Design places that show up in photo albums and social media feeds
Planners & engineers need to think about the human experience of their infrastructure "improvements." Plan for picture-worthy memories.
My family had Slide Show Night when I was growing up. Not every Saturday, but a whole bunch of Saturdays. My sister and I each wanted to be the one in charge of loading the carousel. During the show, there’d be a few landscapes or skylines taken during vacations, but almost all the shots were up close. My dad wasn’t a professional photographer, but his images captured faces, gestures, and decorations. These were the memory triggers for us. (In hindsight, it was probably part of what got me into street photography.)
Eventually, my sister and I were given our own cameras. We’d spend our own money buying and developing film. We basically documented our Gen X life: playing in the woods, sledding, beach trips, birthday parties, and even selfies. (I shot a 24-exposure roll of me being stupid free climbing on Pikes Peak in Colorado.)
When I graduated college and started working on transportation studies, I still had a camera nearby. It seemed natural to shoot study areas before and after team meetings. A funny thing happened when I’d put together slide shows for project reports. I kept noticing two distinct types of picture: the charming local ingredient (e.g. historic train caboose), and the oppressive transportation ingredient (e.g. wide arterial with turn lanes on all corners).
I’d think back to what it was like standing in those streets and recall how dangerous it felt getting those shots to document the transportation “improvements.” Professional planners and engineers were defining success in ways that didn’t make sense when you looked at the pictures I took of the study areas. Infrastructure projects were being executed in ways that prevented residents and visitors from taking a comfortable walk around town.
What is it about a place that makes people reach for a camera so they can preserve memories?
What makes people hang out and spend money?
What makes a place irresistible?
Professionals are so focused on technical requirements and local processes, they forget what the average person is looking for: a bench in the shade, a fountain, or a plaza for people-watching.
Professionals create infrastructure that makes or breaks bonds between friends, families, and strangers. It’s paramount to understand the context of our work.
“Irresistible” isn’t a term I’m using for some poetic sensibility. It’s a north star for you to turn an ordinary project into a place that’s loveable, enticing, and incapable of being withstood.
Business loves foot traffic and bicycle traffic, but local regulations prohibit foot traffic and bicycle traffic. Regulations treat your downtown’s Main Street as part of a car trip, turning a potentially vibrant place into a mechanized action without soul. Rush hour analysis is the fundamental reason for blight in cities across America. Parks, petting zoos, urban gardens, farmers markets, sidewalk cafes—tell me something that people would enjoy and I’ll show you a professional traffic study claiming the good idea should never happen.
If you make decisions according to industry norms, your downtown will be easy to resist. Regulations and permitting are anchored to car-oriented engineering, and that anchor will sink you.
Millennials want walkable, bikeable downtowns. Baby Boomers want walkable, bikeable downtowns. Surveys consistently show all life forms thrive in walkable, bikeable downtowns. These are the places we see on family Slide Show Night (or your social media equivalent).
If you’re in the infrastructure business, please, plan infrastructure for human experiences. Consider how people of all ages are going to interact with each other and with their environment, and then (only then!) design the infrastructure.
The internet is loaded with friendly people who would love to exchange ideas with you about irresistible places. Check out hashtags like #tacticalurbanism, #placemaking, and #happycity.
Legendary musician Frank Zappa said “without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible.” That absolutely applies to planners and engineers working to create a lovable, enticing downtown.