Jump to content

City Planning


Recommended Posts

I made a waymark with the intention of submitting it to the "Flora & Fauna Information Sign" category, however the officers there tell me it doesn't fit the criteria because the sign doesn't seek to educate the public about specific plants. The sign really is describing planning efforts. After searching quite a bit, I'm at a loss as to where the sign could go. Any ideas? Or are "signs describing future or current planning efforts" something that are not covered by a category?

 

Here's my rejected waymark, so that you can see what I'm talking about:

 

http://www.Waymarking.com/waymarks/WMGXTC_Mill_Creek_Riparian_Enhancement_Area_Salem_Oregon

Link to comment

As a former elected official, I can see lots of possible waymarks in this vein -- few of them interesting. Lots of "park improvements bond project" and "your tax dollars at work starting oct 2013" things -- a concern we would have is will this WM still be there when the plan comes to fruition, or are these limited and temporary availability things?

Link to comment

I made a waymark with the intention of submitting it to the "Flora & Fauna Information Sign" category, however the officers there tell me it doesn't fit the criteria because the sign doesn't seek to educate the public about specific plants. The sign really is describing planning efforts. After searching quite a bit, I'm at a loss as to where the sign could go. Any ideas? Or are "signs describing future or current planning efforts" something that are not covered by a category?

 

Here's my rejected waymark, so that you can see what I'm talking about:

 

http://www.Waymarking.com/waymarks/WMGXTC_Mill_Creek_Riparian_Enhancement_Area_Salem_Oregon

 

ddtfamily:

 

You bring up a great question in regards to City Planning or City Projects plaques, etc. that one finds in urban areas. I've located three such plaques and other educational placards that educate the public on a city project that focuses on environmental projects that save taxpayers money and help the environment as well. I've wondered if a category should be created to include these types of placards one comes across, since they are a POSITIVE thing for the community. If you were to create a good category writeup I'd be happy to be one of your officers to promote this! Attached are pictures of the types of projects I've come across to give all an idea of what I mean (and they don't fit into the Flora and Fauna Category - I know this because I'm one of the officers!):

 

City Water Improvement Project

 

Rain water conservation project

 

I'm thinking a potential category name could be Community Environmental Projects or something similar?

 

This category has lots of potential!

Link to comment

 

I'm thinking a potential category name could be Community Environmental Projects or something similar?

 

This category has lots of potential!

 

As always, the challenge is to define the category so that you get what you want, and not what you don't want; making it neither too narrow so that it is only a small niche nor so broad that the boundaries are blurred and a unwieldy mish mosh results.

 

How about something a little broader, such as Civic Projects? This could include urban redevelopment projects that revitalize an urban core as well as environmental type projects. I would say that anything undertaken by the community for its enhancement could be included. The key is that there must be some sort of permanent sign, plaque or display that informs the public about the project (not just a dedication plaque, for instance).

 

There might need to be a few exclusions such as historical preservation of single buildings or structures, normal parks, etc.

 

This could be a very informative category that would highlight a lot of things that don't get much coverage on the internet!

 

As for the original question: You might ask the leader of the Municipal Parks and Plazas group about accepting it there. It is a bit out of the box, but I think he might be flexible enough to give it a home. Oh, hey, that would be yours truly. B)

Link to comment

Some good points made here, thanks. And when I submitted my entry to Flora & Fauna Signs, I wasn't sure myself whether it belonged, so I understand the logic of not including it. The educational value was more about the environmental effort than about any specific plant.

 

I do think that planning-type waymarks could be interesting - I find the one I made to be greatly educational. Across town there's another planning-type sign that I think is intended to drum up support for building another pedestrian/bicycle access bridge from one park over to another park that's in an island in the river. But I also wouldn't want to see waymarks that essentially said "In 'n Out Burger - Coming Soon!" (But I'd sure like to see that sign here in town).

 

The biggest challenge with a planning type category, once it was defined narrowly enough to be limited to civic projects, really would be that we would end up with a bunch of different submissions that amount to signs that will be gone in a year. So the waymark webpages could look great, but there might not be anything to actually go visit, except the finished project would be there. That said, the lifespan of the subjects in many of the restaurant categories are here today and gone tomorrow. As I've noted before, I haven't found an "Independent Hot Dog" waymark yet that still exists (granted, I've looked for maybe 3 of them).

 

So I'm on the fence about a "planning" category. I completely expect that the sign in my subject, which I believe has stood about a year, will eventually go away, maybe replaced by a different sign that talks more in the past tense about the efforts. But I could see an "Environmental Projects" category. I think usually the city/agencies involved in those generally want to "toot their horns" about it forever, so I've often seen signs describing some sort of environmental achievement from years past. I'll think about that. In the meantime, I'll try and see if this Riparian area in my waymark is managed by the Parks Dept or has some other park-like quality that would make a good case for that category.

Link to comment

But I could see an "Environmental Projects" category. I think usually the city/agencies involved in those generally want to "toot their horns" about it forever, so I've often seen signs describing some sort of environmental achievement from years past. I'll think about that. In the meantime, I'll try and see if this Riparian area in my waymark is managed by the Parks Dept or has some other park-like quality that would make a good case for that category.

 

I agree, ddtfamily, with your view on the city/agencies wanting to 'toot their horn' on a particular environmentally-friendly project and wanting to keep a sign advertising the good they've done for the community for years to come. That's why I think a category called 'Civic Projects' as silverquill suggested could be a great category addition! As I mentioned before, I've seen these civic project signs pop up on occasion during my travels and I know that these signs are there to stay indefinitely.

 

So who's going volunteer to create a group and do a writeup to submit to this forum? :anibad:

Edited by thebeav69
Link to comment

Here in South Germany I haven't seen such signs. Fi67, do you have them in Switzerland?

Switzerland is special in this respect. We don't allow our polititians to spend any money without asking. So whenever there is a project, it has won a public vote and anyone knows about it. We only have temporary sings that excuse for the current chaos and tell you when it will be over. Then the sign is gone.

Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...