SNELLVILLE – The city is proud to announce the creation of its Tactical Urbanism Program, an effort to get residents and business owners more involved with the planning of the city.
"In one sense, tactical urbanism has been happening as long as there have been cities and towns," said City Planner Austin Shelton. "Any time you see someone making a small improvement to the built environment is likely an example of tactical urbanism. Tactical urbanism projects are low-cost, small-scale and temporary changes to the built environment. They are often demonstrative, meaning that they are meant to demonstrate how a small change or addition to the built environment can help improve the safety, health and visual appeal of a place or community."
Common examples of tactical urbanism projects include: public art, bike lanes, crosswalks and street furniture.
Snellville's program is modeled off a similar one in Fayetteville, Ark. The hope is that it will be community-led, with residents and business owners in the city coming forward to propose projects they feel are necessary and important to their community. The city's Planning Department will advise and guide the process, but the initiative to create and follow through on an idea begins with residents.
In addition, anyone wishing to create their own project can also apply for a small grant through the city's Downtown Development Authority, Development Authority and Urban Redevelopment Agency of Snellville to help pay for the materials for their project. There is no guarantee of a grant, but the low-cost ideal of the projects will hopefully make them easily attainable for most applicants. "The City of Snellville is very excited about getting this program off the ground," Shelton said. "The city's hope is that this program will allow applicants to showcase how small changes to the built environment can have a big impact on the health, safety and beauty of their community."
To learn more about the program and to apply to start a project, visit www.snellville.org/tactical-urbanism.
If you have any questions, or want to set up a meeting to discuss your project idea, contact Shelton at ashelton@snellville.org.
