Alternatives
The Convention Center way of thinking is _________________ [fill this in yourself].
What kind of develpment would bring real life to Anchorage?
Functions of a City
Learning
Entertainment
Diversity and choice
Conversation and dialogue
Adventure and excitement
-- Economics and money-making
-- Safety and comfort
Spiritual inspiration
Anonymity and privacy
-- Transportation
Justice
Culture and art
Checked items are those which our leaders and ourselves adequately fulfill; the others are vast areas of parking-
lot-like desolation.
Creating Livable Streets and Vibrant Communities
“The environment which I feel to be the natural one, the situation which has been assigned to me as my fate, the things that happen to me day after day, the things that claim me day after day--these contain my essential tasks and such fulfillment of existence as is open to me....It is a greater thing if the streets of a man’s native town are as bright to him as the paths of heaven. For it is here, where we stand, that we should try to make shine the light of the hidden divine life.”
Martin Buber, The Way of Man
“To tap the creative wealth of a city, we must establish processes that allow new ideas to be developed and tried out at the local level. This means handing responsibility for problems back to the community and allowing them to evolve their own solutions. They certainly will not come up with creative solutions while some government department accepts responsibility and pretends that it has the solutions.” 171
“At different stages of our development and different seasons of our life we need different types of ‘archetypical places.’ As children we need a variety of places: secret places, places where we can practice place making, paces to develop citizenship skills, places to take risks, places to develop physical coordination. As adults we also need a variety of places: places that connect us back to our childhood; places to people-watch; in times of grief, places of solitude and the soothing sound of water; and in our old age, places to ponder and share our wisdom.” 168
“We are yet to discover how the altruism, creativity, and resourcefulness of citizens can be deliberately tapped as a way of solving problems and making our cities better places to live.” 170
from Street Reclaiming: Creating Livable Streets and Vibrant Communities, by David Engwicht (1999)
“We no longer see the city as the crucible for evolving more noble life. It is a machine for producing consumer goods, and we are cogs in that machine. Children, the elderly, and the marginalized are not productive cogs.” 41
“The greatness of any city can be judged b y how well it integrates those on the margins into community life.” 52
“Everything we build--from our individual house to large cities—contains a ‘body langugage’ that tells us about our beliefs, values, and mythologies.”
from
Street Reclaiming,
David Engwicht
Create a COMMUNITY BILL OF RIGHTS
Stop lobbying Washington for new dollops of federal pork, and instead insist on the legal and political power necessary to create a rich soil for homegrown enterprises.
The principles governing economic life today are a disgrace. An important first step for a community commited to self-reliance is a public conversation. The entire community, and especially its local entrepreneurs, should participate in a series of meetings that culminate in a statement of economic principles and practices—a Community Bill of Rights. This document should elucidate what constitues community-friendly business and consumer behavior, and be distributed to every household. A citizen board might review the performance of local business, and each year award Good Community-keeping Seals of Approval to responsible firms....To earn the seal, a business might be required to file a comprehensive public report on its performance each year.
A Community Bill of Rights accomplishes several goals. It enables residents to assert, fundamentally, that ends come before means—that businesses are welcome only if they serve the community. It creates a set of public norms about commercial behavior that protects the public and provides fair notice to corporations. Community-friendly corporations will get a commercial advantage over unfriendly ones, and unfriendly ones will be inclined to go elsewhere.
From Going Local: Creating Self-Reliant Communities In a Global Age, by Michael Shuman (2000)
A Pattern Language
Pattern 45, Necklace of Community Projects
by Christopher Alexander
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