By Bruce M Firestone and Linda Pond
Animate: bring to life; make lively, vivacious, or vigorous
1. add a corner store at the entrance of the community – make it convenient for residents
2. create summer flea market/
winter vehicle storage
3. build affordable Tiny Houses, duplexes and triplexes, in-home
apartments, granny flats/garden suites
4. make storage–lockers available
5. create shared community garden/build tool shed to share equipment—brings more revenue
to the community, helps people buy local/produce local; add dachas and
Dachnik community https://www.eqjournal.org/?p=2527 https://profbruce.tumblr.com/post/103199089774/heard-of-russian-dachnik-movement
https://profbruce.tumblr.com/post/80986569683/how-micro-farmers-could-potentially-transform/add a service like https://www.heynay.com where neighbors rent everyday items with 1 another/owner lists an item/renter borrows and returns it/owner keeps 90% of rent/heynay handles transaction/reduce consumption by borrowing from neighbors…
6. embrace 3-d ponics, https://www.3dponics.com/
7. transform public room with lighting, street art, murals and public art, eg, the Cartier avenue Quebec City lampshade project, which combines both
8. integrate pedestrian and bike pathways
9. create more space virtually—ie, enter 1 room to
get to another,
eliminate corridors
10. encourage co-living, co-housing, roommates, airbnb.com, farm stay and home stay networks
11. ensure communal babysitting, home schooling alternatives available
12. add sports area for Pickleball, bocce, beach volleyball, paddle tennis,
shuffleboard, outdoor ping pong, badminton, rope drop, badminton, waterslide, 3 on 3 basketball court, mini putt, outdoor chess, horseshoes, other sports
13. create boardwalk along waterways and around ponds and other features
14. add frontyard/sideyard/rearyard parking, hardscaping, porous pavers
15. brand community and streets with meaningful names; theme each community/neighborhood both architecturally (covenants/materialtiy) and in terms of programming/events that bind the community together/give it purpose;
make events, festivals, competitions, games, learning part of every month; create memorable taglines
How do you get projects approved these days? This is often the most difficult part of the animation process.
Listen to what Helen Marriage says about how she gets her massive public art ideas (shown above and below) launched:
“I’ve evolved an understanding of why people say no. It’s fear, mostly, and not wanting to be accountable. Let someone else decide. And although there are no real shortcuts around it, what I’ve found is that if you say something is happening, and I need you to help me, people assume that some other authority has sanctioned your right to do this. Somehow, engaging people in a task rather than seeking permission unlocks the whole thing. They don’t so much say yes as stop saying no.”
-Bloomberg Businessweek April 11-21, 2016
In other words, entrepreneurs would rather ask for forgiveness than beg for permission and they “intricate” people–getting them involved/committed a bit at a time…
Read more at, https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2016-design/a/helen-marriage/
16. incorporate micro-workshops – auto repair, wood
working, maker space, gardening, sports, games, books, winemaker, other learning opportunities…
17. add outdoor summer kitchens, community brick oven, gathering space, council ring, micro amphitheater, bbq pit
18. ban fencing/create private open space to allow wildlife migration/kids playing together, more social
interaction amongst adults
19. strict poop and scoop regulations and other environmental
regulations like no non native plants, no herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, fertilizers, etc
20. only hand spraying of round up to control noxious weeds
21. add plugs with USB ports at wheelchair heights
22.
build into one or more homes: arts and craft hut/micro retail—supplies, ideas and learning
23. one or more home to have micro bakery/c-store with real food/pre-prepared food
24. install shared backup generator/battery storage
25. add benches with fold up seats with storage underneath
26. install staircases with drawers in stairs
27. add home elevator
28. add foundation plaque on each home
29. add garage doors with person-doors in them and lights/convert
garages to office space, micro retail, mini flats, maker space, workshops
30. add lofts to garages
31. teach ‘personal business for life’ to entrepreneurs (PB4L, https://www.eqjournal.org/?p=2020)
32. help elders, shut-ins and others to keep connected and develop
PB4Ls
33. teach computer skills such as social media, how to use etsy.com for craft sales so people can continue to contribute to society, how to use Shopify, Instagram, facebook, skype… with keep connected tutorials
34. make sure preconditions for economic takeoff, https://profbruce.tumblr.com/post/118019021109/preconditions-for-economic-takeoff-read-more are in place
35. require 0-step entry – no stairs, visitable homes, wider corridors, artistic grab bars, walker-friendly bathrooms, barrier free with roll-in showers/senior friendly
36.
