Tactical Urbanism Lecture

Please join us for a lecture (Mike) + launch (Enough Pie) on Thursday January 10, 2013 at Stage Presence Event Rentals, 2201 Mechanic Street (take a right at the bridge to nowhere). We are excited to welcome Mike Lydon who will present ideas + lessons based on his tactical urbanism research that can help inform how we re-envision the upper peninsula.

Mike is a Principal at Street Plans Collaborative and the primary author of Tactical Urbanism: Short-term action, Long-term change. Among his many involvements, passions and accolades, he spearheaded Miami’s first Bicycle Action Plan, serves on the Executive Committee for Transportation Alternatives and in 2009 was selected as one of 34 Urban Vanguards by Next American City magazine (along with our own Enough Pie board member, Josh Martin!). If Tactical Urbanism is a new phrase for you, read this intro from Tactical Urbanism Vol. 2:

“Improving the livability of our towns and cities commonly starts at the street, block, or building scale. While larger scale efforts do have their place, incremental, small-scale improvements are increasingly seen as a way to stage more substantial investments. This approach allows a host of local actors to test new concepts before making substantial political and financial commitments. Sometimes sanctioned, sometimes not, the actions are commonly referred to as “guerrilla urbanism”, “pop-up urbanism”, “city repair”, or “D.I.Y urbanism”.

While exhibiting several overlapping characteristics, “tactical urbanism” is a delicate approach to city-making that features the following five characteristics:

1) A deliberate, phased approach to instigating change;
2) An offering of local ideas for local planning challenges;
3) Short-term commitment and realistic expectations;
4) Low-risk, with possibly a high reward; and
5) The development of social capital between citizens, and the building of organizational capacity between public/private institutions, non-profit/NGOs, and their constituents.”

Enough Pie endeavors to be the organization that will begin this dialogue, drive this initiative and cultivate sustainable change with short-term action. Importantly, we will add number SIX to our tactical urbanism list:

6) We will include ARTISTS, ARTISANS, and DESIGNERS into every phase and community project.

The timing is important. The upper peninsula is the next frontier of Chalreston and the GATEWAY to the city. It faces many different transportation needs from bicycles to port transport to commuter rail. Currently the “district” where Enough Pie is focusing our efforts (Huger St to Pittsburgh, Meeting to I-26) is part of the BCDCOG Master Plan. The BCDCOG has identified 1600 Meeting and surrounding area as a catalyst node. Master plans can take 10, 20 years to implement. We want to work faster inside this framework and use COMMUNITY assets to create a more cohesive and connected district on the upper peninsula. Working with the City of Charleston, we will serve as the grass-roots organization connecting the dots, voicing concerns and ideas from the community and taking ACTION to implement improvements in a CREATIVE and ARTS-centered way.

What are your ideas? What do you see as the low-hanging fruit of improving this area for the better? How can we get artists and the community involved to tackle these challenges together? Bring your thoughts to the lecture. Creative placemaking and tactical urbanism begin with YOU.