i.e. desire for more walkability, new opportunities for economic development, different modes of getting around, and different transportation for different situations and needs.  We are no longer in a community where one plan works for everyone, there is a growing need for innovative thinking with greater opportunities.  



OCTOBER 11 EVENT:  Civic By Design is making available a form-based code templete for Charlotte.  In addition, CBD has calibrated the form-based code for the 11-mile streetcar corridor stretching from Beatties Ford Road through Center City along Trade Street, out Central Avenue to Eastland Mall.  We are inviting developers, planners, individuals, who are interested in a prosperous future for our community and those who are curious, to attend the October Civic By Design Forum.  Come find your home, business, or shop and see how form-based zoning will enhance your ability to prosper in the 21st century. Participants will receive a presentation on the basics of Form-based Codes, learn why form-based codes can benefit Charlotte, and review maps of the proposed form-based zoning in neighborhood and business areas along the streetcar corridor.


RSVP:  info@civicbydesign.com


PARTNERS:  Carolinas Chapter for the Congress for the New Urbanism, Mixed Income Housing Coalition 


REFERENCE:  The Form-Based Code Institute www.formbasedcodes.org, Center for Applied Transect Studies (CATS) Transect.org, the Congress for the New Urbanism CNU.org.


CIVIC BY DESIGN FORUM

Tuesday, October 11, 2011  |  5:30pm — 6:30pm 

Levine Museum of the New South

200 East Seventh Street

Charlotte NC

Free and open to the public

Free parking at 7th street parking garage

info@civicbydesign.com   

www.civicbydesign.com

Civic By Design on Facebook

Civic By Design on Twitter





   

                                                   
  


CIVILIZING PLACES:  PROJECT 4 OF 20


MIXOPOLY


Image:  Mixopoly Man 


MIXOPOLY


PURPOSE: Address the Charlotte region's housing crisis by creating 5,000 blocks of mixed-income housing by 2020 following the Mixopoly Block Template.


OVERVIEW:  The Mixopoly Block Template provides mixed-income housing in walkable, compact, and connected neighborhoods. Mixopoly is an evolution of successful historical models. Mixed -income blocks are a how-to in physical form for fine-grained, mixed-density, sustainable, supportive, and safe neighborhoods.  Each block incorporates an assortment of housing types — some with mixed-use.  When incorporated in each block, a true mix of occupant incomes is present.  Mixopoly provides a choice of prices that are both market-rate and affordable. A Mixopoly block includes a housing range from economical rentals to high value owner-occupied units. Different block types are provided in a full range of mixed-density from rural to urban conditions forming a sustainable region of city neighborhoods, towns, villages, and rural hamlets.  


SEPTEMBER 13 EVENT:    This Forum introduces Charlotte to the launch of the Mixopoly community planning tool workshop.  We have been successfully conducting these around the country.  Mixopoly is fun, hands-on, creative, team-building, group-interactive, and especially appealing for non-designers.   Participants take a proactive role in creative design for planning communities.  Mixopoly helps citizens and leaders to better understand the vital role of physical form in creating healthly sustainably communities through place-based design.  We think you will like it, and can help advance our community building goals including provisions for housing choice, green infrastructure, affordability, cost-savings, and access to daily needs and workplace.  Please let us know if you will be able to join us. Participants are welcome to bring in and send us photos, maps, sketches, and brief descriptions of potential sites for Mixopoly blocks.


PARTNERS:  Mixed-Income Housing Coalition


REFERENCE:  Mixopoly workshops across the country.


Tuesday, September 13, 2011  |  5:30pm — 6:30pm 

Levine Museum of the New South

200 East Seventh Street

Charlotte NC

Free and open to the public

Free parking at 7th street parking garage

info@civicbydesign.com   

www.civicbydesign.com

Civic By Design on Facebook

Civic By Design on Twitter







        
  


CIVILIZING PLACES:  PROJECT 3 OF 20

POP-UP PORCHES


Photos:  Pop-up porch gliders on campus at Duke University and in a busy shopping and restaurant district in Fort Lauderdale FL. 


Pop-Up Porching — a variation on Guerrilla Gardening — transforms voids into vital communal spaces through Pop-Up Porches


POP-UP PORCHES


PURPOSE: Inserting pop-up porches in areas that are either voids of social activity, or conversely, those that are rich with life, but lack comfortable places to sit.


