tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-45616751454599123062024-01-15T05:13:57.581-05:00IMPORTANCE OF PLACEAn exploration of why PLACE is so vital to human well being and how to create PLACE in a time when sprawl and rampant commercialism are removing the texture and vitality from America.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger143125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4561675145459912306.post-90426962360657327242012-03-20T07:24:00.002-04:002012-03-20T07:29:44.846-04:00Centering Down<img style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 200px; height: 150px; float: left; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5721939627700459874" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBA5aRv0JB8pRCtiC_EthUTZoGcl9-XkT4dUqs5eEjNt72fcAh4Tyvii6UI3gSHqDJOQ-_WbWo2B7Y1BbRfnb8FrLNaxT0Nr-FVZJCVdrlhV_iDS9jtt2jEiLrcpzb3teyYTEgFLU2Jq62/s200/BBW+165.jpg" /><em>"In belonging to a landscape, one feels a rightness, an at-homeness, a knitting of self and world. This condition of clarity and focus, this being fully present, is akin to what the Buddhists call mindfulness, what Christian contemplatives refer to as recollection, what Quakers call centering down. I am suspicious of any philosophy that would separate this-worldly from other-worldy commitments. There is only one world, and we participate in it here and now, in our flesh and our place.”</em><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_Sanders_(novelist)">Scott Russell Sanders</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">For more on the IMPORTANCE OF PLACE: www.importanceofplace.com</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4561675145459912306.post-11136735680081112172011-11-07T14:20:00.012-05:002011-11-07T15:00:18.574-05:00Building BRIGHT BOX<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiMlxO8xStfmIc4ZhLMDdAyxjk0jc7cK10PkU9im6VJJIfjGQxG3xqkvJ6QJzw7Yc0bFnw0IElVu1Ofqkpg9uC3OVYI7Rl35i9fMv9c89IWlEfXfySHLYQsjIywbHXRcDMhB1f-QlB2ZTH/s1600/BrightBox.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 150px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5672345427827168226" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiMlxO8xStfmIc4ZhLMDdAyxjk0jc7cK10PkU9im6VJJIfjGQxG3xqkvJ6QJzw7Yc0bFnw0IElVu1Ofqkpg9uC3OVYI7Rl35i9fMv9c89IWlEfXfySHLYQsjIywbHXRcDMhB1f-QlB2ZTH/s200/BrightBox.JPG" /></a>It has always been my strong belief that artists are at the center of any vibrant town or city. As a way of demonstrating this belief and helping to create more vibrancy in a place I dearly love, I am spearheading the creation of <strong>Bright Box</strong>, a dynamic performance place in the center of Old Town Winchester, Virginia. It is scheduled for completion in December 2012.<br /><br /><br /><div>Located at the heart of Old Town in <a href="http://www.brightcenter.biz/">Bright Center</a>, Bright Box will be carefully designed with the best lighting and sound to ensure that the performances are magical. And we'll have all kinds of performances and entertainment: jazz, comedy, theatre, art-house films, art shows, dances, juggling, anything that the brilliant imagination of local artists and performers can create. Our partners include Shenandoah Arts Council, Shenandoah University, Old Town Development Board, and Winchester Main Street Foundation. </div><br /><br /><div>This creative facility will consist of a 2000 square feet black box theatre, plus a beautiful concession/bar area, a ticket office, green rooms, dressing rooms, and rehearsal areas. Our goals: To give the public an intimate viewing experience, to give our local artists a unique venue for displaying their talent, and to create ever-increasing vibrancy in Old Town. Stay tuned for updates on Bright Box!</div><div class="blogger-post-footer">For more on the IMPORTANCE OF PLACE: www.importanceofplace.com</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4561675145459912306.post-74849453668787977552011-09-15T11:17:00.000-04:002011-11-07T15:03:21.415-05:00Avoiding a Paved-Over Soul"Our kinship with Earth must be maintained; otherwise we will find ourselves trapped in the center of our own paved-over souls with no way out."<br /><br />Terry Tempest Williams<div class="blogger-post-footer">For more on the IMPORTANCE OF PLACE: www.importanceofplace.com</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4561675145459912306.post-4156019707859962722011-08-31T11:15:00.011-04:002011-08-31T12:15:04.852-04:00Poetry Captures Essence of Place<img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 134px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5647050962708370210" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4LXCvrTYTMl9Sq04-ohylSzx2D8WTBzgpz1gvF3hNyrWNotfF43ibWGGup6MOzeGXPyX0hwyf9qlnOjW8aOkGEnYlB9T3yskInbd2zAcVWuw4tLm3ONml0qDPD0-Y3h1T7k8hvyUb9kQ1/s200/oldpic.jpg" />
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<br />Poetry is one of the best ways I know to capture the essence of Place. In this wonderful poem by George Ella Lyons, I can feel my own homeplace in her intimate details.
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<br /><strong>Where I'm From</strong>
<br />I am from clothespins,
<br />from Clorox, and carbon-tetrachloride.
<br />I am from the dirt under the back porch
<br />(Black, glistening,
<br />it tasted like beets).
<br />I am from the forsythia bush,
<br />the Dutch elm
<br />whose long-gone limbs I remember
<br />as if they were my own.
<br />
<br />I'm from fudge and eyeglasses,
<br />From Imogene and Alafair.
<br />I'm from the know-it-alls
<br />and the pass-it-ons,
<br />from perk up and pipe down.
<br />I'm from he restoreth my soul
<br />with a cottonball lamb
<br />and ten verses I can say myself.
<br />
<br />I'm from Artemus and Billie's Branch,
<br />fried corn and strong coffee.
<br />From the finger my grandfather lost
<br />to the auger
<br />the eye my father shut to keep his sight.
<br />Under my bed was a dress box
<br />spilling old pictures,
<br />a sift of lost faces
<br />to drift beneath my dreams.
<br />I am from those moments -
<br />snapped before I budded -
<br />leaf-fall from the family tree.
