Placemaking power salute: Market Lane, Fremantle Markets

For some time now the good folk at the Fremantle Markets have been quietly kicking some placemaking goals.

With their improvements to Market Lane they’ve taken their placemaking efforts to a new level. The lane has been transformed from a drab entrance into an attractive, interesting part of the markets. Much needed seating with accompanying shade (very important for chronic sweaters such as yours truly) means that people can enjoy their food. Artificial turf combines with new greenery to soften the laneway, making for a more people-friendly place. Regular activities for the kids located in the lane attracts the crowds and cranks up the interest levels.

All of these new initiatives add up to a very earnest placemaking power salute being issued to the Fremantle Markets.

Some cool quotes about cities III

Welcome to the third edition of some cool quotes about cities.

First up is Lorne Daniel:

"Diversity makes a neighbourhood both functional and interesting for people on foot. Density drives that diversity because population density ensures there is a market for diverse retail, social, educational and other options...Our neighbourhood features a number of small boutique shops – one just carrying designer rain wear (we do live on the edge of a rainforest) – serving a niche market. The city needs enough population density to support those niche retailers. Of course, the more such unique stores can thrive, the more they in turn create the ambience that people want. The street becomes diverse and interesting – a destination – for more and more people."

Lorne's quote is from an article in which he chews the fat about what a walkable city really is. The article makes for a great read - pour yourself a nice cooling homemade iced tea and enjoy. I did.

Next up is Marcus Westbury:

"The most basic point at which cities, towns, communities and streets that are failing is often that they fail to fail enough. They become immune to experimentation and innovation and instead get stuck in a binary distinction between 'the big solution' and 'the status quo.'"

I don my cap to Marcus after that ripper of a quote. I took this quote from a blog post in which Marcus outlines his ideas about iterative urbanism. It is well worth reading.

Last but not least is a passage from 'Notes from a Small Island' by Bill Bryson:

"Calais is an interesting place that exists solely for the purpose of giving English people in shell suits somewhere to go for the day. Because it was heavily bombed in the war, it fell into the hands of post-war planners and in consequence looks like something left over from a 1957 Exposition du Cement. An alarming number of structures in the centre, particularly around the cheerless Place d'Armes, seem to have been modelled on supermarket packaging, primarily packets of Jacob's Cream Crackers. A few structures are even built across roads - always a sign of 1950s planners smitten with the novel possibilities of concrete."

I'm working on a theory that Bryson is one of our great philosophers on the subject of citites. I always enjoy reading about his insights into the urban world. In this quote Bryson describes an era of development that should be studied so as to ensure that we don't go down a similar path again. Let's start issuing his books to architects, town planners, urban designers and developers post haste!

That's it for this edition of some cool quotes about cities.

I've added Marcus' blog and Lorne's website "Rethink Urban" to my list of links as well. They're both valuable resources for the town planning and placemaking nerd.

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Click here for the first edition and here for the second edition to check out some more cool quotes about cities.

Valentine's Day special: Lovers in public places

Joe Ravi is the author of this post. He is passionate about cities, placemaking and  public participation and believes in innovative and creative responses to urban planning issues. He is a guest contributor to the Fremantle Doctor Blog.

I’ve been a long time supporter of the Fremantle Doctor and as fellow Perth planning/placemaking geek when the good doctor asked me to contribute to his blog I was of course happy to oblige. We met at one of his favourite Fremantle hangouts to discuss the logistics of my contribution and decided that mid-February would be a good time for my first post. Valentines Day! Perfect, cue cheesy lovers in public places post.

As a younger planning student I kept my supply of two minute noodles and beer intact by moonlighting as a bartender at various establishments around town. The bars I tended were by no means romantic or trendy places and as staff we really had to put a lot of thought into setting the right ambience for the evening.

Over many nights working in these bars I began to observe social interactions and how we as staff could make contributions to encourage further interaction. I discovered, amongst many things, that by playing certain music and setting lights at the right level often we could make our patrons feel more comfortable interacting with one another. When delving deeper into what was happening I started to see more people approaching strangers and prospective future partners, more people were exchanging phone numbers and more people leaving the bar with a person they did not arrive with. We were curating the place and people were responding.