encourage active signage, architectural signage
37. make available high speed Internet, Netflix, Magic Jack, d-link
Ethernet, basic cable, Aetonix communications/security/fall protection-alert
38. green your home for real, https://profbruce.tumblr.com/post/68061191187/greening-your-home-for-real-here-are-some-green
39.
offer density bonuses for developments that include a residential component (apartments, co-ops, condos, hotels…)
40.
mandate not just more density but more intense land use—mixing together of various uses on a single site
41. employ people as ‘GO’ – gentile organisateur – event organizers,
like an adult camp councilor, Club Med style, https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gentil_organisateur
also used by Daniels Corp in their condo communities
42. use negative property taxes where warranted to allow less desirable uses to find a location (like group homes)
43. register your community via Google+ for Google maps
44. curate your community via Twitter and other SM; eg, here’s what Sweden does, https://www.eqjournal.org/?p=2995; more about curation https://www.eqjournal.org/?p=3289
45.
exploit vertical rent curves as well as horizontal ones; eg, have 2-story street-facing towns at base of condo or office towers
46. create shared building projects/construction co-op, where residents volunteer to help neighbors, and get chore help in return
47. have uniform vertical transition lines and step back of buildings at transition points
48. communal heating/cooling, communal services like well water, septic services
49. add tiny houses to existing housing stock– room for visitors, more affordable housing, more density
50. plant organized street trees
51. allow farmgate marketing
52. create on-farm restaurant
53. start direct-to-home and direct-to-restaurant farm deliveries/sales
54. create food truck city with outdoor sports zone and inflatable rides for kids/teens
55. micro garden plots for rent
56. design boulevards with animations such as cafes, art shops, seating, games, public art…
57. start community-run campsites
58. build community-run RV and tiny house sites for lease
59. create community-run “motel”
60. offer community-run storage/backyard storage sheds for rent
61. build community-run restaurant, eg, Jon Bon Jovi’s Soul Kitchen restaurant, https://www.jbjsoulkitchen.org/en
62. offer land lease community
63. create vacant land condo community
64. offer freehold opportunities as well
65. offer space for lease, micro retail, office, learning, storage, playing
fields
66. create “points” program like “air miles” but for renters/turn renters into owners
67. offer in-home services for elders*
68. build off-grid, net zero housing with grid backup
69.
add leisure uses… everywhere including sports and street art and performance art
70. run house exchange program with other communities
71. run sports camps and learning camps
72. create live-work-play-learn-shop-grow-build-make-affordable-diversified-sustainable-visitable-neo-urbanist
community, https://www.eqjournal.org/?p=2449
73. create shared workshop and build area
74. start mural arts program
75. use performance zoning where everything is permitted except that which is expressly forbidden
76. put on coffee house/resident show
77. encourage business setup coaching, business and life coaching
79. allow outward expansion of cities to naturally drive up density in existing areas/provide for different lifestyles
80. make sure business services, financing, marketing, accounting, bookkeeping,
legal, banking, tech, sales assistance available…
81. offer land leases/parking for tiny houses/RVs/mobile homes on craigslist or https://tinyhouseparking.com/submit-listing/
82. require window on the world/at grade openings to the street; no curtain wall at grade
83.
