Placemaking Committee

Placemaking is identified as “the practice of designing, creating, and programming public spaces around the needs and desires of the community of users. The placemaking process contributes as much benefit for community empowerment as it does for creating public spaces themselves, blurring the lines between laypersons and professionals to create a strong ‘community of makers’”.

The goals of the Village of Ossining’s Placemaking Committee are to:

• Spark public discourse
• Create beauty and delight
• Engender civic pride
• Support community health and safety
• Grow social justice
• Build or improve public spaces
• Catalyze economic development
• Promote environmental sustainability
• Nurture an authentic sense of place

An effective placemaking process capitalizes on a local community’s assets, inspiration, and potential and results in the creation of quality public spaces that contribute to people’s health, happiness, and well-being. Examples of placemaking can be seen in Hudson Valley municipalities as well as in communities throughout the country.

By working with the community in a collaborative process, the committee will initiate concepts and serve as a sounding board for ideas. There is a focus on improving connectivity and walkability to ensure that the Village’s public spaces are attractive and welcoming to all. By identifying specific locations in the Village that could benefit from enhancement, the committee will suggest cost-effective improvements to transform these places by using public art, landscaping, streetscaping, historical signage, and events. The committee will also collaborate with the Village’s land use boards, Recreation and Parks Department, community and youth groups, local businesses, and nonprofits.

This committee will consist of between seven and eleven members who are residents of the Village of Ossining and appointed by the Board of Trustees. The committee will include among its members artists, architects, urban planners, landscapers/gardeners, business owners, students, community leaders, etc., who will utilize their diverse network of creators to assist the committee in its work.

Village Board Liaison: Trustee Dana White