Participatory Process
In order to test our initial impressions about Martin Drive East and to learn more about the concerns of the residents and their ideas for local growth, our group attended a neighborhood meeting. Gathered around a dining room table, ten neighbors discussed their plans for improvement, citing speed sensors, trash corrals, and a local grocery store as high priority items. The group also expressed their desire for stronger community involvement. Bowling leagues, block parties, and Hmong translations were brainstormed as possible means of creating connections between Martin Drive East residents.
Near the end of the meeting agenda, the residents allotted time for our group to present a participatory design activity, engaging attendees in a conversation about tactical opportunities in their neighborhood. Participants (three men, six women, and one child) gathered around our abstract, wooden model of the site (40th Street to 36th Street from west to east and bordered by Vliet Street and McKinley Avenue to the north and south). The model was intentionally non-descript, deemphasizing minor details in order to encourage informal interaction and big-picture conversation.
Prior to the meeting our group had brainstormed potential tactical interventions, strategic moves that could serve as a catalyst for change in the neighborhood. These ideas were presented as action words, (see the icons below) and corresponded to numbered cubes of various sizes. Participants were encouraged to select the activities that best suited Martin Drive East and place them in ideal locations around the site model. Many of the cubes were left blank, inviting residents to share their own ideas – this category is represented as “dream” in the graphics below. Participants were quick to share their ideas, locating their homes on the site model and arguing the need for better lighting, safer parks, attractive trash solutions, and lively art pieces in specific places around the neighborhood.
Near the end of the meeting agenda, the residents allotted time for our group to present a participatory design activity, engaging attendees in a conversation about tactical opportunities in their neighborhood. Participants (three men, six women, and one child) gathered around our abstract, wooden model of the site (40th Street to 36th Street from west to east and bordered by Vliet Street and McKinley Avenue to the north and south). The model was intentionally non-descript, deemphasizing minor details in order to encourage informal interaction and big-picture conversation.
Prior to the meeting our group had brainstormed potential tactical interventions, strategic moves that could serve as a catalyst for change in the neighborhood. These ideas were presented as action words, (see the icons below) and corresponded to numbered cubes of various sizes. Participants were encouraged to select the activities that best suited Martin Drive East and place them in ideal locations around the site model. Many of the cubes were left blank, inviting residents to share their own ideas – this category is represented as “dream” in the graphics below. Participants were quick to share their ideas, locating their homes on the site model and arguing the need for better lighting, safer parks, attractive trash solutions, and lively art pieces in specific places around the neighborhood.