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Repurposing Streets for Play

This article explores the Play Streets movement, which involves temporary street closures to create safe spaces for play and community engagement. It discusses the origins of Play Streets, the benefits they provide, and showcases successful examples in Chicago and Seattle.

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Repurposing Streets for Play

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  1. Repurposing Streets for Play 2015 National Walking Summit – Washington, D.C. Melody Geraci, Active Transportation Alliance Seth Geiser, Seattle Department of Transportation Bryan McCormick, Playworks

  2. Play Streets Workshop Agenda • Background of Play Streets • Two different approaches • Chicago • Seattle • The power of play • Playworks • Lessons learned, Q & A

  3. Play Streets Background

  4. Play Streets are… …temporary street closures that create safe spaces for play.

  5. Common elements of a Play Streets program • Held on low-volume residential streets (non-arterials, no transit routes) • Closures can be regular/recurring or episodic • Mix of structured activities and free play • Community-driven • Permitting process typically required

  6. A variety of motivations HEALTH • Increase physical activity • Improve air quality • Address health inequities TRANSPORTATION • Build culture around and demand for walking and biking • Calm traffic OPEN SPACE/PLACEMAKING • Address ‘park/playground deserts’ • Redefine/reclaim public space • COMMUNITY-SPECIFIC • Enhance crime prevention • Build relationships • Increase social cohesion

  7. Play Streets origins: a conflict of interests

  8. Before cars: Roadways are ‘people places’ in pre- and early-industrial cities • Multi-purpose public spaces • Were natural ‘front yards’ • Children played around wagons, carts, beasts of burden, street commerce

  9. With mass urbanization and industrialization came changing priorities • 1800s saw large migrations into cities • Roads increasingly viewed as tool of commerce • Need to move goods and services increased • Kids playing in streets literally slowed down the speed of business • Crashes • Startling horses • Blocking throughput

  10. England’s Highway Act of 1835 • Defined rules and regulations for the increasing number of carts on the road: • Created many standards that are still in place today (e.g. side of the road on which to drive) • Made it illegal for youth to play football in the street • Widely interpreted as criminalizing any type of street play

  11. Criminalization of play • 44 children were imprisoned in a single year for failure to pay fines • By 1935, over 2,000 minors had been prosecuted in England for playing in the street

  12. Meanwhile, in the United States… • 1830s: Large influxes of immigrants leads to tenement overcrowding, poor sanitary conditions, disease • “Playing in the street” becomes synonymous with other ‘urban slum’ issues like delinquency, theft and rioting

  13. “Left to their own devices, [children playing in the streets] were just the stuff of anarchists, the destined victims of Red propaganda.” The New York Times “City streets are unsatisfactory playgrounds for children…because in crowded sections of the city they are apt to be schools of crime.” Theodore Roosevelt

  14. 1900s: Parks and playgrounds arise as a solution to lack of play space • Proposed by reformers to improve public health, promote positive socialization • In reality, infeasible to create enough park space for all neighborhoods • Poor areas ended up devoid of park space

  15. Rise of the automobile results in massive numbers of pedestrian crashes, many of them children, and cements the elimination of streets as acceptable places for children to play

  16. Play Streets is born • 1914: First Play Streets events in NYC • Sponsored by Police Athletic League • 29 blocks designated • Traffic prohibited every afternoon (except Sunday) • Continuous program to present day • Similar early initiatives in Chicago, Boston • 1938: Play Streets legislation in England • Peaked in the 50’s • Later inspired Home Zones

  17. Current Play Streets renaissance • City agency sponsors • Beyond strictly ‘urban’ environments • Chicago, Seattle, San Francisco, England • 2013: Partnership for a Healthier America and BCBS grant program: • Funded pilots in 10 cities

  18. PlayStreets Chicago

  19. PlayStreets Chicago

  20. PlayStreets Chicago • Began in 2012 • 5 successful cycles • ~425 events conducted • Over 35 communities served • ~65,000 participants

  21. PlayStreets Chicago • Sponsored by Chicago Department of Public Health • Chicago DOT • Streets and Sanitation • Police Dept. • City Council • Funding: • 2012: Blue Cross Blue Shield • 2013: City of Chicago and Partnership for a Healthier America • 2014-2015: City of Chicago • Summer months only

  22. Implementation partners

  23. Currently a prescribed process • CDPH contracts with a project team • Mini-grant model ($5,000 + $1,000 in equipment) • Goals include building community partner capacity • Only communities with high rates of obesity / low park access are eligible

  24. Project consultant team roles • Administer grants • Provide training • Assist in event planning and logistics • Intervene with public agencies • Troubleshoot • On-site support • Communicate successes, concerns to City

  25. Be held on a closed residential street Be a minimum of 3 hours in duration & encourage continuous physical activity Be free and open to all neighborhood residents Attendance goals of 125 youth and 50 adults per event Include at least 5 physical activity options Events must meet criteria • Provide activities for a wide range of ages, for both boys and girls • Encourage adult participation • Maximize parent participation • Prominently display promotional materials • Prioritize healthy snacks (where provided)

  26. Steps in creating PlayStreets events • Identify locations • Permitting • Coordinate with city agencies • Develop activities plan • Recruit & train staff & volunteers • Promotion, publicity & outreach • Event production • Reporting

  27. Evaluation • Initial attempt to measure physical activity levels (SoPlay) was onerous • Some intercept surveys • Currently only process (outputs) being measured

  28. Unexpected, positive community benefits • Perceived crime prevention • Improved relations with police • Youth leadership development • Summer employment for school-year workers, youth • New community relationships • ‘Pay it forward’ opportunities • Free meal program addresses summer hunger issues

  29. Improvements for the future • Create unique PlayStreets permitting process that triggers multiple services • Create DIY model • Broaden the vision & goals for PlayStreets to include violence prevention, crash reduction

  30. Resources New York City Play Streets: Transportation Alternatives www.transalt.org Chicago PlayStreets: World Sport Chicago www.playstreetschicago.org Seattle Play Streets: Seattle Dept. of Transportation www.seattle.gov/transportation Partnership for a Healthier America www.ahealthieramerica.org

  31. Thank you… …and go play in the street!

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