Author of The Great Neighborhood Book Jay Walljasper shows how communities can become cities of great neighbors.

"Blessed with laws, humbled by climate, unburdened by history or destiny, Torontonians remake the world in their small communities, adding yoga, sweat lodge, dim sum or doughnuts to their lives."

– Deanne Taylor, playwright, in the urban-essay collection uTOpia

One more blessing she might have added is a place to step out, look your neighbours in the eye and say hello.

Piazzas are ideal for strolling and sociability – the chance meetings that are vital in successful neighbourhoods, says Jay Walljasper, author of The Great Neighborhood Book – A Do-it-Yourself Guide to Placemaking. And since not every neighbourhood can have spectacular people-meeting places like Rome's Piazza Navona or New York's Rockefeller Center, there are new ways to reclaim space for these casual encounters.

In Delft, Netherlands, citizens upset about speeding traffic in their neighbourhood streets, hauled old couches onto the road and relaxed there, forcing cars to drive around them and slow down. These neighbourhood guerrilla tactics were effective – they've now become part of the city's plan to introduce woonerfs (living yards) on streets where drivers are a nuisance.

In Portland, Ore., residents made a friendlier neighbourhood by painting patterns on a busy intersection, erecting community bulletin boards, and bringing in a tea wagon, all to make people linger.

By Mimi Sheraton, New York Times

It is a given that no serious traveler would forgo visits to museums, cathedrals, castles, monuments and legendary streets. Yet food markets deserve equally high billing on a must-see list. For as inspiring as the more standard sights can be, they do not rival the ebullience of modern-day markets and their colorful links to the economy, customs and even dialects of a city.

In a world ever more homogenized, food markets afford visitors one of the few opportunities to glimpse locals going about one of their essential daily chores.  The most dramatic of these sprawling, jumbled indoor or outdoor markets sell wholesale, generally between midnight and dawn, when one feels vaguely conspiratorial watching the alert trading action while much of the city sleeps. There's an instant spirit of camaraderie as strangers mingle among the lights and shadows, shouting, banging and clanging, inhaling whiffs of hot coffee and bracing alcohol that combine with scents of damp night air, gasoline, fish, spices, herbs and fruits that have so much more aroma elsewhere than they ever seem to at home.

Attending this living theater, one can assess the local economy by noting the quality and variety of foods available and compare prices to our own. One can observe how locals treat one another. Are sellers and buyers polite and trusting as they deal under intense pressure— the first to sell out highly perishable merchandise, the second to get the best value for family, shop or restaurant?

Up against indifference from goverment officials and oppression from overpowering vehicles, young Athenians stand up to take back the sidewalks for pedestrians. Due to poor planning, limited space, and an increase in drivership, Athenian drivers have become accustomed to illegally parking on sidewalks and other walkways despite blockades, barriers, or restrictions. Due to the lack of other simple solutions, the government has looked the other way.

One activist group the Street Panthers, finally fed up with this infringement, has begun sticking signs on illegally parked cars. An action, within the bounds of the law, that pushes back on illegal parkers, and informs and reminds the public and the government that pedestrians need safe and convenient spaces to walk amonst the city.

The United States Conference of Mayors held a two-day Climate Protection Summit on November 1 in Seattle . Mayors from around the country pledged to make their cities greener and more sustainable.

This effort will begin with scaling cities down to a more human level. "Cities that are centered on people and public transit, not cars," are more walkable and livable, and thereby more sustainable and energy efficient.

New library designs are moving away from the quiet, institutionalized models of old. The next generation of libraries are using technology and placemaking to create community spaces, where "people can congregate, be comfortable,... meet neighbors and catch up on the news, learn and play and read."

Small-scale revitalization takes shape in Albuquergue with large-scale impacts. The city opted to redevelop existing buildings, rather than tearing down their history. Small changes have resulted in a unique sense of place with a "human face" in the city's downtown.

The City of Charleston, South Carolina is seeking firms or teams to provide full-service property management of the City Market, including marketing, leasing and operation, and to develop a strategic vision for the Charleston City Market.

Included within the City Market is approximately 40,000 sq. ft. of retail space, market stalls, and public right-of-way. Parking for the City Market is provided in adjacent parallel parking spaces along North & South Market Streets (as well as adjacent side streets), neighboring surface parking lots, and neighboring parking garages.

The City Market is a unique property in Charleston, South Carolina as well as the nation as a whole. The City Market is the largest in the Southeast and is the anchor for the surrounding City Market area. The City Market is successful financially.

For the last thirty (30) years, the City has leased a majority of the City Market to a private company. This lease shall expire at the end of April 2008. The remaining portion of the City Market has been managed by the City of Charleston. The City of Charleston, through this RFP process, seeks a qualified operator as hereinafter defined to provide full-service property management of the City Market, including promoting, leasing and operation thereof and to develop a strategic vision for the City Market (including the portion which the City currently manages) that would complement the overall experience of the City Market for visitors and residents, improve connectivity between the Market and the Central Business District as a whole, and strengthen the contribution of the Market to downtown business and vice versa. The City is seeking proposals which shall assist it in realizing the above-stated objectives.

