That’s the premise of a community forum that will be held Monday night at the Washington Center for the Performing Arts. The Project for Public Spaces, a New York-based nonprofit, will facilitate the forum, which the city is hosting.
“It’s an opportunity to engage everyone as problem-solvers and visionaries in shaping their community,” Ethan Kent, the nonprofit’s vice president, said in a telephone interview. His comments were brief, as he was reached yesterday evening in Stockholm, Sweden.
The group has worked worldwide to make urban spaces more appealing, from Pioneer Square in Portland to Times Square in New York. The city is paying the nonprofit $5,000 to bring the group to Olympia and train city leaders, according to Ruthie Snyder, the city’s downtown liaison.
Kent will meet with key city leaders and tour downtown Monday, Snyder said. Then he will be part of an intensive training session with city leaders on placemaking. He’ll be at the forum, then leave Tuesday.
Snyder said the meeting should be “a lot of fun.” People will have the opportunity to grade different areas of downtown and make suggestions for improvement.
“I think the biggest thing is really for the community to take a look at … the existing public spaces, publicly owned property in the downtown and really stand back and see whether or not they’re truly welcoming and safe for everybody,” she said.
The forum is part of the city’s nine-month project to improve downtown. Other goals under consideration are:
• Creating an Alcohol Impact Area, a state-designated zone in which cheap, high-alcohol drinks would be banned.
• Developing methods for bars to curb the overserving of patrons.
• Changing the city’s Pedestrian Interference Ordinance, a controversial 2006 measure that bans sitting and lying on portions of sidewalks during certain hours.
“The only way that positive change is going to happen,” Snyder said, “is if you engage the public and you ask them what they want and you ask them what will work.”
Matt Batcheldor: 360-704-6869
mbatcheldor@theolympian.com
