Placemaking Newsletter - January 2019

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.

Permanently Affordable Condominiums Coming to Denver A developer, a land trust and a land conservancy are partnering to construct condos in Denver that will permanently remain affordable using a variety of new financing tools. The mixed-use development contains homeownership units that prioritize families and will be affordable to households earning $40k - $72K annually.

A Memphis Food Hall is Transforming Refugee Lives and the Community The Global Café is a Memphis, TN international food hall that was started to empower immigrants and refugee food entrepreneurs to set up a food business at no upfront cost to them. The social enterprise’s goals are to offer the “average joe” a place to try new foods and more importantly, provide job opportunities, healthy foods, and community camaraderie to refugees and immigrants.

Funding Opportunities

• IHCDA’s CreatINg Places program matches grant dollars to raised community dollars for improvements in public spaces. 

• National Endowment for the Arts is offering various grants for art organizations.

• The Indiana State Department of Health is offering funding for tactical urbanism projects that support active transportation. This program will fund up to $10,000 to build short-term, low-cost projects that create long-term momentum to improve the built environment supporting safe walking and bicycling for residents of all ages. Applications are due February 20, 2019.
• Indiana Landmarks and Indiana Humanities offer Historic Preservation Education Grants for public programs that educate about historic places.  Applications are due February 28, 2019.
• INDOT will begin accepting applications for its Community Crossings Matching Grant program on January 7, 2019 with applications due February 1, 2019.

• The Office of Community and Rural Affairs’ Quick Impact Placebased Grants (QuIP) are due March 8 with an informatioal webinar offered on January 16.

• Letters of Intent to apply for the 2019 Stellar Communities program are due April 5, 2019.

• 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

Save the dates for these 2019 conferences: 

• The National Consortium for Creative Placemaking regional summits happen throughout 2019.
• Main Street Now Conference - March 25-27 in Seattle
• Preserving Historic Places Conference - April 9-12 in Evansville, IN
• American Planning Association - April 13-16 in San Francisco
• People & Places - April 15-17 near Washington, D.C.
• Indiana Chapter of the American Planning Association - May 10 in Wabash, IN
• Congress for New Urbanism - June 12-15 in Louisville
• The National Recreation and Park Association - September 24-26, 2019 in Baltimore, MD
• Creative Placemaking Summit - September 26, 2019 in Lansing, MI

• Indiana Arts Commission Homecoming - October 24-25 in Indianapolis

• Webinar on July 18, 2019 - Big Ideas, Small Town: Rural Placemaking hosted by the International Economic Development Council. Cost is $95 for members, $135 for nonmembers.

• Citizens’ Institute on Rural Design offers recorded past webinars for rural communities on community engagement, rural design, developing partnerships, and workshop planning.

• The Project for Public Spaces offers a variety of other conferences and events on placemaking.

Resources, Guides and Case Studies

• The Office of Arts & Culture in Seattle published a guide on Capacity Building for Racial Equity in Public Art. This guide is the information gleaned from the past several years’ efforts of the office’s experience focusing their public art program on artists of color to help them enter the world of public art.

• A resource to learn more about using the Historic Tax Credit to create affordable housing.

Read, Listen, Watch

• Okay, Maybe Something Beautiful is a children’s book, I know! But I love books of all kinds, especially beautiful books with a great message – this one has both. Based on a true story of public art in a neighborhood, this book will inspire you. (Warning: This will not be the last time you see a children’s book suggested here.)
• NPR’s Planet Money’s The Indicator podcast recently reviewed the year in housing.
• Governor Holcomb talks about high investment Indiana quality of life projects on Inside Indiana Business.

Placemaking in the News

• Downtown Noblesville project gets design tweaks.

• Two of Frank Lloyd Wright’s 400 designed homes are located in South Bend.

• Much construction in 2018 for the City of Wabash.

Jobs

• Advancement Coordinator – Indianapolis Neighborhood Housing Partnership

• Grants Manager – Arts for Learning, Indianapolis

• Recreation Coordinator – City of New Albany

• Parks and Recreation Director – Town of Plainfield

• Engagement Director – United Way of Central Indiana

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