Launch of FunkYWakefield 29Jul09

To: Wakefield villagers and associated neighbors and citizens
Subject: Planning with Funkiness: A call from the Ad Hoc “Plan Particuliere d’Urbanisme” Review Group (aka Ah! PPU, ReG.)

Fellows and fellas, chicos and chicas, villagers and hangers-on…
A small group of enthusiastic ad-hockers have assembled in bits and fits to discuss and review the proposed PPU (Plan Particuliere D’Urbanisme) with the goal of submitting feedback to our municipal leaders by their deadline of August 14th. This committee shall be loosely referred to as “Ah! PPU, ReG.—i.e. the Ad Hoc “Plan Particuliere d’Urbanisme” Review Group—or, for short, AH!

We hope to inspire others to take a loose, open-brained, non-defensive, playful and creative yet serious look at the current PPU proposal and help us fill in what we see as the yet-unmapped dimensions of our proposed village urban plan. While we respect the significant accomplishment that the document represents, we would like to see it broadened, expanded, and enriched with more FUNKINESS, as we see and experience Wakefield as a funky place with funky people and a funky vibe that has not really been expressed in the current plan. We believe this funk-factor is an essential and integral to our community character, and although it is difficult both to articulate and to map out, we believe that there are enough freethinkers and visionaries among us to make a decent attempt to do so.

We, the AH! Committee, envision an urban plan for the village of Wakefield that, upon perusal, elicits comments such as, “Ahhhh! C’est different!” and “Wow! How unique! How artsy! How edgy! How forward thinking! How innovative! C’est interessant! C’est different!”
For this, we need your input, thoughts, brainstorms, dreams, crazy ideas and concrete suggestions. The PPU marks a crossroads rich with creative opportunity, and we want to inspire you to give your input on this focus point.

Our appreciation:
Ten years down the road from the beginning of the formulation of this PPU, we want to express great respect and appreciation for the work involved in producing the proposed PPU document as it stands today. To us, this document represents much dedication and savvy, and is a great achievement in the right direction. It is a solid, tangible tool that can be used as an axis on which we can spin further discussion and concrete proposal. Our municipal leadership has called for further citizen participation, and we wish to respond to that call. . We wish to invite people to stretch it, turn it, examine it from new angles, 4-D it and perhaps create something quite unprecedented in the world of urban planning tools.

Our critique:
Most of what is suggested in the PPU is a response to a current actual or perceived ‘problem’ in village layout and infrastructure. Much of it is focused on improving infrastructure for transportation and encouraging tourism. Micro-analysis of the specifics of the plan yields many relevant problem points and just as many differences of opinion, perspective and objective. Those debates will be important in the continued revisions of the PPU. Our point is that for Wakefield, a standard format PPU is probably not enough. If we want to encourage and preserve the funkiness that makes us want to live here, we may need to think, and plan, outside the box as much as we enjoy living outside the box!
What do we mean, exactly? Well, we’re not sure, but we believe that the current document feels somewhat flat and two-dimensional, predictable if you will; whereas life in the village is quite the contrary, and that is one thing that we love about living here.


Our call out:
Because of time limitations, diversity of opinions, and simply a reticence to bringing together yet another random group of people who will inevitably spend most of our time disagreeing on one point or another, we propose a general gathering of brainstorm-data for synthesis and presentation to the municipal leadership. We invite all you funky minds to sit down and write down some of your ideas. How would you and your friends propose to Funkify the PPU? What ideas would you like to propose that would express our unique village character? We would encourage all kinds of input, from the imaginative and fantastical to the concrete, detailed, and practical. What is your angle on “funky” and how would you like to see it expressed in the village?

In addition, several committee members are examining particular points of interest where they feel the PPU needs expansion as follows:
Local Economy: Think local, buy local, grow local, live local. Creating local prosperity. Affordable Housing: Not only seniors need it!
Cultural Economy: Quantifying our cultural/artistic assets and building economy around it.
Heritage vs. History: Defining the terms, and articulating the difference. Plus, our ‘heritage’ and our ‘history’, beyond the logging industry!
Perceived Problems and Buried Assumptions: Identifying the difference between real/documented problems and perceived problems in the PPU, as well as hidden assumptions in proposed solutions. Identifying areas for further study/examination, research, and documentation.
Quality Tourists: What kind of tourism do we want to develop? Can we create/encourage a more sustainable tourism that has social value?
Environmental Innovation and Energy Efficiency: Concretizing these goals in our PPU.
If you have input on these topics, please submit that as well!

Roberta Bouchard, Steward of Sustainable Tourism
Peter Gillies: Concerned Citizen and Funk-enthusiast
Heather Horak: Committee un-Coordinator and Graduate Student of Urban Planning
Andrew McKay, Prince of Environmental Innovation
Viviane Weitzner, Funkiness Consultant