A Network of Public Space Innovation

4 leaders share how visits to other cities inspired new approaches back home

Tonnetta Graham and fellow Learning Network members at the recent Studio in Macon, Georgia. Image credit: Leah Yetter.

Across the country, people are transforming local public spaces in ways that create local value, bring diverse people together and promote sustainability. From Macon’s democratized public planning process to Akron’s collaborative strategy of knitting together formerly disinvested and isolated places, cities are approaching their public spaces from unique angles — and learning valuable lessons that could inspire people working on similar challenges elsewhere.

Since 2016, the Civic Commons Learning Network has brought practitioners with a wide variety of expertise together to learn from one another and see what’s happening on the ground beyond the boundaries of their hometowns. Attendees at Civic Commons Learning Journeys and Studios tour the host cities, hearing from members of that city’s Civic Commons team and other community members about the impactful work on the ground. They also hear from innovative thought leaders working in related fields, further breaking down disciplinary silos.

Today, we feature four stories from participants in these events. They share what inspired them — and how that inspiration impacted their public space work back home.

Tanja Mitchell from Memphis, Tonja Khabir from Macon, Tonnetta Graham from Philadelphia and Wade Johnston from Cincinnati share their stories and the impact of the Civic Commons Learning Network on their cities.

Sharing a meal, uniting a community

Tanja Mitchell, Mitchell Consulting and Uptown neighborhood resident, Memphis

At a Civic Commons Studio in Akron, Ohio, I spent time with residents who were vastly proud of the work done to change the trajectory of their formerly neglected neighborhood. I was most impressed and intrigued with the transformation of Summit Lake. Once an environmentally distressed and dangerous lake near a low-income community, Summit Lake is now a waterfront for all to enjoy. Today, the lake offers amenities such as water-facing seating, fire pits and grills for families, visitors and neighbors.

At the end of the Studio, we were invited to 200 Plates, an intimate dinner on Summit Lake, complete with a unique table covering and dinnerware: not your average dinner by the lake. The event brought together residents, many from low-income neighborhoods, for a shared meal on a lake that previously caused trauma for many families. The meal was prepared by residents representing each of Akron’s neighborhoods. Each family was tasked with providing a family recipe. The recipes were printed on plates, and we were able to keep the plates as a souvenir. The attention to detail and “food prepared with love” (a Southern term) made the event one to remember.

Handwritten family recipes were a highlight of the 200 Plates dinner at Summit Lake. Image credit: Tim Fitzwater.

The pride on the faces of the residents was both inspiring and motivating. It reminded me of the work we’ve done in Memphis on a major redevelopment project in my neighborhood. Formerly known as Hurt Village, my neighborhood was once one of the most dangerous public housing facilities in the city and, like Summit Lake, it also has a rich transformative history. When I returned from the Studio, I was motivated to plan a smaller, similar event named 100 Plates in my neighborhood. We transformed an open green space, the actual site of the former Hurt Village housing projects, into an intimate dining experience for market-rate and public housing residents, developers and private partners. We hired a small, family-owned soul food restaurant to cater the event. To add a special touch, we rented white table linens and dinnerware. Our families, most of whom cannot afford fine dining, were overjoyed, and felt valued, a human need.

At that time and without a doubt, we decided to make this Civic Commons Akron-inspired event an annual tradition in Uptown Memphis. The power of a shared meal with a diverse group of individuals has the potential to ignite, transform and unite a community.

Memphians enjoying a meal together in their public space, inspired by Tanja’s experience in Akron. Image courtesy Tanja Mitchell.

Culturally centered collaboration

Tonja Khabir, Jones Cafe, Macon

Pleasant Hill is a historic African American neighborhood located just one mile from downtown Macon. Like so many other Black neighborhoods across the United States, Pleasant Hill was split in two with the construction of the interstate highway system in the 20th century. Today, an expansion of Interstate 75 is creating pathways for reinvestment in the historic neighborhood, including through Reimagining the Civic Commons.