Those people who were successful in meeting a new friend and potential future partners on these nights often returned to the bars and would continue to do so if the right ambience was set. I mean it doesn’t really take a placemaking genius to work out that if you were to meet the love of your life somewhere, then that place would then be considered special for the two of you and you would be likely to return. Even if that love were only for one night you may be more inclined to return again to find if not that same love, then another.

When transitioned into the world of planning these same principles apply. Placemaking legend Holly Whyte noted in his studies of New York's public spaces that in great places, lovers are found and Project for Public Spaces Fred Kent has also stated:

“You know that you are in a really good place if you see lots of affection, you see lots of kissing in good places.’’

So this has got me thinking, did I have it right as a student? Could I have skipped all those years of study and just applied those same principles I learnt in bars, that all people really want in great place is a place, is to meet and spend time with a lover. Perhaps I guess, but that’s the beauty of hindsight and, as a planner, I don’t know how qualified I am to play cupid. So although my role as a matchmaker may be unclear, what is clear is that lovers and great places go hand in hand.

I hope readers enjoy my first contribution and I look forward to writing future posts.

Jane Jacobs quote for Valentine's Day

And my wife said that placemaking had nothing to do with Valentine's Day...

"Neighbourhood is a word that has come to sound like a Valentine. As a sentimental concept, 'neighbourhood' is harmful to city planning. It leads to attempts at warping city life into imitations of town or suburban life. Sentimentality plays with sweet intentions in place of good sense."

- Jane Jacobs, The Death and Life of Great American Cities

I reckon that if Jacobs was writing today she'd swap "neighbourhood" with "sense of community".

Placemaking power salute: More greenery in the West End

It's been a little while since my last placemaking power salute, so I thought it was about time another one was issued.

As per usual I've been a little slow on the uptake and have taken for granted the introduction of some more greenery onto High Street:

It just goes to show what some well placed greenery can do to soften and improve the worst kind of street frontage. A couple weeks ago as we walked to Breaks in search of some breakfast, even Byron, my five year old nephew who was fixated on getting some ice cream, stopped to admire this little oasis of greenery. Pretty cool.

So without further ado: [placemaking power salute]

Confessions of a traffic engineer: Is the need for speed killing us?

Dean Cracknell is the author of this post. He is a Freo devotee interested in creating diverse places for people. He is a guest contributor to The Fremantle Doctor blog. Dean can be followed on Twitter by checking out: @city_pragmatist

I'll cut to the chase. Placemaking champion, Fred Kent, from the Project for Public Spaces, says it far better than I could ever do:

"If you plan cities for cars and traffic, you get cars and traffic. If you plan for people and places, you get people and places."  

"It is not true that more traffic and road capacity are the inevitable results of growth. They are in fact the products of very deliberate choices that have been made to shape our communities to accommodate the private automobile. We have the ability to make different choices — starting with the decision to design our streets as
comfortable and safe places — for people on foot, not people in cars."

This post is about priorities and the choices we make. Our priorities say a lot about who we are as individuals and as a society. Fred Kent highlights in flashing lights the choice we have all made (whether we know or not) to design our cities around cars.

Charles Marohn, a self-confessed recovering traffic engineer (love that description), reveals the priorities of his former profession on his Strongtowns blog (click here). Charles reckons that engineers have a very unhealthy need for speed. His insights make for interesting and powerful reading and I thought that I’d share some of his confessions with Freo Doctor readers.

(I’ve italicised quotes from the article below.)

The Priorities of a Traffic Engineer

“An engineer designing a street or road prioritizes the world in this way, no matter how they are instructed:

1.         Traffic speed;

2.         Traffic volume;

3.         Safety;

4.         Cost.

The rest of the world generally would prioritize things differently, as follows:

1.         Safety;

2.         Cost;

3.         Traffic volume;

4.         Traffic speed.

In other words, the engineer first assumes that all traffic must travel at speed. Given that speed, all roads and streets are then designed to handle a projected volume. Once those parameters are set, only then does an engineer look at mitigating for safety and, finally, how to reduce the overall cost (which at that point is nearly always ridiculously expensive).

We go to enormous expense to save ourselves small increments of driving time.”

Jeez, talk about misplaced priorities. In another article (click here), Marohn explains that a 40 second reduction in his typical commute time costs his community $107,000!

