The reWAILUKU Project continues as the team is pulling together a presentation for March 28th. In the meantime we wanted to share some insights we gained through the process and encourage everyone to give us more feedback via this site. We know many of you caught the “placemaking” bug since we saw people return again and again with new and more fully developed ideas for Wailuku.
What everyone that walked into the workshop understood instinctively is that it is not enough to have a single use dominate a particular space – you need an array of activities for people. Its not enough to have just one great place in a neighborhood – you need a number of them to create a truly lively community. This is placemaking.
Project for Public Spaces (PPS) is a nonprofit dedicated to helping people create and sustain public spaces that build stronger communities. PPS director Fred Kent describes a scenario, “It really comes down to offering a variety of things to do in one spot — making a place more than the sum of its parts. A park is good. A park with a fountain, playground, and popcorn vendor is better. A library across the street is even better, more so if they feature storytelling hours for kids and exhibits on local history. If there’s a sidewalk café nearby, a bus stop, a bike trail, and an ice cream parlor, then you have what most people would consider a great place.”
We encourage you to utilize the incredible library of photography on the Project for Public Spaces website and send us links to the ones illustrating spaces you would like to see “Mauified” and cultivated in Wailuku Town. http://www.pps.org/