Our signature project works to expand the Ocmulgee Heritage Trail system through Pleasant Hill by creating a pathway, both literally and figuratively, to improve public safety, public health and financial outcomes for residents in the neighborhood. Studies show that improving public space can increase public health and safety. And our objective is to work collaboratively to drive that change.

Neighborhood residents and Learning Network members enjoyed Ella Fitzgerald Park during the 2018 gathering. Image credit: Bree Gant.

I remember my first Reimagining the Civic Commons visit in 2018 to a Studio in Detroit. I was really moved by the work being done to improve neighborhoods like Fitzgerald and the McNichols corridor. The team that included the City of Detroit and the Live6 organization worked collaboratively to enhance quality of life for neighborhood residents through development and revitalization. Challenged with “blight,” Detroit has taken on a major remediation effort that has responded to vacancy and abandonment with programming and intentional development that supports revitalization initiatives, placemaking through improved parks and urban gardens and, my favorite, sustainable commercial corridors.

What I loved about Detroit was the active participation from resident leaders who were engaged at various levels of the process. It could be seen in results, because the work felt culturally centered in a dynamic that was unique to this place.

In Macon, we have a similar momentum. Residents like Erion Smith, president of the Pleasant Hill Neighborhood Organization, Tedra Huston, executive director of the Macon-Bibb County Community Enhancement Authority, DSTO Moore, photographer, and business owners like me have worked in various ways to mobilize and engage other residents, community members and homeowners of all ages to be vocal participants in this process of neighborhood revitalization. Through a resident-driven strategic planning effort, we have gathered critical feedback that has informed our project.

Watch this video essay about the transformation of Walnut Street and Clayton Street in the Pleasant Hill neighborhood of Macon, Georgia. Video courtesy Bike Walk Macon.

Stakeholders have also been very important to this process. Partners like Bike Walk Macon, led by Rachel Umana, NewTown Macon, represented by Josh Rogers, and Macon-Bibb County, represented by Alex Morrison and Robert Walker, have been instrumental in bringing strategic design and urban planning to the effort. The project also would not be complete without expert advice from people like Michael Glisson of Parks and Beautification, Wimberly Treadwell of W.T. Designs and Bill Causey of Causey and Associates.

Recently, our team was awarded a grant from the State of Georgia in the amount of $1.375 million to provide enhancements to Linear Park. The park, initially created by the Georgia Department of Transportation, lacked decent areas of shading, consistent seating and safe pathways into the park. Our exploration during the Reimagining the Civic Commons process allowed us to identify items to improve that will enhance the space and its usage. As a result, we will be able to add programming, irrigation, improved sidewalk design, traffic calming measures, large shade trees and structures like pavilions, as well as improve the basketball court.

For me, the experience has been a meaningful opportunity to further engage my community and to work with local partners to generate positive change in a sustainable way. The past five years have been a challenging yet pleasurable learning journey.

Civic Commons Learning Network participants visiting Linear Park during Civic Commons Studio #7 in Macon, Ga. Image credit: Leah Yetter.

Beautifying neighborhoods, creatively

Tonnetta Graham, Strawberry Mansion CDC, Philadelphia

I love to use the Civic Commons Studios and Learning Journeys to “steal ideas,” and one that I’m happily taking back to Strawberry Mansion is the idea of beautifying neighborhood crosswalks. Many cities in the Civic Commons Learning Network have beautified crosswalks to create a sense of place and encourage engagement, connection and creativity among neighbors. I saw one inspirational example of this at the intersection of Walnut Street and Clayton Street in Macon, Georgia.

Bike Walk Macon and local residents collaborated on street calming efforts like this painted crosswalk in the Plesaant Hill neighborhood of Macon, Georgia. Image courtesy Bike Walk Macon.

There are 10 main corridors that connect my neighborhood to East Fairmount Park, and these corridors would benefit from some visual intervention. This spring, the Strawberry Mansion CDC (SMCDC) partnered with local artist group Amber Art & Design to engage residents in the design and painting of crosswalks that serve as the primary entry points from the neighborhood into the park. Together, we hosted four idea-sharing and design charrettes in April at intersections leading to the park’s Mander Recreation Center and Boxers’ Trail. Community members shared their ideas by drawing and coloring images they wanted to portray in the artwork. The crosswalks will be painted in collaboration with the Philadelphia Streets Department at community paint days in the fall.