I value my time, but for me safety is more of a priority. I reckon that our schools, hospitals and community services would be more than grateful to receive an increase in funding at the expense of saving a few minutes of commuting time.

Blame It On The Romans

Where does this need for speed come from?  Looks like it has something to do with the Ancient Romans:

“Some of our craft descends from Roman engineers who did all of this a couple of millennia ago. How could I be wrong with literally thousands of years of professional practice on my side? Of course the people who wrote the standards knew better than we did. That is why they wrote the standard.

When people would tell me that they did not want a wider street, I would tell them that they had to have it for safety reasons.

When they answered that a wider street would make people drive faster and that would be seem to be less safe, especially in front of their house where their kids were playing, I would confidently tell them that the wider road was more safe, especially when combined with the other safety enhancements the standards called for.

When people objected to those other "enhancements", like removing all of the trees near the road, I told them that for safety reasons we needed to improve the sight distances and ensure that the recovery zone was free of obstacles.

In retrospect I understand that this was utter insanity. Wider, faster, treeless roads not only ruin our public places, they kill people. Taking highway standards and applying them to urban and suburban streets, and even county roads, costs us thousands of lives every year. There is no earthly reason why an engineer would ever design a fourteen foot lane for a city block, yet we do it continuously. Why? The answer is utterly shameful: Because that is the standard.”

The need for speed could be killing us! Serious stuff.

What Does This All Mean for Perth?

With Charles’ confessions in mind, let’s check out some streets in Perth and ask ourselves which one a motorist is more likely to speed along.

Case study 1

Photo A

Photo B

Photo A is the obvious culprit. As a wide, treeless road, it has been designed with little other than speed in mind. Our collective priorities are clearly evident to anyone who wants to notice them.

On the other hand I wouldn’t be speeding (if I were to hypothetically do such a thing ...) along the more intimate, little street shown in Photo B. Why? For me, it’s the uncertainty. The street isn’t wide and the parked cars have the effect of making it even less open. If I’m uncertain, I wouldn't throw caution to the wind and put my foot down. It could be dangerous.

Case study 2

Photo A

Photo B

This case study compares different views of the same place - Scarborough Beach Road in Mount Hawthorn. The photos have been taken about 100 metres apart looking in different directions.

As in the first case study, Photo A is the obvious culprit for encouraging motorists to speed. Wide lanes. No trees. No people. Driving along this part of the road, it’s difficult for any motorists to do anything but speed.

Photo B presents differently. The road is not as wide. There is definitely more going on that could make a motorist feel uncertain. Speeding on this part of Scarborough Beach Road is not only less likely, but something I never witnessed on dozens of visits as a nearby resident.

Conclusion

Thinking about Scarborough Beach Road with Charles Marohn’s and Fred Kent’s words in mind, I’m convinced that they’re onto something. Speed must not be the priority when we design our roads and, if we plan for cars, then traffic is what we’ll get (and what we'll deserve).

Hugh Newell Jacobsen said it brilliantly way back in 1929 - “When you look at a city, it’s like reading the hopes, aspirations and pride of everyone who built it”. In other words, it's our collective priorities that we see before us every day.

If I was to take Hugh Newell Jacobsen for a stroll along Scarborough Beach Road, I would ask him what he would read into our hopes, aspirations and pride of our city. I’d also ask him what he thought our community valued most. People or cars?

I don’t think I’d be surprised by his answers. I think it’s time to change our priorities.

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Before I go, I'll leave Freo Doctor Blog readers with some sobering stats:

- Australian road toll in 2012: 1,300 people. (Click here to go to the document.)

- Australia has one of the highest urban speed limits in the world. A reduction of 10 km/h in travel speed would prevent 50% of all pedestrian fatalities and 21% of all collisions. (Click here to go to the document.)

Heads up, Freo cafes: Poor customer service isn't cool

I've spent the last couple of days enjoying my birthday festival. It basically involves celebrating the two days either side of my actual birthday in an attempt to be excused from doing household chores (except cooking, for reasons of self-preservation).

