“It is in the nature of beginning that something new is started which cannot be expected from whatever may have happened before. This character of startling unexpectedness is inherent in all beginnings and in all origins…The new always happens against the overwhelming odds of statistical laws and their probability, which for all practical, everyday purposes amounts to certainty; the new therefore always appears in the guise of a miracle. The fact that man is capable of action means that the unexpected can be expected from him, that he is able to perform what is infinitely improbable.”

Hannah Arendt, The Human Condition

We are wishing comfort, peace and wellness within for anyone suffering the loss of loved ones, health and/or economic uncertainty during this pandemic and the era of authoritarianism. Please find a welcome distraction or some hopeful “possibilities-thinking” in our sharing of the projects, explorations, discoveries and serendipitous encounters we made throughout this past year. Happy New Year!

On December 30th, 2020 former State Representative Tim Greimel sent this email to Mayor Waterman’s Administration and City Council members regarding the “Global Settlement Agreement” our City entered into recently, following the last two years orchestrating the first settlement agreement made with Ottawa Towers.

In March of 2020, we received this funding possibility in response to our Opportunity Zones Investment Prospectus. Yet due to the continued lack of capacity for the sincere development of a “Phoenix Center Community Campus Plan” recommended by our City Council President Kermit Williams two years ago, this offer has been on hold.

We spent a good portion of 2020 deepening our understanding, relationships and networked learning exchanges centered on Innovation Districts and Placemaking following our October 4th, 2019 program at Placemaking Week Chattanooga. If you’ve been following Pontiac “Phoenix Center” Politics closely, you’ll recall that we first presented this combination at the Design Charrette community lobby experience at the two Ottawa Towers Open House orchestrations September 20th, 2014 & September 19th, 2015 and at the Saturday Morning Breakfast Clubs in between, our facilitation of 3 SMART Bus/City of Pontiac Transportation Summits, Transit Talks & STOC Meetings, 4 annual Park(ing) Days we’ve hosted and the Opportunity Zones funding initiative we have been advocates for since its inception etc.

We were thrilled to deepen our longstanding relationship with the Placemaking movement, by becoming PlacemakingX Advocates during the 3rd Annual International Placemaking Week Chattanooga and through becoming participants in the PlacemakingUS network following their first “Corona Chat.”

We were connected to Scott Strawbridge, Founder of Center for Sustainable, Healthy, Equitable Communities, by Ryan Smolar of PlacemakingUS to help facilitate their early beginning process of co-creating a South Florida “Placemaking Declaration.”

Following these engagements we co-hosted a 5 hour immersive conversational design experience for the 50th Annual Earth Day, that was a part of the 1st Annual Placemake Earth Challenge. Earth Day is near and dear to us and also has roots in the Placemaking movement, following Project for Public Spaces and the Social Life Project founder Fred Kent’s involvement in a grassroots action to shutdown 5th Avenue for the first Earth Day in 1970. Our Earth Day action and our 4th Annual Pontiac Park(ing) Day contributed to the unfolding effort to “redesign” Earth Day as outlined in this article by Allison Arieff (who also wrote about the National Street Service, which you may recall our incubator facilitated Pontiac’s becoming one of the original four pilot cities).

If you’d like an additional deeper dive into some of the obstacles to downtown Pontiac “Community Centered” development and productive “Value Creation” social investment, here is a short video overview of one little project: “Hidden River Park/Space ConunDRUM/Dilemma.”

Some writing we’ve found helpful to our understanding of this moment…

“School wasn’t so great before covid, either” by Erika Christakis, The Atlantic

“Make Schools More Human” Jal Mehta, New York Times

“We are Living in a Failed State” by George Packer, The Atlantic

“America, This is Your Chance: We must get it right this time or risk losing our democracy forever.” by Michelle Alexander, New York Times

“Capitalism After the Pandemic: Getting the Recovery Right” by Mariana Mazzucato, Foreign Affairs

“Public Space After Quarantine” by Milena Ivkovic, Founder of Blok74

“Public Spaces Are Essential Services,” Ethan Kent and Giselle Sebag, PlacemakingX

“All the Things Covid-19 Will Change Forever, According to 30 Top Experts” Mark Sullivan, Fast Company

And some upcoming events we’ll be participating in, in January and February…As always, co-creative collaboration is welcome - from anywhere, join us on our Zoom calls!

New Public Festival, “What if the Future of Our Public Lives Online Looked Like___?” January 14th, 2021

Transportation Camp by Transportation Center, January 16th, 2021

The 68th Annual Michigan Science Teachers Association (MSTA) Virtual Conference, February 27th and March 6th, 2021