pioneer workshop creative hub presentation
TRANSCRIPT
The Pioneer WorkshopPresents
Friday, March 25, 2011
Friday, March 25, 2011
Maine has the oldest population of any state in the nation. College graduates and working-age families are leaving the state in greater numbers than ever before,
while those entering the state have already left the workforce through retirement.
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This pattern has been particularly pronounced in the Brunswick/Bath region of the midcoast, where the loss of over 3,000 service men/women from the closure of
Naval Air Station Brunswick has been replaced by a near equal number of retirees.
The major challenge to the region is demographic. Planning Decisions, Inc., projects that the region’s overall population will be stable overall between 2005 and 2015 – going from 99,300 to 99,700 – but that it will change dramatically in composition. Specifically, the number of young people under the age of 20 will decline by 4,700, or 20%; the number of working-age people (20 to 54) will decline by 3,300, or 7%; while the number of retirement-age people (55 plus) will increase by
8,400, or 30%. In general, growth in income for area businesses, local governments, and the state require a growth in the number of people working and producing
products and services of economic value. Attracting young people to move to the area and start businesses will be important to the region’s future economic success. - 2009 Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy Report,Midcoast Economic Development District
http://www.mceddme.org/ceds.html
Attracting young people to move to the area and start businesses will be important to the region’s future economic success.- Midcoast Economic Development District Report
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Where and Why are College Graduates Migrating?
http://www.planetizen.com/node/18472
Young at Heart: Finding The Key Demographic Needed To
Revitalize America's Inner Cities
• Author: Carol Coletta Joe Cortright[...] The metropolitan areas with the highest levels of educational attainment are chiefly
those with the highest rates of young adult college attainment in their close-in
neighborhoods -- cities attractive to young people, like Seattle, Boston, Chicago, and New
York. This is very good news for cities. In today's Knowledge Economy -- where prosperity
hinges on the ability to invent new ideas -- cities must be magnets for these well-educated
young workers. The creativity and talent inherent in a city's workforce will shape its
economic opportunities. And with labor shortages looming as boomers retire, educational
attainment levels flatten, and women's workforce participation rates level off, a city's
ability to develop, attract, and retain young talent can mean the difference
between economic success and failure[...] we found strong preferences among
young adults for dense, vibrant neighborhoods served by transit with mixed uses
and active street life. They want neighborhoods where they can "stumble on the fun," as
one young man put it, and find other young people like themselves, with plenty of options
for things to do and people to meet.Those cities that build the most vibrant close-in
urban neighborhoods will be the ones that are most successful in attracting the
most talented young workers -- an essential step for cities and regions wishing to remain
competitive in today’s Knowledge Economy.
http://www.businessweek.com/managing/content/jun2009/
ca2009069_660226.htm
Why Certain Cities Attract Gen Ys
Author: Richard Florida
[...]Jobs are clearly important. Gen Y members ranked the availability of jobs second when asked what would keep them in their current location and fourth in terms of their overall satisfaction with their community. In both cases, the highest-ranked factor was the ability to meet people and make friends. Makes perfect sense, since Gen Y intuitively understands what economic sociologists have documented: Vibrant social networks are key to landing jobs, moving forward in your career, and one's broader personal happiness.
Emphasis Added
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Emerging generations are moving into downtowns, driving less, walking more, living in smaller homes they can actually afford, preferring local businesses and slower food, prioritizing health,going green and valuing community and social networking like never before. http://www.cooltownstudios.com/
Younger people today – in fact, people of all ages – no longer see the car as a necessary expense or a source of personal freedom. In fact, it is increasingly just the opposite: Not owning a car and not owning a house are seen by more and more as a path to greater flexibility, choice, and personal autonomy. Source: Advertising Age
While “the environment” is the reason many young people cite for driving less and not wanting to own a car, there are several other key forces at work, according to the article:
• Alternatives to car ownership such as Zip Car or other auto-sharing services.
• Greater use of alternative modes of mass transit to and from work. This can save money and boost productivity. You can focus on getting work done on the train, something you can’t do in a car.
• New ways of working from free agency to more flexible schedules and telecommuting which further reduce the need for cars.
• The rise of the Internet and e-commerce as an alternative to shopping. You no longer need a car to get everything from groceries and personal products to books, CDs, and electronic goods.
• Trading-off car ownership to free up cash for other uses from travel, entertainment, technology, and experiences to more savings.
• The increased popularity of close-in locations and walkable mixed-used neighborhoods which further reduces the need for a car to get around.