On Sunday my wife's family made the trip down to Freo so that we could catch up over breakfast and celebrate the last day of my birthday festival. We left our apartment building and headed to Market Street discussing our many breakfast options. The only prerequisite was that ice cream be on the menu (Byron's input), and a faint but forlorn hope that we might find somewhere with air conditioning.

Option 1: Simple Nosh (on Norfolk Street, near Luna Cinemas)
Simple Nosh's smoothies had come highly recommended by a good friend so we headed off to Norfolk Street to try them out. Upon arrival we trudged around looking for seating for six, but despite plenty of floor space all the tables were set up in configurations of four and two.

We approached a member of staff about the possibility of having two tables pushed together. After vague assent, she promptly disappeared and wasn't seen again. 

After quieting a rapidly overheating nephew by plugging his mouth with a lollipop, we asked a second waitress if we could combine a table with the one we were sitting at. She responded by telling us with a marked lack of enthusiasm that no, that wasn't possible as there were no tables free - apparently the effort of turning her head 180 degrees to an empty table two metres away was too much on a hot Sunday morning.

With my wife showing signs of being on the verge of grasping the waitress firmly by an earlobe and marching her to the empty table for a lesson in furniture identification, the rest of the family wisely decided that if Simple Nosh simply did not want our money, we'd better just leave them to it. 

Option 2: X-Wray Cafe (near Luna Cinemas)
Due to its proximity to Simple Nosh, X-Wray presented as the next logical option for our group. It's been my experience that the food can be hit and miss (I gave up ordering eggs benedict because the hollandaise sauce was always curdled) but I've always enjoyed a friendly, welcoming and enthusiastic service at this cafe.

We sauntered into X-Wray and, after assessing the relative temperatures inside and out, grabbed one of the booths. It was still hot, but not quite as hot as the tables outside. Unfortunately for X-Wray the concrete laneway it sits next to acts as a bit of a heatrap. No sooner had I sat down than I was sweating profusely, and Byron was doing his best impersonation of a five year old in the last stages of heat exhaustion. 

The fan above our booth wasn't switched on, so we asked if it could be turned on, only to be told it wasn't working. My father-in-law then spotted an air conditioning unit near our booth. So, to the sound of weak laments from Byron pleading for a life saving ice cream, he went down to the counter to ask if it could be switched on.

This was happily agreed to, but five minutes later it still hadn't been turned on. So my father-in-law got up and went to the counter to find out again about the air conditioning. This time he was told that they couldn't turn it on, with vague references being made to lost or broken remote controls. He returned to our table and passed on the news. 

It's not X-Wray's fault that both the fan and air con were out of order, of course, although given the layer of dust on both one wonders whether this is a longstanding issue. But why had nobody had bothered to come over and tell us and explain?

Increasingly hot and disillusioned, we decided to move on.

Option 3: Il Cibo (on Market Street opposite Pioneer Park, near the train station)
Fifteen minutes later and after a brief diversion to Breaks (who had air conditioning but were full, no doubt for that very reason) we trudged into Il Cibo.

The wait staff were friendly. They actually greeted us with a cheery hello and a smile as we entered, which didn't happen at Simple Nosh, X-Wray or Breaks. Upon greeting us and seeing the size of our group, the waiter (who bore a remarkable resemblance to both former Chelsea star Gianfranco Zola and, according to my excited mother-in-law, Inspector Montalbano) immediately took the initiative and showed us some tables where we could sit, in comfort and coolness thanks to the functioning air con. This was good.

We sat down and noticed the friendliness and enthusiasm surrounding us. There were singles, couples, and families, all looking content and chattering happily. I immediately remarked to my wife that we should return to Il Cibo more often. The music wasn't too loud and added to the happy atmosphere. Byron was smiling from ear to ear as a scoop of vanilla icecream that he had ordered off the menu promptly arrived with a friendly flourish from the waiter. The food turned out to be tasty, too, and we lingered there for a long while after it was gone, just enjoying ourselves.

Conclusion
My father-in-law commented that in tough times, it is the level of customer service that helps to establish a point of difference for cafes and retailers. I have no doubt in my mind that Il Cibo has created its own point of difference for my father-in-law and that he'll be insisting that Il Cibo is our first option on future visits to Freo for breakfast. 