<br /><a href="http://www.georgeellalyon.com/">George Ella Lyons</a>
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<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">For more on the IMPORTANCE OF PLACE: www.importanceofplace.com</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4561675145459912306.post-19363866599651519102011-06-29T06:00:00.000-04:002011-06-29T06:00:15.643-04:00Place as Part of Prosperous Life<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5247HFPvg-tEbU-UOeAsk-gWaxR_46teIpCFrKA1u6lF13WoAYTPhCOrRF_kiopKvHRtDMXbNOvB0KyzDWzazovQsACtBALyHaTUeFyUD0hb8wstQMxpfmJdpQW2gZ9uX1bJPfqDWG4GU/s1600/Loudoun+088.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5622941699245064946" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5247HFPvg-tEbU-UOeAsk-gWaxR_46teIpCFrKA1u6lF13WoAYTPhCOrRF_kiopKvHRtDMXbNOvB0KyzDWzazovQsACtBALyHaTUeFyUD0hb8wstQMxpfmJdpQW2gZ9uX1bJPfqDWG4GU/s200/Loudoun+088.jpg" /></a><em>"In a culture best identified by its uncompromising commitment to individual rights, enlightened self-interest, and the icon of the self-made person, any discussion of a life lived in place and in common with others will seem quaint, romantic, idealistic, and thoroughly backward looking. But we forget, or never knew, that there is an alternative view of human nature that sees membership in a community as the central feature of a successful and prosperous life."</em> William Vitek<div class="blogger-post-footer">For more on the IMPORTANCE OF PLACE: www.importanceofplace.com</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4561675145459912306.post-67446021745260721612011-06-26T15:09:00.003-04:002011-06-26T15:19:52.275-04:00Sticking It Out Rather than Fleeing<img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 149px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5622610139860928034" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUIzJ4vdCP4v-47Nfy_FwWz4ZuOU3zj0eKlJOZp1Hxhb0u2I_zKsnyDgC3qOJupPWNoL_cH7zzmIXaUXMVA8pk7uyiZEFVZnt6XkNNY2o_t70hgFRJvNZ5XvCv5hsSXB54_JzQ0fuIW_Sn/s200/FenceMorning.jpg" /><em>"One of the key problems in American society now . . . is people's lack of commitment to any given place -- which . . . is totally unnatural and outside of history. Neighborhoods are allowed to deteriorate, landscapes are allowed to be strip-mined, because there is nobody who will live there and take responsibility; they'll just move on. The reconstruction of a people and of a life in the United States depends in part on people, neighborhood by neighborhood, county by county, deciding to stick it out and make it work where they are, rather than flee." </em>Gary Snyder <br /><div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">For more on the IMPORTANCE OF PLACE: www.importanceofplace.com</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4561675145459912306.post-30168112614827406832011-06-14T12:13:00.005-04:002011-06-14T12:23:48.946-04:00A Place Is Formed by Slow Accrual<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXFex4cIFKq6Jbzm8k1rKQrnKUJDiKXB0AMy8orAcyP4FQ8h8_yA5lSMx2QtqxiOuVpzz-WWvrpcDeFg_60mZj6RTO5PwM1bI-rvHfttc_qBOcXiWsh2xt8yqgt7naK-TX_8iwPdpFCKdy/s1600/coralreef.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 135px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5618111381584244210" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXFex4cIFKq6Jbzm8k1rKQrnKUJDiKXB0AMy8orAcyP4FQ8h8_yA5lSMx2QtqxiOuVpzz-WWvrpcDeFg_60mZj6RTO5PwM1bI-rvHfttc_qBOcXiWsh2xt8yqgt7naK-TX_8iwPdpFCKdy/s200/coralreef.JPG" /></a><em>"A place is not a place until people have been born in it, have grown up in it, lived in it, known it, died in it -- have both experienced and shaped it, as individuals, families, neighborhoods, and communities, over more than one generation. Some are born in their place, some find it, some realize after long searching that the place they left is the one they have been searching for. But whatever their relation to it, it is made a place only by slow accrual, like a coral reef." </em><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wallace_Stegner">Wallace Stegner</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">For more on the IMPORTANCE OF PLACE: www.importanceofplace.com</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4561675145459912306.post-39975011270296743532011-06-11T21:00:00.004-04:002011-06-14T12:28:55.431-04:00Just Pause & Breathe<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFQglarnaMNYnTwB4btFYZiof6m_UpHStWabUhw0inmXuF1x3zUnV3_Fe463w2Q4n4Ynat9KPuwhe4qeFsJztW09i9TzOq1axhC4huT1GRJM_tm4cTW8K2ZFaCcDRXl0OMYUj4dSMrBPnR/s1600/Picture+010.jpg"><em><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5618112926854422818" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFQglarnaMNYnTwB4btFYZiof6m_UpHStWabUhw0inmXuF1x3zUnV3_Fe463w2Q4n4Ynat9KPuwhe4qeFsJztW09i9TzOq1axhC4huT1GRJM_tm4cTW8K2ZFaCcDRXl0OMYUj4dSMrBPnR/s200/Picture+010.jpg" /></em></a><em>"Perhaps <strong>all we need to become placed in this chaotic world is to pause and breathe</strong>, though the paces of our countries, societies, and cultures attempt to dictate otherwise. Middle to upper class society offers little time for such necessities as place and demands like climbing the corporate ladder continue to urge us forward in a march towards placelessness."<br /></em>Amanda Hooyhaas, The Study of Placelessness<div class="blogger-post-footer">For more on the IMPORTANCE OF PLACE: www.importanceofplace.com</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4561675145459912306.post-23283913283446534112011-06-07T14:17:00.011-04:002011-06-08T11:06:44.226-04:00Financial Stability Necessary for Rootedness<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI6vKxVR68RHDB9zJpcFNbj1E1so9WsWJkDBRQDo9D_zrcWBMd9SjVZxyYhT43zBVzmeu5Du2F3VjwZ70XOUV_pxnNyoxfGfgeJEK4J8OOz8wg6A6btWDdasgXj5u3PNvC6cF7rhJP8Ebm/s1600/Flowers+001.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5615816298958629378" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI6vKxVR68RHDB9zJpcFNbj1E1so9WsWJkDBRQDo9D_zrcWBMd9SjVZxyYhT43zBVzmeu5Du2F3VjwZ70XOUV_pxnNyoxfGfgeJEK4J8OOz8wg6A6btWDdasgXj5u3PNvC6cF7rhJP8Ebm/s200/Flowers+001.jpg" /></a>My niece, like many young people throughout the United States, is having to make a tough decision: To raise her children in the small town where she grew up or to move someplace, <em>anyplace</em> where she can make a living wage.