Edition 50

Welcome to your special holiday installment of the Bright Brothers Bulletin — and it’s extra special, as it’s our 50th newsletter since we re-branded it as the bulletin. Before that we’d published 35 previous newsletters under the former moniker of “COVID NOTES”. We started back in March of 2020, in response to the shock of the pandemic, as a way to keep in touch, and share the best of the world of urban place management. It’s been a wild ride, and the world is remarkably different than where we came from. So much has changed since those early days of unchecked infection, lockdowns, and toilet paper shortages. One thing remains the same — our commitment to bringing you the best the industry has to offer in the worlds of MarCom, placemaking and economic development. We invite you to read on for urban planning with college campuses, more painted crosswalks (and the stats that support them), midnight pierogi drops, the best damned annual report and annual meeting video we’ve ever seen, plus a new, not-to-be-missed public art podcast!

Happy Holidays,

– Your Bright Brothers Team
David Romako / Josh Yeager /  Brandi Walsh

While a big to-do for our staffs and stakeholders, to be frank, annual reports and annual meetings can be as dry as last week’s turkey — without a little secret sauce to spice things up! So we’re headed to Flavortown (sorry Guy, not your “cuidad de sabor”) in this week’s newsletter, to feast on some truly avant-garde, engaging and spicy takes on annual output. First up, big props to the creative talents just exploding out of Hudson Square BID in NYC. Not only was their 2023 Annual Report an eye-catching piece of district storytelling, the real star of the show is their hilarious, tongue-in-cheek Annual Meeting Video, which literally had us in stitches for days. Kudos to President/CEO Samara Karasyk and the BID’s creative agency SIX+ONE for nailing it!  (The ever-growing hair-do, the multiplying bangles, the interviews — it all flows like sweet cream icing in MacArthur Park, if ya know what we mean). And then back to that bang-up gem of a CVB out of Cali with Visit Modesto. In our last edition, we gave them props for their Spotify holiday playlist as part of their MoCheer campaign. We’re once again giving credit, where credit’s due — this time for their ingenious take on their Annual Report for FY22/23. If every district pulled out the punches like these impressive placemakers, the world would be a lot more fun!

Photo by Hudson Square BID

We ❤ seeing a good guy win, and this guy sure deserves it. If you attended IDA’s inaugural Placemaking & Place Branding Summit in Huntsville, AL in 2019 you may remember this whip-smart street art documentarian out of Philly who we tapped to speak at the conference named Conrad Benner. A Philadelphia native, Conrad began chronicling his passion for street art, tactical urbanism and placemaking in 2011 with his groundbreaking  Streets Dept. blog. Fastforward 13 years, and “ya boy” Benner has now added an NPR podcast to his lengthy list of accomplishments, accolades and impressive curriculum vitæ. In collaboration with Philly’s pioneering public media channel WHYY, Conrad recently launched “Art Outside“ an exciting new foray into the world of public art (both sanctioned and guerilla), adding yet another noteworthy footnote to the artistic list of Philly firsts. Benner’s intrinsic understanding that, “the art we share is essential to who we are,” is a guiding principle of the podcast, and it’s sure to inspire, make you smile and find something meaningful in todays’ world. Give a listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and NPR One, of course!

Photo by Peter Murray c/o Conrad Benner, and Davide Baraldi
 

… that college campuses are the perfect microcosm for model cities? With so many parallels to the 15-Minute City, higher ed campuses emulate many of the attractive aspects of self-sustaining neighborhoods, including “bumpability” (ad hoc interactions fomented by proximity), access to amenities and much, much less reliance on cars and their carbon footprints. We found this quick piece from Planetizen fascinating, and as many of our peer cities are “college towns”, there are plenty of lessons to be learned from campus life — even for those of us who thought our college days were behind us. From accessibility and inclusivity to open spaces and bustling local economies, urban planners and placemakers alike may want to take another look at their alma mater’s underpinnings and apply that knowledge to improving cities for all of us.

Photo by  Eliott Reyna on Unsplash

Painted crosswalks are all the buzz in placemaking circles, but not just for their aesthetic value alone. While colorful crosswalks definitely add an element of urban vibrancy to select intersections, they serve as material detractors from car crashes and pedestrian accidents. This piece from PhillyVoice features a new painted crosswalk in the city’s poppin’ hot Fishtown neighborhood, while highlighting statistical evidence pointing to a “…50% decrease in crashes involving pedestrians and 37% fewer crashes that led to injuries,”.  And there’s money there for your community’s safety and placemaking initiatives. Bloomberg’s venerated “Asphalt Art Initiative” doles out up to $25K in funding for painted infrastructure projects that, “…improve street safety, revitalize public spaces and engage residents,” and you can check out seven of this year’s undertakings in this round-up from SmartCitiesDive.

Photo by Didier

You gotta drop it like it’s hot! Every year as the last few moments of the calendar expire and the new year is ushered in, there are a litany of things dropped to celebrate new beginnings. But where you are may dictate what gets dropped, and as an extension of local culture, all manner of things are “let to fall” in the name of Janus. We’re all familiar with NYC’s famed Times Square ball drop, a tradition that began in 1907. However, have you ever seen a pickle go down at midnight?  How about a pinecone, or perhaps even a pierogi?!? To get to the bottom of who’s best at ringing in the new year with regional representations, USA Today is running a readers’ choice poll to see what resonates the loudest on New Year’s Eve. From cheeseballs to chilies, to grapes and potatoes, to carp, giant crabs and more — you can vote for your fave here though noon eastern on Monday December 4th. 

Photo by Anthony Quintano