Somerville by Design turns 122-124 Broadway into a design charrette studio where residents and business community interact with City planners and consultants

The next phase of the City’s Somerville by Design community planning process in East Somerville will take place Monday, Sept. 30 through Wednesday, Oct. 2. A three-day public design charrette will give residents, the business community and other stakeholders numerous opportunities to interact with each other, and with City planners and consultants. This event will build on input from the East Somerville community gathered at a public Crowdsourcing and two public Visioning Sessions held earlier this year.

The design charrette offers daytime as well as evening opportunities for public participation and includes one-hour sessions on a variety of planning topics. A vacant storefront at 122-124 Broadway will be transformed into a design studio open to the public, with meeting spaces, working studios and gallery-style displays. Outside the studio, a “parklet” will be set up with moveable seating, café tables and plants. The program will culminate in a public “Pin-Up Presentation” at 7 p.m., Wednesday, October 3, at 115 Pearl Street.

The detailed schedule is as follows:

• Monday,      September 30
  • Location:       122-124 Broadway
  • 9 a.m.       – 8 p.m. – public Open Studios
  • 11 a.       m. – 12 p.m. and 3 – 8:30 p.m. – public stakeholder sessions       (descriptions available at www.somervillebydesign.com)

• Tuesday,      October 1
  • Location:       122-124 Broadway
  • 9       a.m. – 8 p.m. – public Open Studios
  • 9 a.m.       – 12 p.m. and 3:30 – 7:30 p.m. – public stakeholder sessions       (descriptions available at www.somervillebydesign.com)

• Wednesday,      October 2
  • Location:       115 Pearl Street
  • 7 –       9 p.m. – Pin Up Presentation

The Somerville by Design team recently held a three-day charrette in Davis Square and is posting the ideas generated at the event at http://www.somervillebydesign.com/.

Somerville by Design is a cutting-edge approach to community planning that uses resident know-how to solve challenging physical planning and urban design issues. It makes planning fun, using highly visual, interactive techniques such as “Open Studio” design sessions, neighborhood meetings, block walking and online surveys. Most importantly, it provides multiple ways for the public to get involved in generating and refining physical design plans that are driven by community members’ preferences and creative ideas. In 2012, hundreds of residents and businesspersons participated in the Somerville by Design “Station Area Planning Series” for Gilman Square, Lowell Street / Magoun Square, and Ball Square neighborhoods that will soon be served by the Green Line Extension.

Additional information is available on the City of Somerville website at www.somervillebydesign.com