<br /><br />Frankly, it's not much of a choice. She has to leave her hometown if she wants to make enough money to feed her kids. So she'll eventually go, like I did, to another place where she knows no one and where she'll be at least temporarily placeless. If she's lucky or makes it a distinct priority, she'll be able to put down roots and create a long-term home where her kids can go to school, find jobs, and where she can retire someday. But that possibility is becoming increasingly remote, because few places like that exist any more in our vast suburbanized America. The average American only lives six years in the same place; we move on to other jobs, into better tax districts, into places where the kids can go to school, or where retirement is cheap. Says Amanda Hooykaas, "The new lifestyle of this and future generations is that of placelessness -- conscious or unconscious, intentional or forced separation or alienation from place." It's a human tragedy, because as Simone Weil writes, "To be rooted is perhaps the most important and least recognized need of the human soul."<br /><br />It's vitally important now to create places again, both individually and as a society, where we can stay for the rest of our lives if we choose. Those places must provide the financial security that is so vital to Place. Says Hooykaas, "To be placed requires trust that a place will be able to provide life and growth for an individual's self and their family through the availability of adequate resources, primarily steady and sustaining income." It's only one aspect of real places, but it is a prerequisite that is often overlooked.<div class="blogger-post-footer">For more on the IMPORTANCE OF PLACE: www.importanceofplace.com</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4561675145459912306.post-35129390092244616652011-06-01T05:00:00.001-04:002011-06-01T09:20:39.084-04:00Encouraging Art Encourages Place<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCyBCY5Z7ekKo5_7w3y7v8h6lSTw99AFq14ggvjzGHFYpugGt4GodvZcqCjQLHjjO096rnvaClsPgJN9qqbX4daLV6ORRyLk6CO5OhCQL3FabCuwsZygllmfu4FEq3ve9cVvcdGE881Xv3/s1600/gallery.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5612944298120044306" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCyBCY5Z7ekKo5_7w3y7v8h6lSTw99AFq14ggvjzGHFYpugGt4GodvZcqCjQLHjjO096rnvaClsPgJN9qqbX4daLV6ORRyLk6CO5OhCQL3FabCuwsZygllmfu4FEq3ve9cVvcdGE881Xv3/s200/gallery.JPG" /></a>One of the best ways to create a sense of vitality in downtowns is to welcome the arts community with open arms.<br /><br />To help give our talented artists exposure in downtown Winchester, we recently donated <a href="http://www.brightcenter.biz/">Bright Center's </a>big front display window to the <a href="http://www.shenarts.org/">Shenandoah Arts Council</a> for a revolving, ongoing, highly-visible art gallery. This has worked out well for everyone involved: Local artists get increased exposure to their work and the chance to make a little money; Shenandoah Arts Council offers increased value to the community and area artists; Old Town Winchester enhances its brand; and Bright Center's appearance is dramatically improved by turning a formerly empty window into one full of life, color and beauty.<br /><br />With storefronts sitting empty in this tough market, perhaps now is the time to get imaginative and find ways to revitalize our communities through engaging our local artists. They typically can't pay much, but they can certainly bring in the vitality and beauty that makes towns and cities real Places again.<div class="blogger-post-footer">For more on the IMPORTANCE OF PLACE: www.importanceofplace.com</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4561675145459912306.post-43228827472118348422011-05-21T08:14:00.003-04:002011-05-21T08:14:00.260-04:00Our Fabric is Frayed<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ2FXE1OhJ3kpNrnfYR2mc1x5WkN9-yfsTwEms5jKPgyf-TQT7nIrylVGrz77WHYkxNlJ8DDIYKQCo8AVyzib1aLsmfaCSKa1sOiKi6M_wlCLfg87gEUEuBzKnGHyHb1No4eKFMz7myiLH/s1600/100_1252.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5607696600378501314" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ2FXE1OhJ3kpNrnfYR2mc1x5WkN9-yfsTwEms5jKPgyf-TQT7nIrylVGrz77WHYkxNlJ8DDIYKQCo8AVyzib1aLsmfaCSKa1sOiKi6M_wlCLfg87gEUEuBzKnGHyHb1No4eKFMz7myiLH/s200/100_1252.jpg" /></a><em>". . . the fabric of America is frayed, because people are moving in and out of the towns and cities that define us. We are losing our sense of place, and with that we are losing the very land we are supposed to cherish."</em><br /><br /><div>View from the Ridge, Blue Ridge Leader</div><div class="blogger-post-footer">For more on the IMPORTANCE OF PLACE: www.importanceofplace.com</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4561675145459912306.post-53436140693038769252011-05-17T08:44:00.011-04:002011-05-17T10:42:13.958-04:00No Other Place Like Cairo<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeeTlqnclwphDMC_TVKN_eQBrrvMRnbHbFp19VhWC0D32I714PxPhqz0UycA6Q0rezcyf8ic9FrEWOCSFRsLF6Em7F3jb_KUAuRUv6GQ2DO9OxKpReBl3u33mRPRYppjujYQTp_a6eLym6/s1600/Snow+165.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 211px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 162px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5607679942064900690" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeeTlqnclwphDMC_TVKN_eQBrrvMRnbHbFp19VhWC0D32I714PxPhqz0UycA6Q0rezcyf8ic9FrEWOCSFRsLF6Em7F3jb_KUAuRUv6GQ2DO9OxKpReBl3u33mRPRYppjujYQTp_a6eLym6/s200/Snow+165.jpg" /></a>Last month we visited Cairo, Egypt and had a sudden glimpse into a place so vivid and unique it's little wonder that people everywhere dream of visiting. The Pyramids, tombs, and temples were amazing, of course, yet oddly what I may remember most was the incomprehensibly chaotic traffic that made Cairo vibrantly, jaw-droppingly alive.<br /><br />Upon arrival at dusk, we took a taxi from the airport to our hotel and were immediately ensnarled. Countless lanes of traffic merged from all directions with no signs or lane markings. Trucks piled high with garlic or sugar cane bumped along through the pot holes, wending through pedestrians balancing heavy loads on their heads, hawking merchandise, playing chicken with the traffic. Donkeys and horses pulled enormous loads and shepherds herded goats along the sidewalks. Families pedaled along on bicycles and camels peeped over the tops of truck cabs. Boys on bicycles with 12' pans of bread wended their way between the cars, rubble, and buffalo, while horns chattered.<br /><br />I was overwhelmed by the chaos, yet after a day I found that the traffic was one of the central events in our visit. On our day trips out to the Pyramids, I looked forward to watching all the activity, breathlessly staring out the open windows. Ironically, the auto had not replaced all other modes of transportation here as it had in most places I've visited, but had been forced to blend in and become part of this place. It certainly wasn't efficient, but it was amazing, and I feel, upon reflection, that until I visited Cairo, I'd never traveled at all.<div class="blogger-post-footer">For more on the IMPORTANCE OF PLACE: www.importanceofplace.com</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4561675145459912306.post-71218210578903021792011-03-25T12:52:00.000-04:002011-03-25T12:52:00.652-04:00Where We Live Matters<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKgSzgbAeOXnuziwqU5RZCYyo0ATI6bZHi0KGgI7eKJ30daCj2Y31vQTS7LEF9iLIMJPkR0arJ1DJuErU5Xjp9QSOEdFyQ22JusgIzrN7oyNDLtpIMYsj8NAozMs77kITaxg_bD5r5_mAY/s1600/100_0920.