On this blog, I've talked about the importance of creating memorable experiences for people and having welcoming places. My wife's family did not have a memorable experience (well, not in a good way), nor were we made to feel welcome on Sunday morning. I felt embarrassed about Freo's businesses when my wife and I returned to our apartment. When will Freo's businesses learn that poor or indifferent customer service just is not cool?

And is business really that great in Freo that cafes need make so little effort? Somehow, I don't think so.

The cruise post aka what I learnt about placemaking from eighteen nights eating myself senseless

The prospect of my first cruise was exciting on many levels. As a placemaking nerd, I was looking forward to checking out the cruise ship that we would soon be boarding. As a closet fan of 'The Love Boat' (thanks mum), I was thrilled to be spending eighteen nights cruising the high seas with, if television could be believed, a mix of fellow passengers who were either having problems with their love life or getting into amusing scrapes (but all devoted to eighties hairstyles). And as someone who enjoys the odd meal or two, I approached the Fremantle Passenger Terminal in a mood of quiet determination, steelily focused on the mission at hand: eating Princess Cruises into insolvency.

Now that I'm over my cruiselag, I thought that I'd share some of my thoughts about our cruise.

Placemaking on the high seas

1. Food

Placemaking legend William H. Whyte once wrote: "If you want to seed a place with activity put out food." Never a truer word has been spoken.

So, in honour of Whyte, I felt that I really did owe it to placemakers around the world to become intimate with the various dining opportunities around the ship. (The sacrifices I go through for Freo Doctor Blog readers.) Sitting at my usual spot at the buffet, I enjoyed watching the social exchanges that food encourages amongst people.

I discovered that not only does food indeed help foster activity, but it is pretty cool how easily it acts as a social lubricant. Groups of people just like hanging out together and shooting the breeze over food.

2. Memorable experiences

Another placemaker, David Engwicht, firmly believes in the importance of creating memorable experiences for people. I can see his point. Why would people return to a place if their visit wasn't memorable?

Our experience was made more memorable by immaculate customer service. It was so good that it kind of started to freak me out a little bit. That wouldn't come as a surprise to fellow Perth residents who have had to endure good, old fashioned customer service, Perth-style. The "I'm going to make you regret handing over your hard earned cash by making your experience in my shop/cafe/restaurant as pleasant as attending a Council meeting" type.

That wasn't the case aboard our ship. The waiters were efficient, friendly and sincere. They actually seemed to enjoy their jobs, and more to the point were extraordinarily good at them.

The Crooners Bar became our favourite place to hang out. Why? The bar staff. They made us feel welcome. Simple as that...plus Carlos, the bartender, took me under his wing when I told him he made a mean cocktail. After our second visit, we were made to feel like regulars by the bar staff - whereas I could name several places in Freo where waitstaff still pretend not to recognise me after four years of tri-weekly visits. On the ship, the choice to return was made easy for my wife and me.

3. Programme of activities

The good placemakers at Project for Public Spaces believe that the more activities that are going on and that people have an opportunity to participate in, the better.

Fred Kent would have been impressed with what was going on on our ship. Each day was crammed full of different activities. From our vantage point sitting on a comfy chair and sipping on one of Carlos' tasty martinis at Crooners, my wife and I would watch the other passengers going from one activity to another.

Trivia games, art auctions, table tennis competitions, wine tasting, singing classes - you name it, there was probably an activity for it. All the activities got me thinking about how programming was an important tool in the cruise ship's placemaking arsenal. It felt like that there was something for anyone to be enjoying on the ship at any time of the day. (For me, it generally involved laying around doing nothing, although I did attend a wine tasting class.)

4. Adaptive uses

Another thing that I'm certain would have earned two placemaking thumbs up from Fred Kent was how the ship made use of its places during the day and evening.

For example, Crooners, our martini bar, operated as a cafe during the day. Cafe Corniche (the Italian themed restaurant) functioned as a space for people to sit with friends and to socialise when it wasn't operating. The Champagne Bar doubled as a mini-piazza during the day when it was closed. Much to the chagrin of the Arts Director, the Wheelhouse Bar (a British themed pub) hosted the art auctions.

These spaces were used as much as possible. I got the feeling that the goal was to provide as many options for people as possible to use a space to gather, socialise and to have fun.

