make public participation great again

Southern New England APA ConferencePublic Participation and Engagement

October 2016

Presented by:Liza Cohen

WHO ARE WE?

The Levels of Engagement

Public-Open invitation

Public-Limited Invitation

Public-Engagement Working Group

Advisory Committee

Coordinating Committee

Consultant Team

Consulting Firm

Lead Client

Mayor

Adapted from Interaction Institute for Social Change - http://interactioninstitute.org/

Approaches to Engagement

• Street pop-ups• Online

comment form• Suggestion

box

• World Café• Neighbor

Circles

• Choicework• 21st Century

Town Hall• Citizen

Panels

• Voting• Poll• Focus

GroupIndividual

Prioritization

Collective PrioritizationCollective

Ideation

Individual Ideation

Adapted from Interaction Institute for Social Change - http://interactioninstitute.org/

Public Engagement Planning Goals

Gather input! Identify unknown issues Project visibility Check-ins – “Make Sure We’ve Got It Right”

Newton In Motion

NEWTONCOMMUNITY ENGAGEMENTNEWTON-IN-MOTION: A TRANSPORTATION STRATEGY FOR NEWTON & WEST NEWTON SQUARE ENHANCEMENTS PROJECTRachel Blatt | Urban Designer | City of Newton

Purpose: Introduce project & gather ideas

ENGAGEMENT #1: Visioning Workshop

ENGAGEMENT #1: Activities

Additional activities:

• 10 Pop-up events with short surveys about goals & priorities

• Online Wikimapping

ENGAGEMENT #1: Activities

600 Points!

Purpose: Demonstrate complete streets techniques & tactical urbanism approaches to transportation planning, bring awareness to the strategy project

ENGAGEMENT #2: Transportation Demonstration Workshop

ENGAGEMENT #2: Activities

ENGAGEMENT #2: Activities

ENGAGEMENT #2: PreparationTEAM ROLES:Consulting Team:• Developed the proposed layout as

part of the as part  of the Newton-in-Motion engagement strategy

• Calculated material needs and ordered temporary installation materials

• Lead the installation of the design  Planning Department: • Coordinated with the consulting team

and all City departments• Managed community engagement

before and during the event• Managed installation, event, and

deconstruction• Prepared event materials for

community members  Department of Public Works: • The traffic engineer reviewed the

proposed plans for accuracy and impacts

• Provided digital message boards that

flashed “temporary traffic change June 9-10” starting a week before the event.

• Provided street cleaning in advance of the project and during the deconstruction

• Provided crew & equipment for installation and deconstruction (paint sprayer was most helpful for creating temporary green bike lanes)

 Department of Parks and Recreation: • Provided crew and equipment for

installation and deconstruction (water truck w/ power washer was most helpful for deconstruction)

 Police: • Provided directed patrols and details

during installation and deconstruction • Essential to provide a safe

working environment in the roadway in the middle of the night

• Provided on-call support should

anything have gone wrong during the event

ADDITIONAL COORDINATION: Fire Department: • Team made the fire department

aware of the demonstration and invited them to do a test run of the layout with their largest vehicle (successfully made the turns)

 MBTA (operates bus routes through the site)• Team made the MBTA aware of the

event, and the reconfiguration.

MassDOT (owns a bridge that we were utilizing in the site)• Team had had previous conversations

about possibly restriping the bridge in the future. In advance of the event, the team made MassDOT aware of the event. MassDOT allowed the temporary restriping without a permit.

DATA COLLECTION

94%

6%Positive or Negative Re-

action to the Demon-stration Workshop?

Positive Negative

Purpose: Explore draft strategies and get public feedback

ENGAGEMENT 3: Draft Strategies

Purpose: Introduce the project and collect input on what to consider

ENGAGEMENT #1: Ideas & Opportunities

ENGAGEMENT #1: Activities

ENGAGEMENT #1: Activities

Purpose: Present concept layouts and receive feedback

ENGAGEMENT #2: Reviewing Concepts

ENGAGEMENT #2: Activities

ENGAGEMENT #2: Activities

Strategies for Success Go where the people

are Do outreach in advance

• Posters & Postcards• City Website• Email Lists• Networking & Word of

Mouth Make meetings kid

friendly• Coloring & Quiet Toys• Bubbles• Snacks

Replicate in-person

activities online Be organized

• Set up a meeting kit• Have event summaries

for staff and volunteers Remember to engage

with internal team too Collect demographics Collect input/feedback

and report back

Easton Parking

CONTEXT

EASTON DOWNTOWN PARKING STUDY

Development and a parking squeeze in North Easton Village

PARKING STUDY GOALS

Understand the Town’s role in the current and future parking situation by:

