my favorite placemaking
a compendium of neighborhood delights
I’ve been thinking a lot about community & placemaking lately. In the words of the Project for Public Spaces:
As both an overarching idea and a hands-on approach for improving a neighborhood, city, or region, placemaking inspires people to collectively reimagine and reinvent public spaces as the heart of every community. Strengthening the connection between people and the places they share, placemaking refers to a collaborative process by which we can shape our public realm in order to maximize shared value. More than just promoting better urban design, placemaking facilitates creative patterns of use, paying particular attention to the physical, cultural, and social identities that define a place and support its ongoing evolution.
Placemaking is what makes the place I live feel distinct, yes; but it also makes me want to live here, in this specific space with these people. I have found my favorite local placemaking features are a collection of small delights, nothing flashy or ostentatious.
I share these as examples that it doesn’t take much to place-make, and anyone can participate in giving the place they live more meaning. They bring me joy, and I hope they do for you, too.
the neighborhood polling place
Every week since lockdown started (so the last four plus years), there is a new poll and a reshuffled pile of rocks for voting. They also share the results from last week’s poll on the same piece of paper.
The poll pictured below asks “which sounds like more fun? racing on jet skis or dirt bikes? vote with a rock and have a great day! y’all would rather have a swimming pool than an ice skating rink! us too!”
little free libraries
For humans and dogs. My neighborhood features a variety of little free libraries for puzzles, books, toys, and non-perishable food.
a peep show
Another COVID lockdown bit that these neighbors have kept going. They used to change the themes every week, now I think it’s every month. Most installations have lights and sound!
Not pictured is the side of the piece, which screams CHICKS CHICKS CHICKS in neon font, and makes me smile every time I see it.
avant garde art
The Barbie creature is no longer in the tree, but she and her human finger legs will haunt me forever.
fun signage
I have yet to see a cat by the cat sign, but one can hope.
And finally, this handwritten advertisement:
good things on the internet
currently reading
The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley: It’s speculative fiction with time travel romance, but also a genuinely deep commentary on colonialism and assimilation and complicity? Idk just read it, this one is weird and good, and the cover is beautiful.
The Plot Against America by Philip Roth: While initially drawn in by the premise - what if Charles Lindbergh (a renowned anti-Semite and white supremacist) won the 1940 election? - I was surprised by how descriptive and moving Roth’s prose is.
This American Ex-Wife by Lyz Lenz: I knew Lenz was a good writer, but WOW, I could not put this down. I want all my friends to read it.
this week’s jam
photo of my cats
Love the quirk.