OVERVIEW:  Pop-Up Porching — a variation on Guerrilla Gardening — the volunteer act of inserting portable front porches where they are needed most, where they would be able to support existing social activity, and/or serve as a catalyst for community gathering.   Typically, the sites chosen are vacant or underutilized properties in urban areas.  The direct re-purposing of the land is often intended to raise awareness for a myriad of social and environmental issues, including sustainable food systems, improving neighborhood aesthetics, and the power of short term, collaborative action.  Panther Porching is an excellent Lighter Quicker Cheaper (LQC) tactic for civilizing places and instantly improving an urban neighborhood with minimal capital expenditure, reusable resources, and community volunteer help.


AUGUST 9 EVENT:    The public is invited to join us for the Forum meeting hosted at Levine Museum of the New South.   The Forum will include a presentation on the act of Pop-Up Porching, Pop-up Porch design ideas, and a panel discussion with community leaders and partners, 


PARTNERS:  City of Charlotte Transportation and Planning, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Parks and Recreation, Charlotte Center City Partners, Mecklenburg County Sheriff Department, and Crossroads Charlotte.



APPLICATIONS:  See the attached and below information on how to participate in Pop-Up Porching and creating installations of Pop-up Porches


CIVIC BY DESIGN FORUM

Tuesday, August 9, 2011  |  5:30pm — 6:30pm 

Levine Museum of the New South

200 East Seventh Street

Charlotte NC

Free and open to the public

Free parking at 7th street parking garage

info@civicbydesign.com   

www.civicbydesign.com

Civic By Design on Facebook

Civic By Design on Twitter



Pop-up Porch Program Application

Help Civic By Design create more gathering places in the Charlotte region!

Submit a proposal to take part in Pop-up Porching.

 

If you are interested in Pop-up Porching and implementing a Pop-up Porch on your property, within you community, within public property, or in the curb lane in front of your establishment, please complete the following application. Doing so does not bind you or your establishment to any particular proposal.

 

Qualified sites will be evaluated based on geographic diversity, traffic safety, and design considerations: Civic By Design with our Partners will make the final determination on site feasibility.

 

Applications must be received by Friday, August 26, 2011 to either info@civicbydesign.org or mailed/couriered to the Civic By Design Center 119 Huntley Place, Charlotte NC 28207

 

Lead Applicant’s Name:

Property Owner:

Legal Name of Space:

Business’s Doing-Business-As Name:

Federal Tax Identification Number (EIN):

City:                 

State:                 

Zip:

Applicant phone:

Applicant email:

Signature of Property Owner:

 

Programmatic Questions

Please describe your establishment.

What are the operating hours of your establishment?

Why do you think this location is good for a Pop-up Porch?

Please describe the character of the street and indicate if it is mostly commercial, residential or mixed.

Please explain how you plan to arrange and install the Pop-up Porch. (e.g. in a parallel parking space, along a sidewalk to fill in a gap, in a courtyard, park, or plaza,, to screen a parking lot, as an outdoor cafe, for extra public seating for a public event...)

Is there anything else you would like to add?

Signed:

Dated:

 

Please note: A formal support letter from your Community Organization will be necessary prior to final approval from Civic By Design and Partners

 

Traffic Questions

Please answer the following questions with regard to proposed space Note: Civic By Design and Partners staff shall conduct a field visit to assess proposed Pop-up Porch sites.

How many moving lanes of traffic are on the street?

How many parking lanes are on the street?

What are the curbside parking regulations governing the proposed Pop-up Porch footprint? (Please copy directly from the posted signage):

Are any of the following in the potential Pop-up Porch area?

1. A parking space governed by a single-space (traditional) parking meter?                  YES                  NO

2. A parking space governed by multi-space Muni Meters?                  YES                  NO

 

A “yes” answer to any of the questions below shall eliminate your application from further consideration:

3. A moving lane of traffic directly next to the curb at any time of day? YES                  NO

4. A fire hydrant? YES                  NO

5. An active bus stop? 6. An active driveway? YES                  NO


CIVIC BY DESIGN                  Pop-up Porch Program Application

 

Pop-up Porches and Pop-up Porching © 2011 Civic By Design

 





       
    


CIVILIZING PLACES:  PROJECT 2 OF 20

CUT-THRU TO COURTYARD


photos:  A neighborhood cut-thru problem area on the edge of the Northwood Estates Neighborhood. Residential Students of My Sister's House socialize in the newly installed civic courtyard garden.

