Placemaking Workshop: Crime Prevention through Design and Placemaking (Magnolia and Railroad) October 4, 2012

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1 Placemaking Workshop: Crime Prevention through Design and Placemaking (Magnolia and Railroad) October 4, 2012 TOTAL ATTENDEES = ~13 SITE A. - INTERSECTION OF MAGNOLIA AND CORNWALL Open - can see. Needs maintenance. Food Not Bombs, hotdog cart - they add life to a pretty dead corner. Old trees. Clear pedestrian route & remodel intersection corners; mature trees Central location Large building, hot dog stand Colorful benches and banners, remove/replace awning, fix lighting, add window. Add temporary planters, temp art/sculptures, benches and tables (picture of benches built into planters) Encourage micro-commerce by placing rentable kiosks/seating at the larger corners Paint Rite Aid and awning; peeling and rusting; burnt out lightbulbs (fix lights/light covers missing) Street vendor, BusCar (WWU), wall sculpture, hop scotch, dance steps, quality awnings (Rite Aid), comfortable lighting, music, international sayings. Remove cement boxes. Put the library in the Federal Building, maintenance agreements for outdoor space Swap a bank for a brewery; set up permanent food carts for sidewalk; add seating and sculpture, planters, fruit vendors Encourage evening activities and improve eyes on the street New modern bicycle stand; make Federal Bld social activities center/mix use w. library No banks, more food carts, planter boxes

2 Ask someone what they like or dislike or would do to improve Better bike racks; colorful benches Remove news bins and concrete barriers containing them. Clean up area along Rite Aid Colorful benches/banners Central, protestors, food not bombs (Fridays), upgrade awnings, remove cement boxes Peoples Bank - outside artwork. Chase - plant some plants! Transition Whatcom & their transition design grants, Parklet / pocket park project, Commissary/fiamma as food cart incubator, Altility Studio (Aaron Lovett - artist/sculpture) Chase/People's Bank - importance of visibility to the street. More transparency. Get banks involved (x2) Group A Highlights Like: clean, save and visibility, sidewalk and crosswalk, trees LQC: remove concrete around news boxes (or paint), take advantage of activism on this corner - - provide amenities such as soap box, temporary seating (consult w. nearby property owners). "Free Speech Corner". Encourage Rite Aid to sell plants outside. Replace light bulbs and clean trash cans and sidewalk. Maintain / review café seating. Convert Federal Building to the new library. Add awning (retail, art) Potential partnerships with banks (replace tinted windows), local art to add interest to street, WWU (federal building), chalk art festival / other programming. SITE B. - MAGNOILA CORRIDOR BETWEEN RITE AID & EVERYDAY MUSIC Potential. Unobstructed corridor between places, but ½ block is blank. Access to transit, recently paved alley, brick wall Mix of types of business, close to bus station and post office

3 Location, well-lit, trees, wider sidewalks, awning Wide sidewalk, trees, transit, well lit, alley good potential, signs for parking Maintenance. Sweeping, cleaning, etc. It is dirty near Rite Aid Interactive mural on wall, better signs on business, Bite exchange or party?, outdoor seating or restaurant, string lights on the trees, alley concert? Plants, new awning on smoke shop, outside tables at Stone Pot, food cart, newspaper stands, smoke shop - sell magazines and books, tire pump for bikes, bike storage for bus riders Talk with business owners to ask loiterers to move on. Planters along Rite Aid wall. Posting spot on Rite Aid Bike racks, engage Rite Aid manager, paint walls, wash trash can, bike locker, skim coat over faux stone, add some historic photos on Rite Aid wall, interactive mural Rite Aid - the physical business is not only uninviting, but actively drive people to move on through. Windors or something awesome in the Rite Aid wall. Wider sidewalk, mixed use building to get eyes on the street. Windows on the Rite Aid wall Handling the loiterers. Posting spots and planters, lighten up awnings, punch holes in Rite Aid, enlarge and plant tree wells Ask someone what they like or dislike or would do to improve Music, lots of info, color, flowers Happy with it Food carts, Rite Aid - sell plants?, partner with banks, street sweep along edge, lighten bank windows. Everyday Music - outdoor concerts. Allied Arts - mural. Food carts in front of Rite Aid Parklet in front of Rite Aid Hub - bike rack Rite Aid - buskers, not panhandlers, WWU musicians, Whatcom Volunteer Center.

4 Group B Highlights Like awning, store mix, wide sidewalks, trees, transit, Federal Building, alley improvements LQC: Plants (especially around trees), Clean up awnings, restaurant sidewalk seating, nicer bike racks / lockers for bus riders, mural/interactive art along Rite Aid wall. Enforce no smoking ban Parklets, food carts. Long term: improve awnings at Rite Aid, add windows, actively manage the corner Hub - potential partner for bike racks, Rite Aid SITE C. - INTERSECTION OF MAGNOLIA AND RAILROAD WTA plaza, public art, trees, bulbed sidewalks The sculpture; variety of businesses within 1 block Info kiosks, paint bollards & power boxes, hold events at WTA plaza, food carts, outside seating at Taco Del Mar Encourage cart vendors; decorate the bollards - have each one painted by groups of elementary or junior high children in themed designs. Encourage record shops building owners to redevelop - upper-level residential Highlight the crosswalks somehow: replace the intersection crosswalks pavement with brickwork; put street names in brass inset in the corner sidewalks Ask someone what they like or dislike or would do to improve Like it generally; don't allow u-turns on RR She likes the trees; recommends repainting Avalon building to a more rejuvenating color/design WTA Partner with COB and public schools to paint and maintain the bollards

5 Group C Highlights Like the public art, trees, wide sidewalk. Historic Federal Building. Good bones! LQC: Paint bollards & power boxes (partner w. local schools), outside seating at Everyday Music, Food carts/seats. Events at WTA (ie. Flashmobs) Long term: mixed-use buildings on corners (especially music corners) Limit U-turns around dogbones Partnerships: WTA, record store (spill-out), Taco del Mar OVERALL TRENDS Good pedestrian infrastructure present (ie. Wide sidewalks, awnings, crosswalks, etc) Cleaning, painting and lighting would go a long way towards improvements. Addition of plants. Opening up / activating blank walls = long term goal Capitalize on passing traffic (WTA, activist groups, etc) Encourage business uses (ie. Sidewalk cafes, food/retail carts, active management, retail spillover, bank participation) Opportunities for art: sculpture, murals, etc. Improve bike amenities.