• A gradually changing economic landscape which advantages larger and denser regions with more transit alternatives – from walking and biking to mass transit
http://www.creativeclass.com/creative_class/2010/06/04/the-great-car-reset/
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Mapping our Assets
Asset-based community development (ABCD) is a methodology that seeks to uncover and utilize the strengths within communities as a means for sustainable development.
The first step in the process of community development is to assess the resources of a community through an Asset Map
The next step is to support communities,to discover what they care enough about to act.
The final step is to determine how citizens can act together to achieve those goals.
Definition- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asset-based_community_development
Recent studies have shown some communities have reversed the trend of out-migration by leveraging their natural assets as unique places. A process called
ASSET MAPPING can help us visualize the assets we have at our disposal.
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ASSET MAP
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The Southern Midcoast Region has Considerable “Natural” Assets
Proximity to the ocean and plenty of rural lands provides working waterfront as well as more Community Supported Agriculture farms within an hours radius than any other region in the country
Maine boasts the fifth-youngest farmer population in the country, a notable statistic in a state with the second-oldest population (according to the Maine Farmland Trust.)
Abundance of locally grown produce has created one of the most successful locally-oriented economies in the nation. Attracted by the year-round supply of fresh-local food Some of the top Chefs and Restauranteurs from around the world have created an abundance of affordable-gourmet restaurants whose menus are almost entirely locally produced.
the Brunswick Winter Market boasts 45 vendors and an average of 1,000 shoppers each week. (Portland Press Herald Dec 1 2010)
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The Creative Economy
As of 2002 fully 63,342 people were employed in the creative sector in Maine; 55,889 were in the technology sector and 7,543 in the arts and culture sector
•" The creative sector provided about 10% of all Maine’s wage and salary employment (8.8% technology and 1.2% arts and culture)
•" The creative economy sector had only slightly less employment (63,000) than Maine’s manufacturing sector (68,000)
•" There are more employees in arts and culture employment (7,500) than in wood products manufacturing (6,900) (excluding pulp and paper and wood harvesting)
•" From 1997-2002, the creative sector as a whole grew more slowly than the Maine economy because growth in the technology sector slowed. But during the same period, employment in the arts and culture sector grew by nearly 24%
•" Cumberland County accounts for the largest creative economy employment (42%). The rate of growth of arts and culture employment was fastest in Waldo, Androscoggin, Franklin, and Lincoln counties (over 20%) between 1997-20024
CREATIVE ECONOMY - The recognition of arts and cultural assets as more than contributors to quality of life in a particular place, but as important economic drivers for the region.
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For the first time in human history “people can work where they live
instead of live where they work[...]A century ago Maine’s asset was
falling water. Then it was cheap labor. In the future the place itself
will be the economic asset.”-Gov. Angus King
Many of these vendors at the winter farmers market also include
craftspeople such as woodworkers, glass blowers and an especially vibrant fiber arts industry.
Along with Art Walks, Arts Downtown and All Around, , Maine State Music
Theater, International Music Festival, and The Theater Project, local organizations have fostered an
especially vibrant Creative Economy Sector.
Profile from Maine’s Creative Economy Community Handbook published by the
Maine Develepment Foundation-ME_Creative_Econ_Community_Handbook-1
There are 400 people employed in arts and entertainment in the Brunswick Labor Market Area, and another 214 in Lincoln County. The presence of Bowdoin College and new retirees both serve to foster the growth of this sector.
-2009 Midcoast Economic Development Report
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Infrastructural AssetsWhile the closing of the Brunswick Naval Air Station may have hurt the region in the short term, it may actually prove to be an unexpected asset. The region may
be better prepared for long-term consequences of the “Great Recession”. Infrastructural investments in the redevelopment of the airfield, and most
importantly in transportation-oriented development may provide the necessary incentive for the in-migration of creative talent.
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Brunswick Landing is envisioned to be a high-tech business campus that will include the Maine Advanced Technology and Engineering Center and the Brunswick Renewable Energy Center.
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Transportation-Oriented Development
A TOD is a compact and integrated development of homes, retail, and service businesses, public park space and other amenities that create an inviting atmosphere for pedestrians in the area
that surrounds a public transit station and lies within a comfortable 20 minute walk of that station. TODs come in a
variety of sizes and levels of development intensity, but a TOD typically includes three or four story buildings at the center, with offices or apartments placed above retail, then townhouses and single family homes as one walks away from the station. A
TOD also routes cars to limited convenience parking and landscaped shared parking. Small town main streets with a rail
station at the center are classic TODs.
