Pedestrian Power

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Inspired by William H. Whyte, a noted journalist and author who invented a "smile index" to measure the quality of urban spaces, Kent founded PPS in 1975 with environmental designer Kathleen Madden and architect Steve Davies to draw attention to the importance of creating and preserving congenial public settings where people can walk, talk, and just enjoy themselves. The group gained international acclaim for its part in the revival of Bryant Park, the backyard of the New York Public Library, once overrun with drug dealers and now one of New Yorkers' most beloved places.

With a staff of 24, PPS worked in 31 states and 11 countries last year, joining with local citizen groups, public officials, foundations, and businesses to engage in "placemaking." This means taking every opportunity to look at streets, parks, buildings, transportation, and public markets with an eye toward promoting public life and pedestrian activity. Through workshops, seminars, a participatory "Place Game" they've created, and a book, How to Turn a Place Around, PPS offers a grassroots approach to help people make their communities more livable and lovable.

"Those who live in a place are the experts on that place," Kent told me. "They know more than architects, urban planners, traffic engineers, landscape architects, and real estate agents about what will make that place thrive. But often they are not even asked about their ideas."

The central point of PPS's work, everyone involved with the organization will tell you, is that projects need to be "place-driven." By that, they mean that any effort to improve a place should not be viewed strictly as a question of economic development, or crime control, or affordable housing, or architectural excellence. These are worthy goals, but they cannot be achieved if too little attention is devoted to creating a vital place where people will want to live, work, or visit -- a place they will care about.

"The single thing that makes a place a good place is that it is interesting," Kent explained as we strolled down Fifth Avenue toward Central Park. "And that's the same with a good place to walk. I love to walk down this street not because of the fancy shops. I love it because there's always a surprise, a sense of serendipity, great people-watching, and moments of just pleasure."

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