Public Spaces to Great Places Summit

To engage civic leaders and diverse stakeholders in a conversation about building people-friendly public spaces in Tallahassee.

Public Spaces to Great Places Summit was a week-long presentation and workshop series by Gil Penalosa and 8 80 Cities in the state capital of Florida – Tallahassee.

Over the course of the week, Gil and the 8 80 Cities team shared their experience in creating inclusive and vibrant public spaces with residents, students, city staff and elected officials in 15 different events, workshops and meetings across Tallahassee.

In the Coal Chute Pond Public Space Workshop, the 8 80 Cities team worked with the planning staff of Blueprint, an intergovernmental agency in the county, and met with local stakeholders including residents, student representatives and business owners to discuss the future transformation of a storm-water pond into a public space.

The participants toured the site and identified the opportunities and challenges of the space. The group brainstormed ideas such as digital art installations, connections to nearby businesses and shaded seating areas.

8 80 Cities and Blueprint also organized a public town hall meeting to explore the potential of a future transit hub near another storm-water pond along Orange Avenue. Gil gave an inspiring keynote presentation to kick-start the meeting, energizing the audience in the room to think boldly about how the public space could look like and serve the community’s needs.

Other events included a small-scale interventions workshop with frontline parks staff, a community engagement workshop with county and city staff, and meetings with local universities, all with the same overarching goal of promoting great public spaces in the city.