Wed 25 Mar, 2009
Overheard…
Filed under: General, Planning, Planning and Zoning FictionTags: Planning Literature, Stories
Community planning tends to be an odd mix of science and technical know-how with art and creativity. Unfortunately, the art and creativity side can too often be lost under a sea of legalities, zoning administration, and other more mundane, day-to-day tasks. This is especially evident in the area of planning literature, where the vast majority of articles deal primarily with the technical side of planning.
(including many posted here in the Building Place Notebook!)
We at Building Place are pleased to have the opportunity to make better use of the right side of our brains by occasionally publishing a different sort of “planning literature” than you will find in the Planning and Zoning News or Michigan Planner magazines…
The author of the following piece, Rodney C. Nanney, AICP, has long enjoyed writing short stories, and the characters that inhabit the planning field have provided him with fertile new literary ground to develop (so to speak).
The following ’story’ consists of a set of very short scenes or vignettes of “overheard” conversations. We hope you enjoy it, and feel free to pass along your thoughts in the comment section:
Author’s Note: This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance between the characters and any real individuals is coincidental.
Overheard…
In a Architect’s office:
“…and here is where the people will sit. I put this bench in front by the road so that people can sit and enjoy this fountain.”
“Where is the main entrance to the building?”
“That’s here in the back by the parking lot.”
“How will they get to the bench out front to sit and contemplate the fountain?”
“Well, it’s not really for people going to the building… …the bench is for people walking by on the street.”
“Oh. Why are they walking by? Where are they going?”
“What? I don’t know…to the Mall across the street, maybe.”
“Don’t people drive there?”
“Look, it doesn’t matter where the people come from or how they get here! The fountain is here. It’s nice. This is where I think they should sit!”
In a Planning Commission meeting:
“…Mr. Woodham, our planning consultant, will now be available for questions from the Commissioners….”
“I was wondering, where is the park? I thought the new ordinance we just fought for would make more parks and places for people to go to visit and relax….”
“Well ma’am, the new Open Space ordinance does require the developer to set aside 0.0265 acres of open space per dwelling unit that would be available for a park-type use.”
“Where is that space on the plan. I don’t see any.”
“0.74 acres along the entrance road off the highway has been dedicated as open space. It’s denoted in green on your plan. The developer has generously offered to donate a gazebo and two maintenance-free benches to the residents. During consultations with the developer, it was determined that they should be placed here on the landscaped island area to provide maximum visibility.”
“Who’s going to sit there?”
“Well, ma’am, I….”
“Excuse me Mr. Woodham, if I may interject here? Commissioner Jenkins, that’s not really a question that can be answered by the Commission. We can’t tell people where to sit, you know. We’re here to review this site plan. We need to move along. Commissioner, I believe you had a question about setbacks?….”
In the Director of Public Works office:
“…Yes sir, I realize that we’re in a budget crunch. In fact, I’ve already taken steps to reduce maintenance costs. As you know, the park benches downtown are in pretty rough shape. Nobody uses them anyway. All they are is a place for kids to hang out and cause trouble! We‘re pulling them all out next week. Besides, it’s an issue of safety….”
“’Safety’?”
“Yes, you know, they draw crowds that block the sidewalks. We can’t have that kind of congestion downtown. It’s a liability issue!”
In the Comic Book Connection shop downtown:
“…I checked the records this morning, and our daily sales have gone up 12% over this time last year!”
“That’s great, especially in this economy! What’s your secret?”
“Well, I talked to my son last night. He tells me that his friends are starting to talk about that old stadium bleacher bench we put out on the sidewalk awhile back as a place to meet!”
“It’s funny you should say that. Yesterday, I watched five different groups of moms with kids walk across the street from the ice-cream shop, sit down here to eat, and then come into the store afterward. That was in just over an hour’s time too!”
“We need more benches!“
Larry Krieg says:
Ironic, isn’t it? All these people with good intentions, and all these unintended consequences!
No resemblance between the characters and real people, of course…
8-)>
rodneynanney says:
Absolutely no resemblance to real people. Nope. None at all….