Guerrilla Gardening transforms a Neighborhood Cut-Thru Path into a Civic Garden Courtyard for My Sister's House


CIVIC BY DESIGN FORUM

Tuesday, July 12, 2011  |  5:30pm – 6:30pm 

MY SISTER'S HOUSE 

FRIENDSHIP COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CENTER

http://www.friendshipcdc.org/mysistershouse.htm

3239 Beatties Ford Road

Charlotte NC 28216

Free and open to the public

Free Parking

RSVP info@civicbydesign.com 

www.civicbydesign.com

Civic By Design on Facebook

Civic By Design on Twitter




CUT-THRU TO COURTYARD


PURPOSE: To reconfigure a Northwood Estates Neighborhood cut-thru path into a lively community resource and to introduce more greenery and gardening into the urban environment.  For the My Sister's House http://www.friendshipcdc.org/mysistershouse.htm Civic By Design and partners are helping to transform a concrete slab into an inviting Civic Courtyard Garden to enable the space to become more people friendly, nature friendly, and serve as an educational and nutritional opportunity for the student residents.


OVERVIEW:  Guerrilla gardening is the volunteer act of urban gardening on public or private land.  Typically, the sites chosen are vacant or underutilized properties in urban areas.  The direct re-purposing of the land is often intended to raise awareness for a myriad of social and environmental issues, including sustainable food systems, improving neighborhood aesthetics, and the power of short term, collaborative action.  Guerilla gardening is an excellent tactic for civilizing places and instantly improving an urban neighborhood with minimal capital expenditure, reusable resources, and community volunteers help.


JULY 12 EVENT:    The public is invited to join us for the Forum meeting hosted at My Sister's House.   The Forum will feature a tour of the civic courtyard garden, a panel discussion with community leaders and representatives of the My Sister's House, followed by an open discussion.  


PARTNERS:  My Sister's House - a Friendship Community Development Corp., Charlotte Community School for Girls, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Parks and Recreation, Mecklenburg County Waste Reduction Program, Mecklenburg County Sheriff Department, Ecoscapes, Woolly Pockets for Schools, and Crossroads Charlotte.


 



                                             


THE GREENEST SKYSCRAPER IN THE WORLD


The Duke Energy Center has earned platinum-level LEED certification under the sustainable standards established by the U.S. Green Building Council.


Wachovia Corp. – before it was acquired by Wells Fargo & Co. – developed the office tower under USGBC’s LEED for Core & Shell rating system Version 2.0.


The tour will take approximately one hour to complete. We will visit several of the "green" elements of the building that contributed to its LEED Platinum designation. 


Tuesday, June 14, 2011  |  5:15pm  – 6:30pm

Duke  Energy  Center

534 South Tryon Street,  Charlotte,  NC

Free and open to the public — space for this event is very limited

RSVP required by June 6

 info@civicbydesign.com 

www.civicbydesign.com






                                                 


TREES 


How can citizens work with the government and the development industry to preserve and protect trees?


A recent gallop poll survey www.soulofthecommunity.org indicates Charlotte region's citizens ranked aesthetics - specifically our famous tree canopy - as one of the top two qualities that attach people to place.  


Recent events related to trees include:

•  The citizen led tree planting program along the regional greenway system

•  The clear-cutting of a stand of crop pine in lieu of exploring alternatives to tree reforestation that includes retaining the mature pine stand

•  The loss of the last remaining forest stand in Southpark to be replaced by a proposed urban development

•  The removal of large shade street trees along Park Road for sidewalk replacement without studying alternate multimodal designs for transforming the existing street right of way

•  The recently passed tree ordinance by the City of Charlotte

•  The City of Charlotte's intent to establish a tree canopy preservation goal and plan

•  Grassroots approaches to tree preservation and protection including the Neighborwoods program


Join us with local experts for a panel discussion at our next Civic By Design Forum.


Tuesday, May 10, 2011  |  5:30pm  – 6:30pm

Levine Museum of the New South

200 East Seventh Street

Charlotte NC

Free and open to the public

Free parking at 7th street parking garage

info@civicbydesign.com   

www.civicbydesign.com








CIVILIZING PLACES: PROJECT 1 OF 20

PAVEMENT TO PLAZA

The Transformation of a Parking Lot into a Civic Garden Square for Charlotte Community School for Girls

PURPOSE: Pavement to Plaza programs have been popularized in cities including New York City and San Francisco. The purpose is to see how we can re-design relatively dense spaces to have a higher yield on our community. For the Charlotte Community School for Girls the transformation of an ugly parking lot into an inviting Civic Garden Square enable the space to become more people friendly, nature friendly, and serve as an educational and nutritional opportunity for the students.

