From the Tweetdeck of @ccoletta at The Livability Challenge

Posted by Julia Klaiber on October 13, 2010

Tweeting from the Livability Challenge in Indianapolis, CEOs for Cities president and CEO Carol Coletta had this to say:

•    100 Acres, the Indianapolis Art and Nature Park, is a stunning asset. It must be connected to the city's trail system.
•    Think of the city as a park. #cities
•    "The U.S. is overstored by 30%." Carnegie Mellon's Don Carter at Indy CEOs for Cities Livability Challenge #cities
•    Why not rain gardens all along the edges of 38th St. corridor? Get fed $$ to pay for stormwater benefits. #cities
•    "When you have Turkish food trucks replacing Tavern on the Green, you know the world has changed." Adrian Benepe at CEOs for Cities.
•    Adrian Benepe is sharing an "out of the big box" idea that converts decayed strip malls to food production centers. #cities
•    Many cities are grappling w/what to do with '30s, 40s, 50s public spaces that are massive but that are not used.
•    "In Indianapolis, you have some of the best neo-classical public space in the country. "- NYC Parks Guru Adrian Benepe #cities
•    Ideas competitions are a good way to start a conversation about a project and its potential.
•    Can Monument Circle (or any great public space needing fresh attention) become the place where all livability principles are demonstrated?
•    Can we think about an arts system similar to green systems?
•    Lily Yeh: Transform brokenness through art (and she has done it).
•    Lily Yeh: In places where you don't know what to do, you can experiment and explore with art.
•    Adrian Benepe: What's here now that we can work w/? How do we build coalition of existing interests? (This is why he gets so much done)
•    NYC Parks Department runs the nation's largest welfare to work program. 6,000 "graduates" a yr. That's astonishing. #cities
•    TPL Will Rogers: We should aspire to green space within a 10-minute walk of any citizen in any city.
•    Adrian Benepe: Need to have aspirations around open space. Doesn't have to be expensive. School playgrnds, comm gardens, pop ups