E. SOMERVILLE PUBLIC DESIGN SESSIONS BEGIN SEPT. 30

SOMERVILLE

– 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.

– END –

Contact:

Jackie Rossetti 617-625-6600, ext. 2614