add accessory residential uses to industrial/commercial zones
84. add swimmable nature ponds to property www.pondclinic.com
85. no 1-way streets
86. all street patterns in grid/so all streets share some traffic
87. allow on-street parking
88. allow mixed use
89. add accessory residential and other services + public transit to industrial parks; learn how to re-animate industrial parks https://profbruce.tumblr.com/post/113111918409/how-to-animate-an-industrial-park-profbruce
90. encourage front porches
91. bring buildings close to streets/sidewalks to create cozy public room; have build-to lines instead of setbacks
92. do not tolerate petty vandalism or graffiti
93. make sure all buildings open to street–eg, no mirrored glass curtain wall
94. add density bonus for residential type uses
95.reduce or eliminate sideyard/rearyard setbacks
96. have minimum heights/not maximum heights
97. require minimum densities/not maximums
98. encourage more not less ingress/egress on streets and highways
99. allow work from home with up to 5 employees
100. embrace principles of conservation subdivision design, https://profbruce.tumblr.com/post/103279334024/10-principles-of-conservation-subdivision-design
101. base planning decisions on highest and best use rule, https://www.eqjournal.org/?p=2155
102. combat NIMBY forces, https://www.eqjournal.org/?p=2155
103. ban gated communities
104. embrace micro-planning where every square meter counts, https://www.eqjournal.org/?p=456
105. mix social and racial classes together
106. avoid ghettoizing impoverished people
107. ensure that policing is based on community acceptance not enforcement/adopt-a-cop programs: direct community interaction with police
108. encourage volunteerism/reduce rents for students willing to provide community serivce hours
109. maintain public infrastructure
110. mix together building forms to produce variegated skyline and individuation of address
111. survey informal settlements and convert slums to deeded lands/provide clear legal title/home equity is no 1 source of startup capital worldwide
112. encourage home ownership, debt reduction and belongingness (identification by people with their surroundings giving them mental, physical, spiritual and, eventually, a financial stake; a feeling of possession)
113. present buildings to the street (eg, +.5 meter above road grade)
114. permit all left turns
115. parks require active uses (eg, c-store, teahouse, art studios, restaurants) before they can act as a hub for community– passive recreation is not sufficient not will it improve community safety
116. vertical windows
117. golden section design
118. steep pitched roof lines with eaves
119. complete roof treatment
120. civil dialogue between urbanists and environmentalists
121. consensus or, at least, a process for reaching civic consensus (eg., charettes) amongst community groups, urban planners, municipal politicians, developers, residents, conservationists and other special interest groups
122. respect sanctity of contracts
123. protection of private property rights from confiscatory policies restricting uses including building form and type of use, rent control, density limits, downzoning, signage, wind rights, air rights, riparian rights, subsurface rights, grazing rights, arbitrary expropriation…
124. create enterprise zones
125. make micro-loans available for local entrepreneur start-ups
126. tax abatements for brownfield redevelopment
127. repopulate downtown with density bonuses and lower development charges
128. encourage organic architecture–structures that seem to have grown on their sites rather than having been constructed
129. prosecute corruption in government
130. combat homelessness
131. encourage public transit and more density/intensity close to public transit nodes
132. create an “eyes-on-the-park” program to add more residential uses around existing public parks, on land leases to benefit charities/churches/NFPs/cities/towns/townships and provide affordable building lots; also improves public safety/park utilization
133. support services like https://www.heynay.com/, where owner lists item/renter borrows and returns it/owner keeps 90% of rent/heynay handles transaction/reduces consumption by borrowing from neighbors/be cool to add that users can also elect to set aside 5% for favorite charity/NFP
134. add social enterprises to your community where profits go to support charities/NFPs/foundations/causes
135. embrace real estate invention, https://profbruce.tumblr.com/post/67161119777/real-estate-invention
136. improve walkability by adding sidewalks, mixed uses, bus/transit shelters, density/intensity of land use; test the walkability of your home/property here, https://www.walkscore.com/
137. revive the family farm like Bill and Anne Saunders did with https://www.saundersfarm.com/
138. create social enterprises to fund NFPs/charities/foundations, like adding residential rentals in church basements or renting surplus land for development on long term land leases
139. add mini contractor yards/create truck parking by stacking sea cans 2-high and adding roof/double end it w/ storage as well
140. add accessory residential and other non traditional uses to industrial parks/office parks, https://profbruce.tumblr.com/post/113111918409/how-to-animate-an-industrial-park-profbruce
141. mash together two non obvious uses like say a plant greenhouse with a biomass power plant, where the plants thrive on CO(2) proudce via power generation
142. create private outdoor space for tenants using chain link fencing with fabric screening
143. create a “human terrarium” where offices/workstations/meeting rooms are in nature inside a glass dome (as proposed for the Googleplex expansion in 2015); allow public to access parts of industrial/office park buildings
144. add a tribal council ring inside office spaces and in community parks
145. put in raised garden beds
146. add outdoor kitchens/create outdoor “room”
147. convert garage to micro retail/mini office/workshop/bachelor pad and install carport in driveway
148. use accessible ramps to get to roof or next floor instead of stairways
149. build a media tower/add a TGB, tethered gas balloon
150. make office space and retail space more of a meeting/learning/gathering curated places
151. encourage/allow agra entertainment/tourism (eg, Saunders Farm), farmgate marketing, direct-to-table/restaurant marketing
152. encourage diversity not only in built form but also lifestyle choice; for example, allow for rural settlement and conservation subdivision design in addition to urban, high density living condition/not everyone wants to live on the 30th floor of a condo building downtown above a pub
153. Teach entrepreneurship to residents
154. Give out copies of $100 Startup
155. For office buildings, add GOs too/build linkages and community
156. Go door to door to identify opportunities for residents
157. Create entrepreneur mentor position in each community; someone who does home and business “house” calls
158. Make a tech package to available to each tenant/resident/business including high speed Internet, wi-fi, basic cable, Netflix, net phone, large screen wall-mounted TV
159. Add pool and ping pong tables to communal areas such as coworking spaces and laundry rooms to help residents/co-workers mix
160. Build micro suites, coworking spaces like WeLive in NYC
161. Animate a city or town via public art; above is a 42-ton mechanical pachyderm designed by Helen Marriage (the Sultan’s Elephant project), which drew an audience of one million out into the streets of London
Preconditions for Economic Takeoff
Animation is not just about getting urban design and the built form right. It is also about getting the preconditions for economic takeoff right. A vibrant economy is like a computer; it depends for its success on getting both hardware (urban form) and software (political/economic/social/environmental factors) right.