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5587696211065723570" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKgSzgbAeOXnuziwqU5RZCYyo0ATI6bZHi0KGgI7eKJ30daCj2Y31vQTS7LEF9iLIMJPkR0arJ1DJuErU5Xjp9QSOEdFyQ22JusgIzrN7oyNDLtpIMYsj8NAozMs77kITaxg_bD5r5_mAY/s200/100_0920.jpg" /></a><em>"People are not equally happy everywhere, and some places do a better job of providing a high quality of life than others. Some places offer us more vibrant labor markets, better career prospects, higher real estate appreciation, stronger investment and earnings opportunities. Some places offer more promising mating markets. Others are better environments for raising children . . . The point is, where we live is a central life factor that affects all the others -- work, education, and love."</em><br /><div><a href="http://www.creativeclass.com/richard_florida/">Richard Florida</a></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">For more on the IMPORTANCE OF PLACE: www.importanceofplace.com</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4561675145459912306.post-61041912306095734992011-03-22T14:32:00.019-04:002011-03-24T12:33:41.612-04:00Even a Gas Station Can Be a Place<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEELxSza815O7lhf9dwKH9NlZRF6Z85vD_z1C4uTAxLd1ApA8kM8KEaZ9WGK990iOcThqK21r21ZMAWBuzn1mfmjqaztHAHQH1ygwsAZATFGfYDpTC1D1q1LIE8xf5FL1Tx_YVjb6nzvBH/s1600/SunocoSign.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 142px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 106px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5586974339073381474" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEELxSza815O7lhf9dwKH9NlZRF6Z85vD_z1C4uTAxLd1ApA8kM8KEaZ9WGK990iOcThqK21r21ZMAWBuzn1mfmjqaztHAHQH1ygwsAZATFGfYDpTC1D1q1LIE8xf5FL1Tx_YVjb6nzvBH/s200/SunocoSign.jpg" /></a> On the corner of Mt. Vernon and Braddock, on the edge of DelRay, Alexandria is <a href="http://www.yatesautomotiveva.com/">Yates Automotive Services</a>, which has been in business since 1964. It has the standard gas pumps and signs that initially suggest the cookie-cutter sameness of suburbia, but upon closer inspection, it's clear that Yates strives to be a unique, integral part of the neighborhood and is a strong believer in Place.<br /><br />The little station keeps its lot meticulously landscaped. Its windows shine and its employees are spotless in their uniforms. And every holiday season, DelRay can count on Yates to be in the spirit; the station has reindeer on the roof in December, great shiny hearts in its window in February, and gravestones in its bushes in October. This obvious care and attention to detail goes far in earning the company local business. Says one customer, "I initially selected Yates because of the Christmas lights and decorations 25 years ago when I first moved here. I looked closer and saw the detail to the exterior maintenance and the cleanliness of the station. I figured that anyone who takes that amount of effort in being a good neighbor probably pays the same level of attention to its work."<br /><br />I can't help but think that Yates has been around since 1964 because it obviously values the importance of place. Unlike many other similar establishments, it is not a business which feels temporary, transient, and disconnected. Rather it is nested in a community, hires local people, keeps them for decades, and contributes to the local community in small and not-so-small ways. It's also a pretty, little place that exudes pride. It's the only gas station I've ever been able to say that about. <span style="font-size:78%;"><em>Photo courtesy of </em></span><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/eridony/"><span style="font-size:78%;"><em>Eridony</em></span></a><div class="blogger-post-footer">For more on the IMPORTANCE OF PLACE: www.importanceofplace.com</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4561675145459912306.post-28096639123983099972011-01-19T11:01:00.007-05:002011-01-20T13:41:22.705-05:00Why the Spirit of Place is Worth Keeping<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwK69TgHXaKkBefzmzSOBgNe0J6IljQ6O6z77gcQ2smWf-Gk28tEpk5R1Y9fPINU9969HDZ_D0RE6aN9E1AI6EOC0U3LUPccn64BMLvnPVudfZ5EOpAh-sv-z14enw0UHfrfFoEeB7NhqR/s1600/100_1259.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563935946189168498" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwK69TgHXaKkBefzmzSOBgNe0J6IljQ6O6z77gcQ2smWf-Gk28tEpk5R1Y9fPINU9969HDZ_D0RE6aN9E1AI6EOC0U3LUPccn64BMLvnPVudfZ5EOpAh-sv-z14enw0UHfrfFoEeB7NhqR/s200/100_1259.jpg" /></a>"<strong>Sometimes the spirit of a place is so strong</strong><br />you may think you see its face and glimpse it gamboling over a field or peeking out of a forest. This spirit we sense in each locality would once have been described as the <em>scintilla</em> or spark of its soul, the pearl in the oyster. It accounts for the <strong>magic of a region</strong> and without it, an acute sense of place dissipates into a vague and lazy feeling of nowhere . . . It's when we lose a vivid sense of region and locality that the spirits of the place crawl back into hiding and human life becomes pale with the loss." Thomas Moore, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Re-enchantment-Everyday-Life-Thomas-Moore/dp/0060928247">The Re-Enchantment of Everyday Life</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">For more on the IMPORTANCE OF PLACE: www.importanceofplace.com</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4561675145459912306.post-10324776031176499502011-01-11T08:47:00.010-05:002011-01-11T09:21:55.067-05:00A Clearing: A poem about Place by Levertov<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_ibKNsKU-0kcqBHwDwIdyUQPGOov-B7Q-ms8NcnjJPaK9d7l8JOb7WrWQ331Q8Nujvo0ymtCTdMY6Wk1CZWSE9Rbb4g9Hsv3ArX72ZnA4_x1XtVMUV7IC7UKqOKJursN__lWMU68yjvZk/s1600/Photos+5-4-06+058.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5560927142829100978" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_ibKNsKU-0kcqBHwDwIdyUQPGOov-B7Q-ms8NcnjJPaK9d7l8JOb7WrWQ331Q8Nujvo0ymtCTdMY6Wk1CZWSE9Rbb4g9Hsv3ArX72ZnA4_x1XtVMUV7IC7UKqOKJursN__lWMU68yjvZk/s200/Photos+5-4-06+058.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><em></em><br /><em>What lies at the end of enticing</em><br /><em>country driveways, curving</em><br /><em>off among trees? Often only</em><br /><em>a car graveyard, a house-trailer,</em><br /><em>a trashy bungalow. But this one,</em><br /><em>for once, brings you</em><br /><em>through the shade of its green tunnel</em><br /><em>to a paradise of cedars, </em><br /><em>of lawns mown but not too closely</em><br /><em>of iris, moss, fern, rivers of stone rounded</em><br /><em>by sea or stream,</em><br /><em>of a wooden unassertive large-windowed house.