Tonnetta Graham, the Amber Art & Design team and a =concept design for 32nd Street and Dauphin Street. The design incorporates feedback to reflect the creativity and magic in the hands of school children and the vibrant spirit of the community. Images courtesy Strawberry Mansion CDC and Amber Art & Design.

Reimagining the Civic Commons has reinforced how important the SMCDC’s partnerships are for achieving our community’s goals. This insight inspired the volunteer workday held in May at the Strawberry Mansion Green Resource Center, a community garden located at a busy intersection that leads into the park. The SMCDC partnered with Fairmount Park Conservancy, Braskem and the Philadelphia Eagles on a clean-up effort that drew 40 volunteers to plant and weed, collect trash and add four new benches to this community garden that has long needed attention and investment. A second phase of the work in October will focus on leveling the garden, creating new garden beds and installing additional benches.

Drawing inspiration from travels to sister cities in the Civic Commons Learning Network, the Strawberry Mansion CDC is bringing beauty, safety and a sense of place to the connections between East Fairmount Park and the Strawberry Mansion neighborhood.

Hardworking volunteers from Strawberry Mansion CDC, Fairmount Park Conservancy, Braskem and the Philadelphia Eagles participated in a community garden cleanup in the neighborhood. Image courtesy Fairmount Park Conservancy.

Resident-led pilot projects

Wade Johnston, Tri-State Trails, Cincinnati

My organization is working to create a multi-use paved trail that links three public spaces along the Mill Creek in Cincinnati. The public spaces are Salway Park in Northside, Lick Run Greenway in South Fairmount and Evans Field in Lower Price Hill. This effort is part of our long-term vision to form a 34-mile urban trail loop around Cincinnati, known as the CROWN.

Aerial of the Mill Creek Greenway which will eventually be part of the CROWN. Image courtesy Tri-State Trails.

We were inspired by Akron’s strategy for investments in Summit Lake, particularly how the Akron team uses pilot projects and collaborates with the local community. Tri-State Trails is working with residents and community organizations in each neighborhood along the Mill Creek to identify pilot projects that can inform permanent investments. We convene a bimonthly Mill Creek Working Group that brings together all the neighborhoods and stakeholders. To select pilot projects for each neighborhood, we’ve also formed smaller working groups that center residents’ voices in the decision-making process.

The beachhead at Summit Lake in Akron, Ohio was originally conceived as a temporary pilot project. Image credit Tim Fitzwater.

This project has been in the works for roughly six months, and we’re in the process of selecting projects to implement for $5,000 or less. Our partners include organizations like Working in Neighborhoods, Northsiders Engaged in Sustainable Transformation, Community Learning Center Institute, Mill Creek Alliance, Green Umbrella, and Groundwork Ohio River Valley. We worked together to generate a list of projects that were identified in recent community engagement efforts. We then shared these lists with our Mill Creek Working Group to get their feedback and give residents and stakeholders an opportunity to offer new ideas. Next, we culled the list to include only projects that were feasible within our budget and timeline. We then brought the short list of projects back to the neighborhoods for feedback and, through focused conversations in each community, we selected several projects.

A common theme that emerged in each neighborhood was to organize a community clean-up day on the trail. Due to its circuitous route, lack of signage and the overgrown honeysuckle in some sections, many residents of South Cumminsville and Northside don’t know that the Mill Creek Trail already connects to their neighborhoods. Organizing a community clean-up day will engage residents in removing invasive species, which will raise awareness about the trail (and the need for investment) while helping to inspire a sense of ownership for this public space. We’ll have some fun, too, with food and community.

Chris Smyth of the Common Orchard Project with local residents and volunteers worked to clear brush and plant new fruit trees at an existing community orchard along the Mill Creek Greenway. Images courtesy Tri-State Trails.

Reimagining the Civic Commons is a collaboration of The JPB Foundation, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, The Kresge Foundation, William Penn Foundation, and local partners.