OVERVIEW: By engaging the creative ideas of the students attending the Charlotte Community School for Girls — whose circulium is based on utilizing both left and right brain thinking — and using found and donated materials, we will utilize the approach of "lighter, quicker, cheaper"[LQC] to provide a vibrant public space without large expenditure of capital.

APRIL 12 EVENT: The public is invited to join us for the Forum meeting hosted at the Community School for Girls. The Forum will feature a panel discussion with local experts on urban gardening and agrarian urbanism followed by an open discussion. Earlier in the afternoon a small group of Civic By Design volunteers and partners will be working with the students on the next major step in installing the Civic Garden Square to be showcased for the Forum event.

PARTNERS: The Charlotte Community School for Girls, Woolly Pockets for Schools, Mecklenburg County Waste Reduction Program, Mecklenburg County Sheriff Department, Myers Park Garden Center, Crossroads Charlotte.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011 | 5:30pm – 6:30pm
Charlotte Community School for Girls
1440 South Tryon Street, Charlotte, NC 28203
Turn on to Summit Avenue to find the school. Also within walking distance of the Bland Street Light Rail Station.
Free and open to the public
Parking on and across the street
RSVP info@civicbydesign.com






CALL FOR DESIGNERS TO HOST

DESIGN HELP 5¢ Stand

CORA & Civic by Design are again this year hosting the DESIGN HELP 5¢ Stand at the annual Southern Spring Home & Garden Show at the Park Expo, Charlotte, Wednesday March 2 – Sunday March 6, 2011.


We are offering an opportunity to:

·     Architects

·     Interior Designers

·     Engineers

·     Landscape Architects

·     Planners

·     Contractors


to lend their expertise to the public for minimal donation (a nickel or more), brief (twenty minutes or less) consultations. We are making available to designers 2 to 4 hour slots during show opening hours, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday Saturday or Sunday.


Benefits to volunteering designers:

·     Increase the community’s understanding of your profession

·     Meet new people interested in design

·     Network with colleagues

·     Discover prospective collaborators in allied professions

·     Free entrance to the show (parking fees are not covered)

·     Help a worthy cause


Please confirm your interest and availability by signing up for a time slot at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Z9KHVVT


Thank you again to the Civic By Design crew for sharing their fantastic booth with the rest of us. Please notice that you have 3 time choices and we'll try to accommodate your first choice as best as we can. Also this year if you sign up and cannot show up at the last minute, please make arrangements to provide for your own replacement.


Proceeds raised from participation will be donated to Crisis Assistance Ministries, whose mission is to provide community resources to local citizens who experience financial crisis.


There will be a poster with every designer and their working time posted for the public to see.


Again, every participant will be responsible for his/her marketing material.  We are discussing the possibility of participating professionals to be able to leave a portfolio/brochure/pamphlets behind for the 4 days. Please this is under consideration and will be determined by the number of tables, etc. we may have. We'll provide confirmation and more details later.


The last day to sign up is Monday February 28.


For more information regarding the show such as location, directions, hours of operation, etc, please visit http://www.southernshows.com/sss/.


The Design Help 5¢ booth was designed by CCC designs: www.CCCBox.com.


Tuesday, February 8, 2011 | 5:30pm – 6:30pm
Levine Museum of the New South
200 East Seventh Street
Charlotte NC
Free and open to the public
RSVP info@civicbydesign.com





    


    


CIVILIZING PLACES initiative - 20 Places in 20 Months


In attractive pedestrian friendly places people can gather – to meet, to talk, to eat and drink, to argue, to rest, to trade and to travel through. Pedestrian friendly active streets can be the heart of urban community. A network of well-designed streets and public spaces makes walking and cycling more pleasurable and dense, populated areas more livable. These spaces inspire people to stay and enjoy themselves rather than rush or avoid the space. To create these places, Civic By Design with Charlotte’s citizens, will collectively design 20 PLACES IN 20 MONTHS.  The following is a short movie to kick off the initiative and start the discussion about Civilizing Places for Charlotte:  

Watch the TEDX 5:28 MOVIE <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0xdegR0Q0I>