</em><br /><em>The big trees enclose</em><br /><em>an expanse of sky, trees, and sky</em><br /><em>together protect the clearing. </em><br /><em>One is sheltered here</em><br /><em>from the assaultive world</em><br /><em>as if escaped from it, and yet</em><br /><em>once arrived, is given (oneself</em><br /><em>and others being a part of that world)</em><br /><em>a generous welcome.</em><br /><em>It's paradise</em><br /><em>as a paradigm for how</em><br /><em>to live on earth,</em><br /><em>how to be private and open</em><br /><em>quiet and richly eloquent.</em><br /><em>Everything man-made here </em><br /><em>was truly made by the hands</em><br /><em>of those who live here, of those</em><br /><em>who live with what they have made.</em><br /><em>It took time, and is growing still</em><br /><em>because it's alive.</em><br /><em>It is paradise, and paradise</em><br /><em>is a kind of poem; it has</em><br /><em>a poem's characteristics:</em><br /><em>inspiration; starting with the given;</em><br /><em>unexpected harmonies; revelations.</em><br /><em>It's rare among the worlds one finds</em><br /><em>at the end of enticing driveways.</em><br /><strong><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denise_Levertov">Denise Levertov</a></strong><br />This Great Unknowing: Last Poems<div class="blogger-post-footer">For more on the IMPORTANCE OF PLACE: www.importanceofplace.com</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4561675145459912306.post-4598619160612120382011-01-09T08:23:00.004-05:002011-01-09T08:40:32.922-05:00The Land We Story<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtIguI9XiJaI16SoB7YLTNgStfuqy42J7det2OPDytsKch7EaPdjKJGRgYwguRLiVHbKXDiGx1WKy00-EVXecjWicm4DzJGmEUq17zoSWOMGBTVlamjUUALl_f0OhyxZiPHhqzVxwus9DC/s1600/frayingflag.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5560180253692254354" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtIguI9XiJaI16SoB7YLTNgStfuqy42J7det2OPDytsKch7EaPdjKJGRgYwguRLiVHbKXDiGx1WKy00-EVXecjWicm4DzJGmEUq17zoSWOMGBTVlamjUUALl_f0OhyxZiPHhqzVxwus9DC/s200/frayingflag.jpg" /></a>I recently saw a passionate, beautifully written editorial in a local Loudoun newspaper, and have chosen to publish it in its entirety below. It expresses brilliantly why place is so important and how we are losing it everyday in America:<br /><br />"The population of this great and grand country is in turmoil. There is a constant shifting of people from places of their birth to places very far away. The college of their choice or acceptance is far from home. Employment requires a long commute. Mother, who has been living in another city, now requires intensive care. Has anyone measured the waste of time this traveling and commuting entails? The pollution, the isolation, the frustration it creates? We move. We shift around. We keep looking for that perfect place or we keep looking for a place that can get us to the perfect place. In all those places in between we try to live our lives and make meaning of our existence.<br /><br />Shouldn’t it be the other way around? Aren’t we supposed to “story” the land, and give ourselves up to it? Isn’t the sense of place one of the most important parts of the air we breathe and the heart of our homeland? Where is our home? Who is our home? Why do we keep shifting around and trying to find a sense of place, all the while leaving the places we know, and have known, for the better part of our lives?<br /><br />The Nichols family didn’t need a sense of place. They storied the land. They gave the place its meaning. They knew who they were and they made their place here. And they kept it as a sacred trust. In doing so they drew all of us in who came to them for our little and small needs, our garden seeds and paint, the bolts and nuts that make our shelves stay in place or our doors open and shut, and our daily endeavors connected to our community at large. The Nichols were a staying force. A binding and enduring presence. They were an essential part of the landscape and the meaning of this place. They were what gave America its strength. And they are dying out. And now the fabric of America is frayed, because people are moving in and out of the towns and cities that define us. We are losing our sense of place, and with that we are losing the very land we are supposed to cherish.<br /><br />Over fifty percent of the American population moves within a five year period. Think of that. Can a community survive that? Can any town keep its binding and cohesive force when over half of its population moves in such a short time? On average ten percent of the population is moving out every year, and being replaced by people who have no sense of the place they have moved into. A sense of place takes time. It takes time to story the land because, as Frost said, we need to give everything we have into it. And we won’t do that if we know the stretch we are spending here will be short. So we withhold ourselves. And we give less. And we love less. And the stories we tell are more superficial and sentimental stories. We are not putting down roots, we are sending out feelers. Our communities become plastic and artificial. No one is accountable because so many of us will be leaving soon. The critical mass of engaged adults never coalesces. Talk of small town life becomes a platitude.<br /><br />In the Harris Teeter appeal Judge Chamblin said essentially that citizens have no rights to determine what happens on the site plan for the Gateway Development. Here are all the capitalists who want businesses to thrive, but communities to falter. Here big business is all that matters while the heartland falls away. Thousands and thousands of towns in this country have been mugged by Walmart. This is what Donovan Rypkema was talking about at the Carver Center. Did anyone listen? People like the Nichols, whose steadfast belief in getting up every morning and knowing the landscape of their earlier lives is reflected in the people they hired who have stayed with them so many years, this is what Donavan Rypkema was talking about.<br />Here is the land of the free and the home of the brave. And here is the land where a good percentage of people leave because the lovely landscape they moved into is being turned into a shopping center. And for no good reason. Who is free when he is forced to move because capitalism or the Town Council trumps the rich inheritance of time and the wishes of the people? How free are you when you are “tied up” in traffic two or three hours a day because you need to get to work in a place out of your community?