Placemaking | West Palm Beach DDA

What is Placemaking?

With community-based participation at its center, an effective placemaking process capitalizes on a local community’s assets, inspiration, and potential, and it results in the creation of quality public spaces that contribute to people’s health, happiness, and wellbeing.

Places that are accessible and inclusive
People are engaged in activities there
Space is comfortable and has a good image
It is a sociable place: one where people meet each other and take people when they come to visit.

Places are spaces in which people have attributed a meaning to the area through an experience they have had there.

Our Focus

Community Engagement

Inform

Expert lectures
Community-based presentations
Interviews/Surveys on programming
Mapping of public space use per interventions
Urban Placemaking webinars/lectures

Involve

Visioning and brainstorm sessions
Digital engagement – story mapping
Volunteer program for placemaking programs
Volunteer and training for public space measurement/analysis
Downtown Storytelling and periodic engagement on needs/wants of community

Collaborate/Empower

Identification of Community Champions
Stewardship guide for placemaking programs and physical projects
Community action incubator based on placemaking principles
Workshops for design/build of placemaking physical interventions
Operation and Management of Placemaking programs by community champions

Public Space Programs

Privately-owned public space or vacant land temporary programming
Non-City of West Palm Beach owned land for public space pop up programming
Wellness programming
Environmental programming
Art-based programming with a focus on performance art and temporary/ephemeral art installations
Complementary program to residential needs

DDA Programs

Utility Box Program

In Progress

Traffic utility boxes are often an overlooked part of urban infrastructure and can easily be transformed with artwork to celebrate and engage our community. DowntownWPB is home to over 45 utility art boxes and this program adds to the diverse and vibrant visual landscape of the district. Currently the wide range in themes and sizes infuses our Downtown with hidden treasures. These tokens of creativity animate our urban landscape with moments of curiosity and fascination.

The DDA was one of the first public agencies in Florida to install art on utility boxes, with the first few completed in 2010, in collaboration with local artist and business owner Beau Meyers. Beau sourced historical photographs of Downtown from the Palm Beach County Historical Society and created hybrid images that showcase the unique appeal and excitement of our city.

For more information: DowntownWPB.com/UtilityBox

Temporary Use Permitting Study

October 2019 – December 2019

Established a core group that included city workers from the Permitting and Planning & Zoning Departments, a representative from the Fire Department and DDA staff, to evaluate and provide insight into the future ordinance of Temporary Use Permitting (TUP) for the City of West Palm Beach and managed a preliminary study on its viability. Timing of this study could not be better, given that it opened the possibility of applying an emergency order during COVID-19 that followed some of the principles established through the study. The study has provided a tool for the City to pursue a future TUP ordinance at a later date.

Thoroughfare Pop-Up – Knight Foundation Grant – Special Project

December 2019 – March 2020

The West Palm Beach Downtown Development Authority (DDA), the City of West Palm Beach and the West Palm Beach Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) teamed up to bring new life to Clematis Street with a pop-up, innovative market and retail hub that introduced “Thoroughfare” to Downtown West Palm Beach.

With a full design, build-out, and permitting of for the pop-up was created for the winners of the 12X12 contest. The first seven merchants sold products including food and beverage, clothing, greenery and more providing that initial introduction to the Thoroughfare project, while the building construction took place. The fast turnaround of the project placed the contestants into the space in February 2020 however due to the COVID-19 pandemic the space had to close in March 2020.

Planned in-person activities were converted into virtual opportunities to adhere to safety precautions:

Social Media Contest (5 weeks | 5 business giveaways)
Social Media Live Takeover (5 weeks | 5 businesses took over Thoroughfare social media channels to feature their takeout and delivery offerings)
E-commerce websites were developed for 5 businesses

The outcome of these efforts increased the followers on social media and established a virtual presence while we waited to reopen the pop-up in the future.

Dining on the Spot

May 5, 2020 – October 10, 2020

The Dining on the Spot program, which provided expanded outdoor dining options when indoor seating was closed early March and April, was directly responsible for keeping Downtown West Palm Beach restaurants in business. The program assisted 45 businesses within 15 downtown blocks. In addition to creating a mechanism to continue serving customers, the DDA also provided funding for equipment rental and a branded signage program for restaurants participating in Dining on the Spot. The program’s inception and continued success can be attributed to West Palm Beach’s strong leadership, beyond what other cities in Palm Beach County have done, by facilitating interdepartmental partnerships over the past several years, measuring the impact of design interventions on the number of users and stationary activities, COVID-19 social distancing and through a playbook as a companion to the City’s outdoor dining ordinance to support the private sector’s efforts.

Based on input from restaurant owners the program had specific financial benefits: DOTS installations contributed to 25%-40% of sales throughout the duration of the program, with consistently high customer demand for the outdoor seats. This holds true even when indoor seating was allowed to resume at 100% capacity.

For businesses with very small interior spaces (123 Datura, The Blind Monk), DOTS was a lifeline that allowed them to remain open during COVID restrictions. Without the outdoor seating they would have closed their doors and may or may not have been able to reopen once restrictions were lifted.

The added benefit of outdoor seating visibility has contributed to greater customer interest as a result of more customer interest in general. It has also been a great marketing tool for businesses’ printed materials, website, social media, etc.