The Missing Ingredient in Great Placemaking

A developer can check every box for parks and shared spaces and still create a place nobody wants to spend time in. Colby Cox has seen stormwater ponds, tiny playgrounds, and generic amenity packages counted as community space even when they do very little to bring different people together or give them a reason to stay. Norm Van Eeden Petersman talks with the Convergence Communities founder about what changes when those spaces are designed around actual human activity: kids playing, teenagers hanging out, people eating, exercising, gathering, and simply being around one another. A park can occupy the right number of acres, but what makes it feel alive enough that people actually choose to be there?

• Colby Cox (LinkedIn)
• Convergence Communities (Site)
• The Granary (Site)
• Dogfish Brewery (Site)
• Norm Van Eeden Petersman (LinkedIn)
• Do you know someone who would make for a great Bottom-Up Revolution guest? Let us know here.

This podcast is made possible by Strong Towns members. Thank you! Join fellow members discussing this episode in The Commons.