– Assessing how many parking spaces exist today and how they are used

– Maximizing efficiency of the current parking system

– Planning for future development

– Meeting parking need in a way that strengthens the historic character of North Easton Village

OUTREACH

PARTICIPATORY MAPPING

PARKING PRIORITIES

PARKING CONFESSIONAL

PUBLIC RECEPTION

Created a buzz

Attracted walk-ups

Wished it lasted longer

LESSONS LEARNED

Be noticed

Create a buzz in real time

Go to the people!

Where do people wait??

Twice is nice

Other Fun Ideas

STREET DESIGN TOOLKIT

STREET DESIGN TOOLKIT

HOW DID YOU ARRIVE? ROUTE MAPPING

WHAT WORKS? WHAT DOESN’T WORK?

VISUAL PREFERENCE

CORRIDOR CHARRETTE

Raisedintersection

Reverse-angleparking

Bulb-outs

INFORMATIONAL/EDUCATIONAL EXHIBIT What are complete streets?

FOR THE NERDS…

COMPILED RESULTS

GO BOSTON: THE QUESTION CAMPAIGN

WE COVERED THE CITY WITH ADS

Digital Billboards: 4Placements: 640Local papers: 5

15 NEIGHBORHOODS VISITED

Acce

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Affor

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Equi

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Expe

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Qua

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Gov

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De

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Inno

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n +

Tech

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Relia

bilit

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Resi

lienc

y

Safe

ty

Sust

aina

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y-Cl

imat

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stai

nabi

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+ Re

silie

ncy

Quality - Comfort 93 25 19 313 27 2 39 1 222 21 37 20 41Transit 826 311 120 296 163 9 211 9 724 51 124 117 168Governance - Operations 92 48 65 106 220 4 20 3 64 16 64 44 60Driving 158 25 21 58 66 5 114 7 64 6 70 93 99Walk 109 2 11 54 20 8 25 3 4 2 54 22 24Infrastructure 229 2 14 33 26 1 43 29 10 44 16 26Convenience 642 39 33 32 24 56 2 490 4 28 21 25Bike 244 6 13 27 13 6 13 7 2 1 128 27 28Safety 125 2 7 27 11 3 5 13 231 8 8Customer Service 3 3 4 24 4 2 1 18 32 0Information - Data Sharing 11 3 1 19 8 80 1 45 7 0Place 154 9 12 19 13 6 7 4 23 1 6 7 8Economy 32 272 30 13 29 2 10 5 10 3 2 10 13Innovation 32 2 12 5 1 300 3 20 3 7 55 58Demographics 84 56 38 9 11 3 7 2 13 24 5 5Connectivity 795 19 33 8 15 3 17 2 54 1 14 14 15Financing 11 69 18 6 73 2 2 12 2 20 20Environment 22 1 3 3 10 24 3 6 2 130 136Ferry - Boat 49 1 3 13 2 2 4Disability 77 9 5 2 1 2 2 6 0Diversity 46 23 93 2 3 3 1 4 1 5 1 2Health 5 1 1 1 19 1 3 10 10Olympics 4 2 1 14 1 7 15 15Emergency Preparedness 6 3 2 2 14 1 5 19

QUESTION CAMPAIGN RESULTS

51

PRIVATE EMPLOYER: VISIONING BREAKFAST

52

MULTIPLE WAYS TO COLLECT INPUT

AMHERST TRANSPORTATION PLAN: “POP UP”

LOW-COST “QUESTION CAMPAIGN”

55

PROVIDE INFORMATION (AND USE BIG VEHICLES!)

56

Amherst Center Public Input Map

COMPILED RESULTS

NELSON\NYGAARD CONSULTING ASSOCIATES © 2015

Liza Cohen

617-521-9404lcohen@nelsonnygaard.com

Thank You!