5. Lots of people helps with placemaking

Our ship had 1,950 passengers. That's more than double the number of residents living in Freo's city centre. I can't recall feeling like the ship was overcrowded. (Although there were really long lines outside the Bingo events.) As experienced people-watchers my wife and I enjoyed the hustle and bustle around the ship.

For me, the number of people on board helped to inject the ship with a life of its own. Busy restaurants and bars, active spaces during the day, people lounging around and people walking from activity to activity imbedded a real sense of vibrancy.

This sense of life and vibrancy isn't quite matched by Freo these days. I don't expect it to be, given the parameters of our ship compared to our city. Eight hundred and fifty odd residents in our city centre isn't good enough. Such a low population means that we've got to work that much harder to make our placemaking efforts succeed.

Dare I say it: More people living and working in Freo's city centre...full steam ahead!

6. You're never finished

One of the placemaking  principles espoused by Project for Public Spaces is that placemaking is ongoing. I must be a slow learner, but I didn't have that epiphany until seeing it in action on the cruise. Day in day out and night in night out the placemaking didn't stop and it was consistently awesome. One thing that I learnt is that placemaking isn't a one and done, flash in the pan type of project. It's all about turning up and emptying the bins, cleaning the footpaths, replacing dodgy bollards every single day.

Conclusion

That's about it for now folks. Six things I learnt from placemaking on the high seas: Food; memorable experiences; programme of activities; adaptive uses; lots of people help with placemaking; and you're never finished.

After our cruise, my wife and I spent some time in Sydney (at The Rocks) and in Melbourne. Look out for another holiday inspired post about our experiences in these cities soon.

Some lessons for Freo from the Show

My last post about my nephew's first visit to the Royal Show got me thinking about whether or not there were any lessons that could be gleaned for Freo. After thinking about it for a couple of days I've come up with a few, which I thought that I'd share with Freo Doctor Blog readers.

Lesson 1: Seeing Freo through the eyes of a child

The single best thing about hanging out with Byron at the Show was being able to get an appreciation of the world through his eyes.

I think that this is a great lesson for Freo. Happy and engaged kids means happy parents, which means memorable experiences. If families are having them in Freo then they're going to keep coming back. Lately my wife and I have noticed this very thing happening at the Fremantle Markets. Petting zoos, pianos, people walking around on stilts in costumes, entertainers making balloon shapes... They all have one thing in common. They invite kids (and adults) to engage and have a bit of fun.

Source: http://fremantlemarkets.com.au/

The other weekend my wife and I accompanied Byron to a pirate themed 5 year old birthday party. It was a hoot. All of the kids bar none all loved the bubble making toys that they received at the end of a treasure hunt. It got me thinking how cool it would be if word got out that there was some kind of bubble making device at Kings Square or the Esplanade or Bathers Beach.

Speaking of introducing fun, check out this cool website. I particularly like the world's deepest bin and the piano staircase ideas.

Lesson 2: Signage gives people an excuse to go to a destination

One thing that I did notice about the Show is that the signage could have been better. It probably meant that we missed out on certain activities and interesting places to visit.

It is a good thing that the City is launching Rea series of precinct focused signage. It'll also be important to think about a more micro approach as well. For example, little signs letting people know that the Round House is only a 2 minute walk in that direction. We are regularly approached by tourists looking for the Maritime Museum.

I like this approach that was sneakily tried in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Micro wayfinding at Raleigh via

I feel it gives people an excuse to check out a destination knowing that it isn't that far away.

Lesson 3: Food trucks

It's been a while since I last went to the Show and I'd forgotten the bevy of food options that were available. Freo Doctor Blog readers will appreciate that I enjoy my food. They'll also appreciate that food is probably the most crucial aspect of attracting people to an area. A classic example is how Gypsy Tapas has transformed its little part of Freo. All of the food vans at the Show got me thinking about how food trucks have become really popular around the United States.

Food trucks offer a great opportunity for Freo to expand on its array of food options. One of the benefits of Freo becoming food truck friendly is that they provide an opportunity for emerging food entrepreneurs to test themselves before committing to a more permanent arrangement.

A food truck in Sydney via

As well as providing an entry point into someone owning their business, Freo gets to maximise its awesomeness by creating a virtuous cycle. Foot traffic: tick. Active, festive streets: tick, tick. Economic vitality: Boom tick.