<br /><br />Land of the free and home of the brave? Where is everyone when the corrupt council members make their decisions and you are somewhere else because this place is temporary, and you will be moving on to better things? Where will these better things be if at any time the landscape of your dreams can be changed into a shopping mall? How many people who now look onto the lovely Cole Farm will move when the fumes of parking cars hit them as they sit out on their decks? When the trash and noise builds up? When crime increases?<br /><br />Another ten percent gone. Gone to disgust, to disillusionment, to looking for a better life. Another ten percent that could have storied the land and made the community strong, but who left because leaving was the only vote they had the right to express. This is the desperate sense of helplessness the American population is living through. And we express this as freedom?? The freedom to never connect ourselves to a sense of place? The very freedoms that our forefathers built this nation upon??<br /><br />Because there is no way, apparently, that the people who live in a community have any control over how that community will evolve. As long as citizens have no say in the development of their own communities, we will keep shifting around, looking for the perfect place when, in fact, it is just below our feet, if we could just keep hold of it.<br /><br />Local businesses, like the Nichols, like Crooked Run Orchard, keep communities strong and cohesive. Chains, like Harris Teeter, keep communities poor and force people to commute long distances or to leave. The 200 jobs that the article talked about creating are temporary jobs and the permanent jobs are low-paying jobs that will be filled by people living in West Virginia, as they are now at Giant and Bloom. The hell in traffic it will create isn’t worth the tax revenues that this town will spend on new and useless projects.<br /><br />When we have no control over where we live and where we work, who is free? And when we let others decide for us how our landscape will look and feel, who is brave?<br /><br />Until the ordinary citizen gets involved we will continue to be tossed about by overweening interests and money. The Tea Party was an expression of anger, but showed little sense and reason. The single person is all that matters in this country. And single persons need to start attending the meetings at the Town Hall. And single persons need to start electing honest and reasonable people who care about their futures, about the land, about the country we inhabit, about our freedoms and well-being. That is the only way we will be the land of the free and the home of the brave. Anything else is a fairy tale. And we have been riding on the fumes of fairy tales for some decades now." November 20, 2010, Alice in Wonderland, <a href="http://www.purcellvillepost.com/?p=174">The Purcellville Post</a>; <em><span style="font-size:78%;">photo courtesy of </span></em><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/vistavision/2803919625/"><em><span style="font-size:78%;">VistaVision</span></em></a><div class="blogger-post-footer">For more on the IMPORTANCE OF PLACE: www.importanceofplace.com</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4561675145459912306.post-58230314661558840152010-12-27T10:15:00.003-05:002011-01-03T08:01:39.734-05:00Place as Prerequisite for Energy Conservation<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxbP4QJPCaQ5hpAftnvTpC-F7Ow2pIoMKSSBE1ycaq7UuxN4NAvSqvHYnNfIM92Xbxy9-a965BSlKfc-vG-8uIQnJMYgd9I8dkWx4lr8DwPdUa9QT0JConJjiCv_eGHYWuQsAyZViPXwXk/s1600/EarthHome.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 100px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 100px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5555382624507591730" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxbP4QJPCaQ5hpAftnvTpC-F7Ow2pIoMKSSBE1ycaq7UuxN4NAvSqvHYnNfIM92Xbxy9-a965BSlKfc-vG-8uIQnJMYgd9I8dkWx4lr8DwPdUa9QT0JConJjiCv_eGHYWuQsAyZViPXwXk/s200/EarthHome.jpg" /></a>Recently I was asked to help a military base launch an energy conservation campaign. Since most base residents are not responsible for the cost of their utility bills, this proved to be an enormous challenge, but I discovered that the challenge goes far beyond economics. Most residents only live on base for a few months, so the base is only a transition in their life, a place to pass through, and the care and attention often dedicated toward "home" can be lacking. How do you convince people to "do the right thing" (turn down the heat, shut a window, put on extra layers -- ultimately be uncomfortable) when their home is little more than a pass-through place anyway?<br /><br />One of my business associates lives in an old high-rise apartment. Last week during a particularly bitter coldsnap, she proclaimed that she had to put the heat up to 80 degrees when she got home so she felt "comfortable." (I discovered she wears short sleeves and shorts much of the winter).<br /><br />"There are better ways to keep warm," I suggested, "put on an extra layer."<br /><br />She wasn't convinced. "I don't have to pay for the heat or air anyway," she told us. "And the landlord hasn't done anything to fix the windows. There are drafts everywhere." It wasn't a place she necessarily cared about, felt any responsibility toward, and shrug, she didn't see what difference her small sacrifices would make anyway.<br /><br />I wonder if "energy conservation" is only possible when we live in a place that we consider "home." Perhaps being responsible for the bills is one way to feel that we're home, but it goes far deeper than that. If our contributions seem pointless, it makes it more difficult to conserve, and if we don't care much about where we are, the sacrifice doesn't seem relevant. Perhaps we need to find ways (economically, psychologically, spiritually) of making people feel at home on this earth if we are to create the sense of care and responsibility necessary to ensure the sustainability of our planet. <span style="font-size:78%;"><em>Photo courtesy of </em></span><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/rickjames330/"><span style="font-size:78%;"><em>rickjames330</em></span></a><div class="blogger-post-footer">For more on the IMPORTANCE OF PLACE: www.importanceofplace.com</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4561675145459912306.post-15764526285599700632010-12-22T10:59:00.000-05:002010-12-22T10:55:52.911-05:00Social Media: Coming to the Rescue of Downtowns<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTGeWYWbefi0bQLcCE9CfCTeAr1NjxSxM0sDjx-BeEoxy8l_Lxjwsxr9-UZTKSZRdGCZaKabbjnpgntvCCAMaSLpYcNfE4v72rmwYkPuObVIduhiysTwojUNs3bnnBtMrZOqvX2d39bctQ/s1600/Photos+5-4-06+114.