Maine Street Station is a TOD in Brunswick scheduled for
completion in 2012. Phase 2 construction, consisting of the second portion of the railroad
station building and a 53-room Inn is scheduled for completion in the
summer of 2011
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TOD around the stations of the Downeaster, and later the Rockland Branch, offers a virtually optimal strategy for achieving the growth and smart growth objectives of many thoughtful Maine residents. TOD
provides a proven model with strong market demand for building the attractive, compact, town center development that is necessary to realize Maine’s growth potential and to make this growth truly
desirable for local communities. As noted above, the in-migrants who will be the primary market to these
TOD projects are settling primarily in the communities served by the Downeaster and the
Rockland Branch. Approximately half of these new residents are from the states of Massachusetts or New Hampshire, and they are predominantly from metropolitan Boston. These residents effectively
come from “up the line” of Downeaster service. They have ties and frequently existing employment that
make convenient travel between Maine and Boston important to them. As immigrants from a metropolitan area well-served by public
transportation, these new residents are also familiar with public transportation; the pattern of commuting on a convenient train is a family tradition for many of
them.
A program to channel 27% of the net population by 2030 in Maine counties served by the Downeaster and Rockland Branch to TODs around rail stations
would appear to be practical. By achieving this objective Maine would go far toward realizing its growth potential and ensuring that this growth
contributed to the quality of life and unique assets of Maine communities.
Quotations provided by the report entitled Amtrak Downeaster: Overview of Projected Economic Impacts by the
Center for Neighborhood Technology 2008 http://www.cnt.org/repository/Downeaster%20Projected
%20Benefits-FINAL.pdf
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Transportation Assets
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CREATIVE HUBA multi-tenant centre, complex or place-based network that functions as a
focal point of cultural activity and/or creative entrepreneurship incubation within a community. A hub provides an innovative platform for combining the necessary hard and soft infrastructure to support the space and programming
needs of commercial, not-for-profit and community sectors.
Management• Utilize area for festival events, such as crafts fair, as an extension of Farmers Market held seasonally on Mall• Temporarily close road while maintaining restaurant parking for these events• Encourage adjacent Union Street businesses to participate in experimental programming and small business incubation
Long Term ImprovementsMixed use build out as catalyst for live, work, play lifestyle throughout downtownTrain station as hub to expand area attraction, supplemented by additional transportation modes bike rental, trolley, zip car program, car rental and transit.Explore adjacent expansion into an multi-use destination with strong connections to Maine Street StationIntegrate into surrounding urban fabric with active and engaging architecture
Recommendations for the Maine Street Station area from the Master Plan for Downtown Brunswick & Outer Pleasant
Street Corridor pp-101 Prepared by the Brunswick Downtown Master Plan
Committee 2010
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The Master Plan for Downtown Brunswick & The Outer Pleasant St. Corridor employed a Placemaking
approach to the planning process.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlacemakingPlacemaking is a term that began to be used in the
1970s by architects and planners to describe the process of creating squares, plazas, parks, streets
and waterfronts that will attract people because they are pleasurable or interesting. Landscape often plays
an important role in the design process.
Taking the Next Step: The Pioneer Workshop
The Pioneer Workshop intends to continue this
work by applying new collaborative strategies, based in social media, to a placemaking methodology.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crowdsourcing
Crowdsourcing is the act of outsourcing tasks, traditionally performed by an employee or contractor, to an undefined, large group of people or community (a "crowd"), through an open call
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crowdsourced_placemaking
Crowdsourced placemakingCrowdsourced placemaking is the act of taking tasks associated with the development of places traditionally performed by real estate institutions and government agencies, and outsourcing it to a large, undefined local community with shared values in the form of an open call. It is essentially applying crowdsourcing to placemaking. These places tend to be triple bottom line and community-oriented, mainly because of the vast potential in shared values. These places include downtowns and neighborhoods; streets and blocks; buildings and public spaces; shared workplaces (e.g. coworking spaces) and retail businesses (e.g. third places).
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RENDERINGS OF THE AREA OUTLINED IN THE DOWNTOWN MASTER PLAN . BLUE BUILDINGS ARE NOT CURRENTLY PART OF THE MAINE STREET STATION COMPLEX. THE VIEWS OF THE TRANSPORT HUB,
RAIL PLATFORM AND PARK SPACE WILL BECOME REALITY BY 2012
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pioneerworkshop
For further information about the Pioneer Workshop
Friday, March 25, 2011