I met Walt Rostow when he visited Ottawa in the 1960s, and enjoyed listening to the great man hold forth on his ideas about how to establish the preconditions for economic takeoff in Developing Nations. Walt Rostow’s work of the 1950s and 1960s and recent work by Hernando De Soto and others (I have dared to add in a few suggestions) that what is needed for economic take-off today.
Preconditions for economic takeoff include:
1. education
2. health
3. supply of and private ownership of housing (safe, affordable, privately owned)
4. clear title to housing and accurate addressing and surveying
5. tolerance of and legalization of cottage industries
6. tolerance of mixed use neighborhoods where people can work, live, shop, trade, play, entertain all in the same location
7. effective legal system, respect for the rule of law and contracts
8. moderate levels of taxation/avoidance of confiscatory levels of taxation
9. reintegration of black and gray markets (deeding of lands and title in squatter settlements)
10. active capital markets (borrowing circles and financial recycling of savings and investment, home mortgage availability)
11. culture of and support for entrepreneurship and innovation
12. widespread Internet access and effective communications system
13. sound public infrastructure
14. extensive private ownership of economy
15. respect for human rights
16. protection of private property rights
17. good, honest and transparent government
18. social peace and harmony
19. strong civic institutions
20. civil defense
21. trust, courage, hope and faith.
You can read more about this at, https://www.eqjournal.org/?p=2577
How to Super Charge Your Economy
So what are the main economic engines of the future? They’ll probably include:
-technology including green tech, quantum computing and communications
-health and elder care
-education, lifetime learning, mentoring, coaching, teaching, speaking
-arts, entertainment, music, books, blogs, social media, events, festivals
-sports and sports leagues
-real estate
-services
-trades, apprenticeship, internships
-entrepreneurship
-government
-artisanal industry, 3-d printing
-artisanal farming/foodie culture
-energy production and energy saving/conservation
-transportation
-space exploration and settlement
-military and intelligence spending
-financial planning
-finance
-volunteerism
-design
-engineering
-science/maths
-marketing, marketing agencies
-sales
-curation
-not-for-profit/social enterprise
-micro-business/micro-retail/personal business for life
-infrastructure development and spending
-Internet and Internet of things
-robotics
-shopping
-HR
-telecom/mobile
-medicine
-dental
-cosmetics
-spas
-accounting/bookkeeping
-coding/software arts
-personal service/personal care workers
-repair and renovation
-security
-event organizer
How to Super Charge Canada’s Economy
I also asked myself the question: what could a small nation like Canada do to supercharge economic development? Well, it could do worse than develop–
a) individual centers of excellence across Canada providing education/training/research and other support for each principal economic driver
b) a 4-lane national road from Newfoundland to Vancouver Island/improving the pathetic state of the trans-Canada highway
c) truly broadband speed comparable to those in South Korea, nationally available
d) centers of sports excellence, modeled after Australia
e) high schools of the arts, technological arts, entrepreneurship, healthcare and trades in all cities and towns in the nation
f) burying all electric utility wires in Canada/hardening them to weather and other untoward events
g) light rail and subways in every major town and city
h) fast rail connecting cities across the country and connecting to the US/on a par with Euro Rail or perhaps leapfrogging them with something akin to Elon Musk’s hyperloop
There, that’s a start.
@ profbruce @ quantum_entity
* services for elders, eg: nurse visit, social support, baseline health monitoring, cleaning service, meal plan, excursion service, personal care worker, personal security and
health monitoring, life coaching, physio, yoga and other
health-related visits, lock it and leave it
service, family video/audio/text
communication system, emergency alert, fall alert, security alert,
telemedicine, reminders, events, peer-to-peer socialization, and more
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