Newtown Township, Gather in the Circle - Connect The Dots Insights
15800
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Newtown Township, Gather in the Circle

Client:

Newtown Township, PA

Project Summary:

Placemaking leadership committee including trainings, capacity building, and a year’s worth of temporary installations

Connect the Dots was asked by Newtown Township in Delaware County to help stepheard a team of volunteers who were new to placemaking in order to install and test 3 temporary placemaking strategies in order to demonstrate their necessity in the township, as well as use the surrounding events to gather data and metrics about town opinion. In addition to leading the group for a year, CtD offered trainings and sessions to bring the volunteers up to speed on best practices in communication, expectation management, and civic engagement.

Process:

Pop-up and ongoing farmers market: ​Temporary park typically installed on existing and underutilized paved surfaces to create areas for people to gather and relax.​

Temporary traffic calming​: ​Process of adding temporary physical changes to existing roads, such as St. Albans Ave., to reduce vehicle speeds and increase pedestrian safety.​ Joint effort with Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission.

Temporary crosswalks /​ streetscape installations: ​Process of adding temporary painted crosswalks and road-diet features to existing roads, such as the roads surrounding St. Albans Circle, to increase pedestrian safety.​

Pop-Up park: Temporary streetscape additions, such as plantings, lights, benches, to enhance the look and sense of place of an area.​

Outcomes:

  • New levels of engagement
  • Capacity building for volunteer group and public
  • Series of installations and data collection to prove value