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Cities face many challenges and opportunities as they contend with a volatile economy and shifting trends in how people live, work, and play. This evolving landscape makes strategic planning critical to a city’s ability to successfully meet the rapidly changing needs of its residents. In exploring what makes a city a “great” place to live, Community Playmaker hosted a discussion with a city planning expert and an economic development expert about best practices and changes they see on the horizon.
Jon Jon Wesolowski, a content producer and public speaker known as “The Happy Urbanist” on TikTok and other platforms. He helps cities and organizations engage their communities to make them more walkable.
Amanda Ellis, editor-in-chief of Livability, a leading online resource for people researching potential communities where they’d like to live, work, and play. The Livability platform publishes annual “Best Places to Live” lists and a variety of content about how cities enhance the quality of life for residents.
Jon Jon Wesolowski: One thing everyone seems to have the power to do is veto things. In my neighborhood, the city is creating a thoroughfare for cyclists. This is being funded privately by two foundations. It’s going to drastically slow down traffic in our neighborhood, which is what everyone wants. But what the city is going to hear is, ‘Hey, I’m not a cyclist, why are you doing this?’ If people don’t understand how something is in their best interest, they will first experience change as a threat or a loss. They will resist without understanding the overall picture.
Amanda Ellis: I agree that naysayers are a big challenge. One of the things we talk about is being a ‘Yes in My Backyard’ person, at least some of the time. It doesn’t mean you can’t ever veto a project. But don’t be the person who always says no. Being able to see perspectives besides your own is really helpful in that way. For example, with housing, it seems everyone who already has a house is against building more. And it’s like, ‘well of course, because you’re all set.’
Ellis: I think it’s important to think about the things people care about the most. It’s not just whether a city is attractive or cool, but what are the practical concerns? Can I find a job? Most people are looking at the whole picture. You’re probably not going to move somewhere just for a job if it doesn’t have quality-of-life pieces, like amenities, fun stuff to do, and future opportunities. All these qualities are important pieces of economic development.
Wesolowski: When it comes to reinvesting in a community, you’re always going to feel growing pains. For example, Cincinnati has been able to grow successfully because they created a city development corporation (CDC) that started buying up much of the property in their downtown that was at risk of being demolished, 20 years ago. The 3CDC owns most of the business fronts in their downtown. When you talk to tenants, they have affordable units. Businesses are given options to rent to own. The good news is there are examples of other cities doing this. The bad news is they all started 20 years ago.
We need to create rules for small-scale developers. Would you rather have people who don’t understand the neighborhood buying land and building apartments? How about empowering local people with equity in their houses to split their lot and build something on it?
Ellis: Bend, Oregon, has embraced the accessory dwelling unit idea, and it’s working on other legislation to help encourage people to do that. Their chamber has a resource page that provides information on financing, permitting, and property management for residents.
Wesolowski: Durham, North Carolina, has had two housing movements. The first one in 2019 was called Expanding Housing Choices, and the second one in 2023, titled Simplifying Codes for Affordable Development, has increased density through accessory dwelling units. It also allows for smaller lots. They’ve also unlocked the concept of faith-based housing, which provides more housing and loosens zoning laws on properties with church buildings.
Ellis: You should think of downtowns as your community gathering place, but you have to make it somewhere people want to be, and not because they have to be there for work because a lot of people don’t work in downtown areas anymore. It has to look and feel attractive. The walkability aspect is also important, especially in smaller to mid-sized cities. A great downtown reflects a city’s personality and identity.
Wesolowski: Our downtowns need more people who live there and not focus so much on business. Business is programmatic. It makes downtown areas only busy during the morning and evening rush, with a dead time in the middle of the day. In Europe, what makes a place like Barcelona so appealing is that it’s a place where people live their regular lives. In Chattanooga, we’re leaning into our hospitality side, which is good, but the challenge is when it becomes completely about hospitality. You have to have events that bring people downtown, whereas when people live there, it’s lively by design.
Wesolowski: I would say part of it is zoning. For a destination to be practically walkable, you’ve got to make it legal for people to build businesses within neighborhoods. To be safe, it takes political will and funding for curb cuts, bike facilities, and protective infrastructure.
Ellis: I think it’s all about identifying those unique things about your place. What are the things people already associate with your city? And which of those perceptions do you like, such as accessible outdoor activities that are in proximity to downtown? You have to think through what those things are for you and how to incorporate them into your city’s branding.
Wesolowski: There are three rules for placemaking. The first one is a sense of enclosure. We relax when we feel like there’s no horizon to look out on, like in Italy, with all those narrow neighborhood streets, corridors, and plazas. The second thing is what’s called entrance frequencies. Some areas have lots of different things that serve people at all times of the day. In Chattanooga, that’s Frasier Avenue. The activity there brings different people together and keeps them active. The third thing is eye-level interest. If you think of a destination that has a sense of place, it’s like the living room of the city, with interesting things to look at, like building ornamentation and displays.
Ellis: There are still a lot of downtowns dealing with vacant office space and trying to figure out what to do with that. Some places have successfully turned those spaces into housing, but it depends on the space you’re dealing with. It goes back to what we were discussing about more people living in downtown areas. It’s going to be interesting to see how all that shakes out.
Wesolowski: Along with a pro-housing movement, there’s also a groundswell of people wanting different transit options. Right now it’s very political. As Generation Z refuses to get their licenses and becomes a part of the workforce, they’re going to start demanding options for better public transit. The way we live and move around is going to be quite a bit different.
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