Reimagining the Civic Commons

Tools for Your City: Interested in delivering the common good through the public realm in your community? View and share this resource that distills the Reimagining the Civic Commons model into an easy to read infographic. https://lnkd.in/e7afd44v Audrey Kranz Erin Halasz Freedom Together Foundation Knight Foundation The Kresge Foundation William Penn Foundation #publicspace #commongood #CivicCommonsUS

Do you believe in the power of the commons? Are you a visionary and strategic leader who is eager to lead important public space work? Be part of a larger movement—three of our partner organizations are hiring chief executives. Take a look at these opportunities at: Gatton Park on the Town Branch | Lexington, Kentucky: https://lnkd.in/e4tQA8Ux Memphis River Parks Partnership | Memphis, Tennessee: https://lnkd.in/eRhv5pzg Fairmount Park Conservancy | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: https://lnkd.in/eBNHy8yd #publicspace #hiring #CivicCommonsUS #civicinfrastructure #leadership

"The good news is that in the remaining places where people mix and encounter those they don’t already know—whether that’s their neighborhood Main Street or downtown—the seeds of solutions already exist. At this hyperlocal level, individuals and institutions avoid ideological arguments, build trust, and do the on-the-ground work—often starting with public spaces—across the civic, nonprofit, private, and public sectors." The Brookings Institution piece zeroes in on local action and public space as a key part of the solution to our divided nation. Tracy Hadden Loh Tim Tompkins #publicspace #local #America https://lnkd.in/empp7EPC

The Infrastructure of Community: Physical spaces can either encourage or discourage relationships. But people also have to be willing to slow down and connect. Take a listen to this fantastic conversation with Eric Klinenberg and Kellie Carter Jackson with Julie Beck on this episode of The Atlantic's How to Talk to People podcast. 💡 "I generally argue that public spaces and social infrastructure—they’re a necessary condition for having some sense that we’re in it together, and we have some kind of common purpose. But they’re by no means sufficient." 💡 "Efficiency is the enemy of social life." https://lnkd.in/eqzZWHJy #socialinfrastructure #connection #publicspace #community

“Civic infrastructure is the container that makes participation and relationship formation outside of home and work possible….policy certainly has a role to play, both in reversing decades of policymaking that have weakened the connective tissue of our communities and in creating the conditions for this connective tissue to regenerate.” READ: Policies for Regenerating Civic Infrastructure: Leaders weigh in on the role of government in supporting infrastructure for more social connection https://lnkd.in/erA9B_CS Sam Pressler Erika Poethig Anita Cozart Kendal Smith Alexa Bush Kelly Humrichouser #PercentforPlace #civicinfrastructure

Has your organization had its federal funding for public space work frozen or cancelled? Please, tell us your story through this survey, and share with your network. https://lnkd.in/eqTaS8Hq Project for Public Spaces and our friends at Percent for Place, a coalition of nonprofit organizations across the U.S., are gathering information about the impact of these cuts to make the case for protecting this invaluable civic infrastructure. cc Reimagining the Civic Commons, Main Street America, KABOOM!, America Walks, Better Block Foundation, Center on Rural Innovation, Center For Rural Strategies, Children & Nature Network, City Parks Alliance, The Congress for the New Urbanism, East Coast Greenway Alliance, Fairmount Park Conservancy, Guadalupe River Park Conservancy, Lexington Public Library, Low Income Investment Fund, Memphis River Parks Partnership, New City Parks, National Recreation and Park Association, Rural Assembly, Sierra Club, The Skatepark Project, Smart Growth America, Trust for Public Land. #publicspace #civicinfrastructure #placemaking #parks #infrastructure #streets #markets #libraries #townsquare #socialinfrastructure #community #mainstreet #placekeeping

The Percent for Place coalition is collecting stories about the on-the-ground impact of federal funding freezes and layoffs that are affecting the United States' civic infrastructure—parks, trails, town squares, main streets, play spaces, libraries, and other community gathering places. If your organization is being impacted, please fill out this survey today! ✍️https://lnkd.in/e_djC2eN Help us better better advocate for the reinstatement of these funding streams that support civic infrastructure!

TIME names Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park in Macon, Georgia as one of The World's Greatest Places of 2025. The spotlight calls out the collaborative relationship between Macon-Bibb County Consolidated Government and The Muscogee Nation: "To honor the area’s indigenous past, the city of Macon in March added bilingual street names in Muscogee and English, and the park itself will be managed by both the National Park Service and the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, whose ancestors lived here before being displaced to Oklahoma in 1836." https://lnkd.in/ekfP3Jwz #collaboration #Georgia #travel

Climate change is politically divisive. Public parks? Not so much. In the 2024 election, state and local ballot initiatives passed across the country, in both red and blue states, that supported building parks or restoring natural areas. “The work of protecting open space, creating parks and playgrounds that provide stormwater mitigation and rainwater runoff in the face of these storms — everyone agrees on that.” Myke Bybee, Trust for Public Land Check out this Grist newsletter that celebrates the uniting nature of investing in civic infrastructure such as public parks, play spaces and community gardens. https://lnkd.in/eNpfNmJZ #climate #resilience #parks #civicinfrastructure #percent4place

Wonderful to see Mayor Matt Mahan alongside more than 300 volunteers engaged in caring for Guadalupe River Park, one of the key sites of the local Civic Commons efforts in San José. Stewardship and maintenance of civic assets is a great way to build trust while creating a more welcoming public realm for all. Guadalupe River Park Conservancy The Trash Punx Our City Forest City of San José #publicspace #downtown #CivicCommonsUS