The RFP can be accessed online at: http://www.charlestoncity.info/shared/docs/0/citymarketrfp.pdf

Due date is December 19, 2007

A Simple Path to Strong Neighborhoods
Author Jay Walljasper Shows How Small Efforts Build Community

Dave Hage of the Star Tribune has a Q&A session with Jay Walljasper, author of the The Great Neighborhood Book, about how strong neighborhoods are the building blocks of great cities and a healthy society.

Q. So what makes a great neighborhood?

A. The first fundamental is a public gathering spot -- a park, a little town square, even a bench in front of the corner grocery store. You want a place where people know they're likely to run into someone they know or meet someone they like.

The second is walkability. It's really hard to build a sense of community when you know your neighbors only by waving at them through the windshield or honking at them as you drive by.

The key is to promote spontaneous, informal encounters -- that's the building block of strong communities.

But here's another, simpler way to think about it: When you create a neighborhood that's friendly to dogs, it's friendly to people, too. The traffic is not speeding and dangerous. There are green places to hang out and walk. So dogs are a good indicator species.

(Washington, DC) -- The KaBOOM! National Campaign for Play today announced the 31 founding members of the Playful City USA initiative.  Playful City USA is a national recognition program that honors cities and towns across the nation for a vision, plan and commitment to creating an agenda for play. Cities were recognized based on a pledge to five specific commitments to play:

1. Creating a local play commission or task force;
2. Designing an annual action plan for play;
3. Conducting a play space audit;
4. Outlining a financial investment in play for the current fiscal year; and
5. Proclaiming and celebrating an annual“play day.”

The founding members of Playful City USA have activated powerful citizenship by creating play agendas with deep and lasting impact on public policy issues including childhood obesity, public safety, and quality of life issues. Through the collaborative support of corporate and community resources, these civically-grounded cities are inspiring and transforming lives; building strong and healthy communities, and fostering brighter futures.

“Playful City USA reflects the hope, opportunity and possibility inherent in municipal collaborations anchored by a shared vision for play,” said Darell Hammond, Co-Founder and CEO of KaBOOM! “The innovative practices these cities adopted are a call-to-action for other municipalities across the country to rally behind proactive, city-wide agendas in support of broader physical activity and play.”

Founding members of Playful City USA include:

Ankeny, IA, Atlanta, Ga., Canton, Ga., Cedar City, UT, Chandler, Ariz., Creedmoor, N.C., Dothan, Ala., East Cleveland, OH, El Paso, TX, Gilbert, Ariz., Greenbelt, Md., Jamestown, N.Y., Kenner, La., Kerman, Calif., Kingsburg, Calif., Lake Charles, La., Lake Worth, Fla., Longview, Wash., Mountain Grove, Mo., New Lenox, Ill., New Roads, La., Norfolk, Va., Phoenix, Ariz. , Portsmouth, OH, San Francisco, Calif., San Jose, Calif., Shirley, Mass., Spartanburg, S.C., Tucson, Ariz., Wapello, IA, Yuma, Ariz.

A number of Playful City USA founding members have created and implemented pioneering play commitments.  In San Francisco, the Department of Parks and Recreation, along with the non-profit National Parks Council and Mayor Gavin Newsom, created Parkscan to assess the conditions and safety of the city’s playgrounds. In a city where identifying and maintaining open space can be a challenge, communities are now working together to improve and enhance failing playgrounds and play spaces.  City Council members in Creedmoor, NC have enacted legislation to ensure developers include playgrounds and open space in every new neighborhood.  Each May residents in El Paso, TX gather for the annual Ciclovia celebration which closes major thoroughfares and opens them up for walking, family time and safe connections to the city’s playgrounds and open space.

Along with receiving national recognition for blazing a playful trail for other cities, 2007 founding members are eligible to apply for a grant of up to $25,000 to help support one of their playful initiatives. 

For cities interested in applying for Playful City USA 2008, KaBOOM! is teaming up with America’s Promise Alliance 100 Best Communities for Young People to provide one lucky city with a brand new KaBOOM! playground. 100 Best is an annual competition that recognizes those cities and towns across America that go above and beyond for children and youth.  Communities who are named one of the 100 Best, and also apply to be named a Playful City USA, will be eligible to receive a new playground in their area.

KaBOOM! is a national nonprofit organization that envisions a great place to play within walking distance of every child in America.  Since 1995, KaBOOM! has used its innovative community-build model to bring together business and community interests to construct more than 1,200 new playgrounds, skateparks, sports fields and ice rinks across North America.  KaBOOM! also offers a variety of online resources, regional and national trainings, and the KaBOOM! National Campaign for Play which includes Playful City USA and the Playmaker Network- a national network of individual advocates for play. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., KaBOOM! also has offices in Chicago, Atlanta and San Mateo, CA.   For more information, visit www.kaboom.org.