Policy and Process Framework for Equitable Placemaking
Files
Publication or External Link
Date
Advisor
Citation
DRUM DOI
Abstract
This report serves as FTA TOD Planning Grant deliverable 1A-3, a Policy and Process Framework for Equitable Placemaking. It introduces key ways arts-and-culture interventions can help achieve TOD planning goals under this grant, which align with the Purple Line Corridor Coalition’s (PLCC’s) defined fourth priority outlined in the 2017 Community Development Agreement: “Vibrant and sustainable communities enhance health, culture, and a sense of place.” The report outlines how PLCC, leveraging its partnerships with communities, public agencies, and faculty and student design capacity within the University of Maryland, can support future creative placemaking work along the Purple Line corridor in ways that reflect and fortify the strong identities of the neighborhoods along the line.
Notes
The Purple Line transit corridor is home to more than 180,000 people, two-thirds of whom are people of color. For at least the last two decades, the corridor has offered affordable market rate housing and commercial space in the region, with dense residential neighborhoods and bustling commercial districts offering a sense of community and neighborhood identity. However, in the high-cost DC area market, new transit presents both opportunity for new investment – and displacement risk. In 2017, PLCC published a Community Development Agreement (CDA) that provides a collective vision for equitable development in communities along the Purple Line. PLCC released a plan alongside the CDA that identified four key goal areas. Goal 1: Diverse, locally established businesses prosper both during and after the construction period. Goal 2: Workers in the corridor grow in number, are well trained and are well matched with employers in skills and location. Goal 3: Housing opportunities are available for people of all income levels in communities throughout the corridor, especially current low-, middle-income, and transit-dependent residents. Goal 4: “Vibrant and sustainable communities enhance health, culture, and a sense of place.” Creative placemaking can be an important tool to achieve Goal 4. Such an approach celebrates the rich identities of neighborhoods along the corridor, while facilitating inclusion as communities undergo
change. Creative placemaking complements and supports equitable TOD by ensuring that transit- oriented neighborhoods are more than just transportation nodes; they are beautiful, culturally vibrant,
and inclusive places where people want to live, work, and play.