Freo Quick Shot: A welcoming place at Monsi's in Claremont

I'm sneaking a couple of short posts past my wife today. Here is the last one for the day.
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I'm on record as pointing out that at times customer service in Perth isn't the greatest, especially when compared to Europe. So I'm always chuffed when I come across examples of great, thoughtful customer service when I'm out and about.

This post recognises the people who run Monsi's in Claremont. I've been going to Monsi's on and off for some time now. It wasn't until my last visit that I noticed the red blankets that they put out for their alfresco customers to keep them nice and cosy during those particularly cold Perth mornings.

A nice gesture to their alfresco customers provided by Monsi's

The blankets are a nice gesture and send a welcoming message to regular and potential customers.

Freo Quick Shot: Placemaking power salute to Djurra Day Spa

Quick Disclaimer:

My wife has been distracted today, so I'm taking the opportunity to slide a couple of short posts past the gatekeeper. I take full responsiblity for dodgy spelling mistakes, lame 'old man' jokes etc.
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Back to the power salute

A couple of months ago, I issued a placemaking power salute to the good folk at Moore & Moore Cafe. This time it is the turn of Djurra Day Spa, located in the West End section of High Street. My aversion to haircuts and personal grooming in general is well known, so I generally put my head down and skedaddle past places like Djurra.

Last night on the way to the Fremantle Future Forum being hosted by the University of Notre Dame, Djurra managed to capture my attention. Firstly they were open, which was pretty cool. But most importantly they had placed some greenery in front of their shopfront. It looked really good, so good that I stopped and admired their efforts.

Below is a bad photo which doesn't do justice to their awesome placemaking initiative.

A placemaking power salute to Djurra Day Spa for introducing a little greenery to High Street

The photo ended up being serendipitous as an idea presented by one of the Notre Dame students at the forum related to introducing more greenery into Freo. I think that it is a great idea.

Early morning on High Street mall

The other day, I had an early morning meeting in Freo. I like early morning meetings in Freo. They're a good excuse to enjoy the excellent eggs benedict and a tasty banana smoothie at the Mill Bakehouse on Norfolk.

I had a little bit of time to spare before my meeting and decided to relax on a bench in the High Street mall, with tree leaves rustling above me and the hustle and bustle of people starting the new day all around.

My particular bench faced Culleys. It was one of those 1980s era orangey benches. The kind that put your bum to sleep after about five minutes, no matter what gymnast-style contortions you employ.

Culleys was already doing a roaring trade at 8.30am... in pies? Yep, I sat and watched a middle aged couple chow down on a pair of Freo classics. Two other people were having a natter on a nearby bench, and a minute later a pair in their mid-50s cycled past and greeted some friends sitting with their dog underneath a tree. It was very pleasant, like a scene from a 1950's movie. There was only one slightly deranged and whiffy person (there's always at least one - I think it's a by-law) who walked past swearing at us as he made his way to Kings Square.

It was a good feeling, not being sweared at, but enjoying the early morning noises going on around me. I'd descended into a happy torpor when the sound of sweeping roused me from reading the match reviews of the grand final on my iPad.

It was the shopkeeper next door to Culleys, from Creations Jewellery and Designers, sweeping the area in front of his shop. I watched him for a couple of minutes. I was impressed at the old school sense of pride that he was showing. He swept for a couple of minutes before walking back into his shop to help his assistants set up for the day.

It made me realise that what we call little things, like that shopkeeper taking pride and care in his shopfront, are actually just as important as many of the so-called bigger things.

After finishing reading about the latest football trades gossip, I got up and began walking to my meeting with the odd gait of a man who has no feeling in his posterior. It made me happy to see, not fifteen metres further on, the barber from Norm Wrightson's Barber Shop sweeping the front of his shopfront.

It didn't escape me that they were both small, independent retailers. Both taking pride in their city.

Seeing as there is zero chance of me showing my gratitude with my patronage (a jeweller and a barber - I can't think of two places I am more unlikely to visit), I thought I'd mention them here instead.

Misplaced shower at Bathers Beach

Some good news, not that it can be corroborated by anything published on the City’s website, but I hear that they’re moving the misplaced shower at Bathers Beach.