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5553534647435400866" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTGeWYWbefi0bQLcCE9CfCTeAr1NjxSxM0sDjx-BeEoxy8l_Lxjwsxr9-UZTKSZRdGCZaKabbjnpgntvCCAMaSLpYcNfE4v72rmwYkPuObVIduhiysTwojUNs3bnnBtMrZOqvX2d39bctQ/s200/Photos+5-4-06+114.jpg" /></a> In the past it cost a great deal in advertising dollars to promote our downtowns and draw crowds to our events, but tools like facebook, if used appropriately, can do this for a fraction of the cost and can help create the buzz and vitality that make places come alive.<br /><br /><div>Recently I worked with Corey Brown at <a href="http://www.brightcowork.com/">Bright Cowork </a>to turn downtown Winchester's static website into a <a href="http://www.oldtownwinchesterva.com/">site</a> that constantly gives friends and fans news and updates about downtown happenings. Any time an event or news item is posted to the site, it automatically posts to our <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Old-Town-Winchester-VA/101412546584079">facebook</a> and twitter feeds as well. Without spending any money on advertising, our fan base has grown to 433 in less than two months, and Old Town Winchester has seen a 25% increase in event participation. </div><br /><div>Once we start advertising on facebook, with targeted ads geared toward specific geographic areas, we know that our fan base will grow into the thousands and, as a result, more and more people will be drawn to see our wonderful restaurants, shops, historic attractions, and events. Far from being a destroyer of human interaction and community, as many contend, social media has come to our rescue and promises to help dramatically in revitalizing historic Winchester.</div><div class="blogger-post-footer">For more on the IMPORTANCE OF PLACE: www.importanceofplace.com</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4561675145459912306.post-25786958715538284072010-12-09T06:46:00.003-05:002010-12-09T12:53:51.130-05:00What Makes a Place a Great Place?<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_0NqThUbiNbfCxHy8DSi_VieU8QGesA76rq3-0ES0nfauzov0bzI1KOs1WqiHz2nuTfNB6ilFfLXzDvaJqDYb2HjPoXQHjB-h6Kje_UfStPawnTkzZL-y_ZofZoOw5zuFx5jbkl4h1DuO/s1600/Chile+013.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5548739153640294098" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_0NqThUbiNbfCxHy8DSi_VieU8QGesA76rq3-0ES0nfauzov0bzI1KOs1WqiHz2nuTfNB6ilFfLXzDvaJqDYb2HjPoXQHjB-h6Kje_UfStPawnTkzZL-y_ZofZoOw5zuFx5jbkl4h1DuO/s200/Chile+013.jpg" /></a>Every year, the <strong>American Planning Association</strong> unveils <a href="http://www.planning.org/greatplaces/index.htm">Great Places in America </a>-- "30 places with a true sense of place, noteworthy character, community involvement, resilience, and a vision for the future." APA has specific criteria about what makes neighborhoods, streets, and public places truly great, and these are worth sharing because they help define what makes place Place.<br /><br />What sets a <strong>Great Neighborhood</strong> apart from a non-Neighborhood? A Great Neighborhood:<br /><ul><li>Has a <strong>variety</strong> of functional attributes that contribute to a resident's day-to-day living (i.e. residential, commercial, or mixed-uses).</li><li>Accommodates <strong>multi-modal transportation</strong> (i.e. pedestrians, bicyclists, drivers). </li><li>Has design and architectural features that are visually <strong>interesting</strong>.</li><li>Encourages human contact and <strong>social activities.</strong> </li><li>Promotes <strong>community involvement</strong> and maintains a <strong>secure</strong> environment. </li><li>Promotes <strong>sustainability</strong> and responds to climatic demands. </li><li>Has a <strong>memorable</strong> character. </li></ul><p>What are the characteristics of a <strong>Great Street</strong>? </p><ul><li>Provides <strong>orientation</strong> to its users. </li><li>Balances the competing needs of the street — driving, transit, walking, cycling, servicing, parking, drop-offs, etc. </li><li>Fits the <strong>topography </strong>and capitalizes on natural features. </li><li>Is lined with a variety of interesting activities and creates a <strong>varied streetscape</strong>.</li><li>Has urban design or architectural features that are <strong>exemplary in design</strong>.</li><li>Relates well to its bordering uses — allows for <strong>continuous activity</strong>, doesn't displace pedestrians to provide access to bordering uses. </li><li>Encourages <strong>human contact</strong> and social activities. </li><li>Employs hardscape and/or landscape to great effect. </li><li>Promotes <strong>safety</strong> of pedestrians and vehicles and promotes use over the 24-hour day. </li><li>Promotes <strong>sustainability</strong> through minimizing runoff, reusing water, ensuring groundwater quality, minimizing heat islands, and responding to climatic demands. </li><li>Is <strong>well maintained</strong>, and capable of being maintained without excessive costs. </li><li>Has a <strong>memorable </strong>character. </li></ul>Finally, what are the characteristics of a <strong>Great Public Space</strong>?<br /><ul><li>Promotes <strong>human contact</strong> and social activities. </li><li>Is <strong>safe</strong>, <strong>welcoming</strong>, and accommodating for all users. </li><li>Has design and architectural features that are visually <strong>interesting</strong>. </li><li>Promotes community <strong>involvement</strong>.</li><li>Reflects the <strong>local culture or history</strong>. </li><li>Relates well to bordering uses. </li><li>Is well maintained. </li><li>Has a <strong>unique or special character</strong>. </li></ul><p>It is noteworthy that whether judging a street, a neighborhood, or a public space, APA looks for <strong>memorability and the fostering of social engagement</strong>. For more on APA's guidelines for great places and neighborhoods, visit <a href="http://www.planning.org/">http://www.planning.org/</a>.<br /></p><div class="blogger-post-footer">For more on the IMPORTANCE OF PLACE: www.importanceofplace.com</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4561675145459912306.post-80619193063874826512010-12-07T08:29:00.003-05:002010-12-09T12:36:45.336-05:00The Wisdom of Tuscany<em>"Would the world not be a better place if we could, like many Tuscans, bequeath our children a piece of fertile land, a modest house, basic life skills, and a tightly knit community that gives us identity, self respect and pride?"</em><br />Ferenc Mate, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Wisdom-Tuscany-Simplicity-Security-Good/dp/0920256651">The Wisdom of Tuscany</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">For more on the IMPORTANCE OF PLACE: www.importanceofplace.com</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4561675145459912306.post-91086273980997574252010-09-29T07:00:00.002-04:002010-09-29T08:53:43.584-04:00Thoughts on Ghost Towns<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQYY-MS7RFIm8J6SghX1DXUmMzP7u8dMFwLaPe7EIip97zJs-0k88_9H0z-_jUgOcyCR42Bw2O5gFQgvdjU7swodwu47byy2UgrywR8ofPShA0X8SrCmRMFxNCbm3bmbDMuX7FyDSusz1K/s1600/Marilyn's+Pics+042.