Placemaking Newsletter - October 2018

Placemaking Indiana’s monthly newsletter celebrates placemaking happening locally and nationally. We share placemaking trends and opportunities to inspire and support the work you do in your communities.

Do front porches make happier neighborhoods?  Front porches often add a pleasing and welcoming aesthetic to a home. But can front porches contribute to a happier, healthier and more inclusive neighborhood? The Harrison Center for the Arts in Indianapolis reports on ways they have engaged residents through their front porch programs.

How electric scooters are changing our cities  Electric scooters are suddenly everywhere. Whether you are a fan or not, they are a great example of how technology can quickly change the physical landscape of a community, especially when it comes to our public spaces.   SHUTTERSTOCK/BEGALPHOTO

Possible changes for the Region Cities program The Regional Cities Initiative might undergo changes that could offer more flexibility and opportunities for local communities. Lawmakers are considering options presented by economic development leaders that would consolidate existing tax credits and offer funding for more projects locally.

Funding Opportunities

• IHCDA’s CreatINg Places program engages your community through crowdgranting! 
• America Walks is providing community stipends for projects related to creating healthy, active, and engaged places to live, work, and play.  Applications due November 2, 2018.
• The Indiana Arts Commission is offering grant funding for direct arts education through its Partnering Arts, Communities and Education grant program. Applications due November 2, 2018.
• The Indiana Office of Tourism Development offers grants to local governments and non-profits for tourism promotion and development. Call for applications begins in September and applications are due December 3, 2018.
• The Walmart Foundation is providing grants for community development projects for the benefit of low income populations. Application are due on December 31, 2018.  
• The Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs offers grants for the demolition of blighted properties. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.

Webinars and Conferences

• AARP’s Livable Communities National Conference from November 12-14 in North Carolina.
• Save the dates for these 2019 conferences: 
  - Main Street Now Conference March 25-27 in Seattle
  - American Planning Association April 13-16 in San Francisco
  - People & Places April 15-17 near Washington, D.C.
  - Congress for New Urbanism June 12-15 in Louisville
• Explore past webinars from the National Association of Realtors, Community Builders, and America Walks.
• The Project for Public Spaces offers a variety of other conferences and events on placemaking. 

Resources, Guides and Case Studies

• Learn how others are using arts, culture, and community to catalyze equitable solutions.
• The Users’ Guide to Zoning Reform offers local government and planning staff practical ways to implement change for walkable communities and other zoning reforms.
• PeopleForBikes’ City Ratings is ranking system that scores cities’ bike infrastructure and traffic injury rates.
• A Business Improvement District is one way to off-set management costs of public spaces. A recent research paper claims that some BIDs exclude homeless people from public spaces.

Read, Listen, Watch

• Patience and Fortitude: Power, Real Estate, and the Fight to Save a Public Library tells a story about real estate and money but also why libraries are still important.
• The Urbanist podcast covers all topics of city building and living in three- to 30-minute shows.
• Citizen Jane: Battle for the City examines today’s city through the eyes of Jane Jacobs, an urban activist prolific in the 1960s for her ideas about planning set forth in her book The Death and Life of Great American Cities.

Placemaking in the News

• The American Planning Association announced its latest list of Great Places in America.
• A coalition of cities agree to rapidly build new housing to relieve pressure on the regional housing market.
• Other countries seem to have mass transit figured out. A handful of American cities understand the keys to effective mass transit. There are many reasons that American mass transit ridership is among the lowest in the world and a few ways to make it better.

Jobs

• Program Specialist, Parks and Recreation in Bloomington.
• Purdue University Extension Educator, Ag & Natural Resources/Community Development.
• Community Development Specialist, Planner 1 in Fort Wayne
• Deputy Director Planning, Policy, and Operations in Fort Wayne
• VP Economic Development & Technology, Indiana Chamber of Commerce
• Regional Development Director, Big Green

Contact me with ideas, comments, or questions: Carmen Lethig, IHCDA Placemaking Manager at clethig@ihcda.in.gov or 317.234.6290. If your agency has a new staff member who wishes to receive this newsletter, please e-mail communications@ihcda.in.gov