At hearing the news, my wife was saddened.

Upon initially seeing the shower, marooned on its sandy peninsula, she refused to believe that its location could be the result of indifference or stupidity. Instead she decided that it was evidence there was a secret anarchist working at the City, and that the shower was his or her small revolutionary act designed to catalyse the demise of local government.

"But Swaney, someone signed off on this! Someone looked at the little drawing of a shower at the beach sitting in the middle of a pile of sand, thought about it carefully, and then said ok!"

She still tries to protest whenever I suggest an alternative theory. Then she chuckles to herself, and concludes that the first degree abrasions on her ankles from rubbing off wet sand are well worth it for the knowledge that we live in a place where the bureaucrats are genuinely interesting.

 

Thanks to fellow Freo blogger Graham Morgan (at Freo Ramble) for letting me use his photo and also steal his great line for the caption - "Another classic, a shower on the sand."

Another classic, a shower on the sand via

Five ideas for Freo from...New York

Dean Cracknell is the author of this post. He is a Freo devotee dedicated to creating interesting, diverse places for people and is a guest contributor to The Fremantle Doctor blog. 

Dean can be followed on Twitter by checking out: @city_pragmatist

The hustle and bustle of New York’s streets is legendary. Cars, taxis and pedestrians compete for the limited space on the crowded streets.

The Big Apple is reimagining the way people use its public spaces. New York is shifting its thinking from roads for cars to streets for people. City Hall is redesigning streets to include mini parks, street vendors, moveable seating, potted plants, safe pedestrian crossings and bicycle lanes to attract more people. The program has been very successful and is being copied around the world.

The picture above shows the transformation of Madison Square on 5^th Avenue, which used to be a confusing, traffic-choked roadway. If you want to find out how the streetscape revolution was done, this 5 minute video clip is excellent.

As I was walking around Manhattan last year, I started thinking about William H. Whyte’s famous observation that:

“It is difficult to design a space that will not attract people. What is remarkable is how often this has been accomplished.”

Whyte noted that people vote with their feet – they use spaces that are interesting, safe and comfortable. The opposite also applies.

So, what can Freo learn from New York? Here are some ideas (also see the picture above) -

1. Provide more moveable seats

Firstly, well done to the City of Freo for including moveable seats as part of its placemaking efforts for Kings Square. I think it has been a real success. Why?

Seats are an invitation for people to stay in a place. A place can be created just by adding simple things like comfortable seats, especially where people can watch other people. A space becomes more meaningful when moveable chairs are available. The moveable chairs provide people with an option to arrange the chairs to suit their situation or mood. 

The success of the Kings Square trial suggests that moveable seats could also be provided in other places.

2. Encourage street vendors

People like food and drinks.

Encouraging street vendors is another invitation for people to use and stay in a space. Street vendors add life and interest to the street and are also another pair of eyes to monitor what’s going on around them. The assortment of street vendors at the back of this photo adds a market-like feel to what used to be a busy roadway.

3. Cars still have their place

The obvious objection to the streetscape revolution is that it would cause traffic chaos. But, as they explain in the Streetfilms video, traffic is still flowing down 5^th Avenue. Let’s be blunt, Fremantle doesn’t have a traffic problem when compared with New York, Toronto, London, San Francisco or other major cities where these ideas have been introduced. Cars are important and should still have the right to use the street. But cars should use the street on people’s terms in our town centres, not the other way around as it is currently.

4. It is difficult to design a space that won’t attract people

We need to provide a range of choices for people. Sitting next to two lanes of vehicle traffic isn’t the preference of some people. But, they do it here on 5^th Avenue. Why?

It feels welcoming and has a range of people-watching opportunities. It also looks as though someone gives a damn about the street. It looks cared for. The large potted plants and huge rocks provide a barrier between the people and cars and make it feel safe. People use the new public spaces even though the popular Madison Square Garden is just to the right of the picture. Parks are great, but don’t provide the alternative attractions that a street can provide – people, movement and colour.

5. More greenery

Greenery softens a place and makes it feel more welcoming. Human evolution has hard-wired us to appreciate green spaces. This street has 3 types – street trees, garden beds and large-potted plants. The more greenery the better!