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521976171877591282" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQYY-MS7RFIm8J6SghX1DXUmMzP7u8dMFwLaPe7EIip97zJs-0k88_9H0z-_jUgOcyCR42Bw2O5gFQgvdjU7swodwu47byy2UgrywR8ofPShA0X8SrCmRMFxNCbm3bmbDMuX7FyDSusz1K/s200/Marilyn's+Pics+042.jpg" /></a>Not long ago, we visited the ghost town of <a href="http://www.bodie.com/">Bodie, California</a>. Desolate, chill, and empty now, the town was once notorious as the "wildest town in the West," boasting 10,000 residents, and producing over $35 million in gold and silver in the span of ten years.<br /><br />Looking into the once raucous bars, hotel rooms and school houses of this abandoned world, I realized how easily Places can be lost. Without any other industry but mining to provide jobs, Bodie residents fled to other areas when the gold ran out, leaving their ramshackle houses and belongings behind. It is the same phenomenon that has happened to many once wonderful Places around our country -- small towns when small farming died away . . . old town centers when the malls were built on the edge . . . cities like Detroit when their main industry disappeared.<br /><br />Bodie wasn't built to be sustainable I suppose. The houses were slapped up overnight and the weather at that high, dry, remote elevation is not meant for pleasant living. It was built as a short-term place where vast sums of money could be made fast. Perhaps building around short-term gains is a precursor to building No Place, but aside from choosing to build in locations appropriate for the long term, perhaps one of the best things that we can do as a nation, as leaders of our towns and cities, or as concerned citizens to sustain our beloved Places is to ensure they continue to have the diversified industry and progressive foresight to avoid the fate of Bodie.<div class="blogger-post-footer">For more on the IMPORTANCE OF PLACE: www.importanceofplace.com</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4561675145459912306.post-5347145727321280942010-09-27T07:07:00.001-04:002010-09-28T10:44:45.199-04:00Poetry Fence<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimlSvwaKJDkpTfW8dOJeKuvVff_jN8olsRTgp7HbqtpCe84y9zPcUjdCqQ5AaWbvJoDxAk1HLYD2hUZ97uQo-BazuMdBlNvjsxUf7TKly9CgJS65NnOIM2zmUsWGfc5We8dnEqkFyYceEh/s1600/PoetryFence.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 149px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5520159920602983346" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimlSvwaKJDkpTfW8dOJeKuvVff_jN8olsRTgp7HbqtpCe84y9zPcUjdCqQ5AaWbvJoDxAk1HLYD2hUZ97uQo-BazuMdBlNvjsxUf7TKly9CgJS65NnOIM2zmUsWGfc5We8dnEqkFyYceEh/s200/PoetryFence.JPG" /></a>One of our Del Ray neighbors created something only possible in a real Place.<br /><br />On their fence, along the sidewalk where we ride bikes, jog, walk dogs, and push strollers, they've tacked up their favorite poems. Passersby are invited to pause for a moment to read something beautiful, and if they are so inclined, write a comment underneath with a pen hanging from a string. It's a concept like facebook, but somehow the shady trees, the smell of garden tomatoes, and the folksy hand-written comments make all the difference. I find myself going out of my way to stop by as the poetry varies by the season, the suggestions of neighbors, and the whim of the fence owner.<br /><br />It's the kind of care and attention to detail that has made Del Ray the special place that it is.<div class="blogger-post-footer">For more on the IMPORTANCE OF PLACE: www.importanceofplace.com</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4561675145459912306.post-39829177332332402512010-09-24T07:07:00.004-04:002010-09-24T07:07:00.277-04:00Paw Paws<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi9P0AxdNPXOx8ppJRu7VDdcbBgQ-3GcyTxGp2r8PYyhj8KCqdUUhrzj8XyCpmZo5eMhFSnOwD8JF1tj7gFJpwYupTd3WAHAGVyPjA1vtc5sY1aj4zTWPYQbzK4Ry85lqjHxNKmqQscEJ2/s1600/Pawpaw.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 132px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5520139198479538274" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi9P0AxdNPXOx8ppJRu7VDdcbBgQ-3GcyTxGp2r8PYyhj8KCqdUUhrzj8XyCpmZo5eMhFSnOwD8JF1tj7gFJpwYupTd3WAHAGVyPjA1vtc5sY1aj4zTWPYQbzK4Ry85lqjHxNKmqQscEJ2/s200/Pawpaw.jpg" /></a>Needing to clear my head last Friday after a particularly hectic week, I took a long walk into the woods behind our Loudoun house. My mind buzzed with errands to run, reports to write, clients to call so I wasn't particularly aware of the sky, the trees, or the creek.<br /><br />Until I stumbled upon a <strong><a href="http://http//www.watersheds.org/nature/pawpaw.htm">paw-paw</a></strong>. It surprised me -- the cool green fruit in the late summer leaves so far from anything cultivated. When I bent to pick it up, it felt soft and ripe in my hands and the fruit inside, when I cracked it open, had that familiar custard-like sweetness with the big black seeds shiny when I spit them out. There's simply no other taste like a wild paw-paw, and I remembered again that I was in Virginia, on an old carriage road along a creek bottom that had been used for centuries by homesteaders long before I was born.<br /><br />Funny how taste brings Place alive. To this day, the tang of a green apple ignites sharp memories of my childhood home in Western New York where we used to pick bushels for apple pies. Unfortunately, the green apples from the supermarket don't spark the same memories --the perfect, waxed, refrigerated orbs taste like Any Place, without the pungence created from the earth and sun, worms and ants, rain and sky.<div class="blogger-post-footer">For more on the IMPORTANCE OF PLACE: www.importanceofplace.com</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4561675145459912306.post-12663006453230946412010-09-23T12:01:00.000-04:002010-09-23T13:46:22.360-04:00Love at First Sight<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCZSIpYVmENGeLVmE9bE8VrRQNwP56EVKdbi1DDbSMHydja6jQztoeeI6kuH3byWWiwAuoiFSO9V7Jw4b4IWnwHfunyvIBOZuxMsfe1XJBgqyCzdQi5HQcX4x0xHeXECKLkKmscFDMsgHm/s1600/Unison_Sky.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5520081527575664002" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCZSIpYVmENGeLVmE9bE8VrRQNwP56EVKdbi1DDbSMHydja6jQztoeeI6kuH3byWWiwAuoiFSO9V7Jw4b4IWnwHfunyvIBOZuxMsfe1XJBgqyCzdQi5HQcX4x0xHeXECKLkKmscFDMsgHm/s200/Unison_Sky.jpg" /></a><em>"You can fall in love </em><div><em>on first sight </em></div><div><em>with a Place </em></div><div><em>as well as a person."</em></div><br /><div><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alec_Waugh">Alec Waugh</a></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">For more on the IMPORTANCE OF PLACE: www.importanceofplace.com</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0