Make public participation great again

1. Southern New England APA
Conference
Public Participation
and Engagement
October 2016
Presented by:
Liza Cohen

2. WHO ARE WE?

3. 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/

4. 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
Prioritization
Collective Ideation
Individual Ideation
Adapted from Interaction Institute for Social
Change - http://interactioninstitute.org/

5. Public Engagement Planning Goals
 Gather input!
 Identify unknown issues
 Project visibility
 Check-ins – “Make Sure We’ve Got It Right”

6. Newton In
Motion

7. NEWTON
COMMUNITY
ENGAGEMENT
NEWTON-IN-MOTION: A TRANSPORTATION
STRATEGY FOR NEWTON & WEST NEWTON SQUARE
ENHANCEMENTS PROJECT
Rachel Blatt | Urban Designer | City of Newton

10. Purpose: Introduce project & gather ideas
ENGAGEMENT #1:VisioningWorkshop

11. ENGAGEMENT #1:Activities

12. Additional activities:
• 10 Pop-up events
with short
surveys about
goals & priorities
• Online
Wikimapping
ENGAGEMENT #1:Activities
600 Points!

13. Purpose: Demonstrate complete streets techniques & tactical urbanism approaches to transportation
planning, bring awareness to the strategy project
ENGAGEMENT#2: Transportation DemonstrationWorkshop

14. ENGAGEMENT #2:Activities

15. ENGAGEMENT #2:Activities

16. ENGAGEMENT #2: Preparation
TEAM 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.

17. DATACOLLECTION
94%
6%
Positive or Negative Reaction to
the Demonstration Workshop?
Positive
Negative

18. Purpose: Explore draft strategies and get public feedback
ENGAGEMENT 3: DraftStrategies

21. Purpose: Introduce the project and collect input on what to consider
ENGAGEMENT #1: Ideas &Opportunities

22. ENGAGEMENT #1:Activities

23. ENGAGEMENT #1:Activities

24. Purpose: Present concept layouts and receive feedback
ENGAGEMENT #2: ReviewingConcepts

25. ENGAGEMENT #2:Activities

26. ENGAGEMENT #2:Activities

27. Strategies forSuccess
 Go where the people are
 Do outreach in advance
• Posters & Postcards
• CityWebsite
• Email Lists
• Networking &Word of
Mouth
 Make meetings kid friendly
• Coloring & QuietToys
• 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

28. Easton Parking

29. CONTEXT

30. EASTON DOWNTOWN PARKING STUDY
 Development and a parking squeeze in North Easton Village

31. 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

32. OUTREACH

33. PARTICIPATORY MAPPING

34. PARKING PRIORITIES

35. PARKING CONFESSIONAL

36. 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

37. Other Fun Ideas

38. STREET DESIGN TOOLKIT

39. STREET DESIGN TOOLKIT

40. HOW DID YOU ARRIVE? ROUTE MAPPING

41. WHAT WORKS? WHAT DOESN’T WORK?

42. VISUAL PREFERENCE

43. CORRIDOR CHARRETTE
Raised
intersection
Reverse-angle
parking
Bulb-outs

44. INFORMATIONAL/EDUCATIONAL EXHIBIT
 What are complete streets?

45. FOR THE NERDS…

46. COMPILED RESULTS

47. GO BOSTON:
THE QUESTION
CAMPAIGN

48. WE COVERED THE CITY WITH ADS
Digital Billboards: 4
Placements: 640
Local papers: 5

49. 15 NEIGHBORHOODS VISITED

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

51. NelsonNygaard Consulting Associates, Inc.
51
PRIVATE EMPLOYER:
VISIONING
BREAKFAST

52. NelsonNygaard Consulting Associates, Inc.
52
MULTIPLE WAYS TO COLLECT INPUT

53. AMHERST
TRANSPORTATION
PLAN: “POP UP”

54. LOW-COST “QUESTION CAMPAIGN”

55. 55
PROVIDE INFORMATION (AND USE BIG VEHICLES!)

56. 56
Amherst
Center
Public
Input Map
COMPILED RESULTS

57. NELSONNYGAARD CONSULTING ASSOCIATES © 2015
Liza Cohen
617-521-9404
lcohen@nelsonnygaard.com
Thank You!