The CIVILIZING PLACES Initiative is modeled after London’s Civilizing Spaces Initiative.  Civilizing Places in Charlotte is critical.   Given our current economic climate, growing concern for the environment, and the ever increasing disenchantment with Charlotte’s predominate auto-centric lifestyle, one of the most important challenges for our struggling community is to provide more civilized attractive pedestrian friendly places. Charlotte desperately needs places that connect people to each other and to their community. This means we need be proactive and aggressively get back to the basic “R”s: Retrofitting, Retooling, Re-rooting towards civilizing our places. For Charlotte to be a relevant region of the future, we need to provide inviting places for Charlotteans to gather.  Civic By Design is proposing, with Charlotte’s citizens, to collectively design 20 PLACES IN 20 MONTHS.  Please bring your ideas to our next Forum.  

We welcome your ideas and potential locations for Civilizing Places here in Charlotte.

Tuesday, February 8, 2011 | 5:30pm – 6:30pm
Levine Museum of the New South
200 East Seventh Street
Charlotte NC
Free and open to the public
RSVP info@civicbydesign.com







WHAT ATTACHES PEOPLE TO THEIR COMMUNITIES?

What makes a community a desirable place to live?

What draws people to stake their future in it?

Are communities with more attached residents better off?

Gallup and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation launched the Knight Soul of the Community project www.soulofthecommunity.org in 2008 with these questions in mind. After interviewing close to 43,000 people in 26 communities over three years, the study has found that three main qualities attach people to place: social offerings, such as entertainment venues and places to meet, the area’s aesthetics (its physical beauty and green spaces) and openness (how welcoming a place is).   And surprisingly, while the economy is obviously the subject of much attention, the study has found that perceptions of the local economy do not have a very strong relationship to resident attachment.

Susan Patterson, program director for the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, will share Charlotte findings from the Gallup research on what attaches residents to the place they call home. Joining her and the audience in talking about what this might mean for Charlotte are Tom Warshauer, Community and Commerce Manager , City of Charlotte and Sherrill Anne Hampton, Director of Center for Applied Leadership and Community Development, Johnson C. Smith University.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011 | 5:30pm – 6:30pm
Levine Museum of the New South
200 East Seventh Street
Charlotte NC
Free and open to the public
RSVP info@civicbydesign.com



CIVIC BY DESIGN FORUM

Second Tuesday of the Month | 5:30pm – 6:30pm

Levine Museum of the New South

200 East Seventh Street

Charlotte NC

Free and open to the public

Free parking at 7th Street parking garage

RSVP info@civicbydesign.com

www.civicbydesign.com

 

In 2011 Civic By Design launched the CIVILIZING PLACES Initiative


Below are several project ideas that were launched and interspersed with our Forum events.
























CIVILIZING PLACES


In attractive pedestrian friendly places people can gather – to meet, to talk, to eat and drink, to argue, to rest, to trade and to travel through. Pedestrian friendly active streets can be the heart of urban community. A network of well-designed streets and public spaces makes walking and cycling more pleasurable and dense, populated areas more livable. These spaces inspire people to stay and enjoy themselves rather than rush or avoid the space. To create these places, Civic By Design with Charlotte’s citizens, will collectively design 20 PLACES IN 20 MONTHS.  The following is a short movie to kick off the initiative and start the discussion about Civilizing Places for Charlotte:  


WATCH TEDX 5:28 MOVIE


The CIVILIZING PLACES Initiative is modeled after London’s Civilizing Spaces Initiative.  Civilizing Places in Charlotte is critical.   Given our current economic climate, growing concern for the environment, and the ever increasing disenchantment with Charlotte’s predominate auto-centric lifestyle, one of the most important challenges for our struggling community is to provide more civilized attractive pedestrian friendly places. Charlotte desperately needs places that connect people to each other and to their community. This means we need be proactive and aggressively get back to the basic “R”s: Retrofitting, Retooling, Re-rooting towards civilizing our places. For Charlotte to be a relevant region of the future, we need to provide inviting places for Charlotteans to gather.  Civic By Design is proposing, with Charlotte’s citizens, to collectively design 20 PLACES IN 20 MONTHS.  Please bring your ideas to our next Forum.  


We welcome your ideas and potential locations for Civilizing Places here in Charlotte.


To propose an idea or a new Civilized Place in Charlotte contact us at info@civicbydesign.com.


Please also visit our website at http://www.civicbydesign.com.