Reimagining the Heart of San Jose, California

Re-Imagining the Heart of San JosĂŠ

Making City Hall Plaza a Place for People

Project Team:

Project Partners:

The Tech Museum of Innovation

Gehl Studio SF

The Knight Foundation

The City of San José

Maryanna Rogers PhD, Director of Innovation Daniel Steinbock PhD, Design Researcher Rachel Wilner, VP, Media & Community Lath Carlson, VP, Exhibits Harvard Sung, CFO Na’im Beyah, Documentarian

Jeff Risom, Partner Blaine Merker, Head of Team Ghigo DiTommaso, Project Manager Anna Muessig, Urban Planner Alex DeCicco, Designer Tyler Jones, Designer

Danny Harris, Program Director, San José George Abbott, Special Assistant to the VP Community & National Initiatives

David Sykes, Assistant City Manager Kim Walesh, Deputy City Manager / Economic Development Director Jennifer Garcia, Event Manager, City Hall Office of Event Services, Public Works Bob Jamieson, City Hall Facilities Manager, Public Works Rodney Rapson, Division Manager, City Facilities Architectural Services, Public Works Michelle Thong, Business Development Officer, Office of Economic Development Tammy Turnipseed, Events Director, Office of Economic Development/Cultural Affairs

A Love Letter To San José Workshop Team

Additional support from The Tech

Marvin Larin Lindsay Lutman José Posadas Emily Ramos Evelyn Rojas Ruben Ruiz

Catherine Burgyan Debbie Darrow Katy Feeley Karen Hennessy Matthew Ivan Doutschan Jamra Marika Krause Brandon Lewke Maryanne Mwangi Talance Orme Amy Pizarro Emily Ramos Tim Ritchie Aron Salas Linda Tsai

A special thanks to our volunteers : Public Space Public Life Survey Team Indu Chakravarthy Cathy DeLuca Shruti Dixit María Gabriela Julia Grinkrug Mike Gutman Jeremiah Haze Maria Javier Jay Keaveny Alyssa Kies Lauren Ledbetter Trudy Levy

Donald Norling Cygridh Rooney Kenneth Rosales Jonathan Schuppert Jasneet Sharma Ryan Shum Mary Stewart Jason Su Lola Torney Justin Triano Rachel Wexler Robert Zepernick

Prototyping Volunteers Indu Chakravarthy Mike Montague Rucha Shah

Foreword SAN JOSE

SAN JOSE

CALIFORNIA

CALIFORNIA

In the past few years, the City of San José has invested great efforts and resources in redefining its urban core. The area has changed considerably and will continue to do so thanks to the very anticipated connection of the downtown with the Bay Area Rapid Transit system (BART), a new bus rapid transit hub, the construction of the new US Patent & Trademark Office, and several new large private developments, which will further attract socio-economic capital and make downtown a more dense and livable urban environment.

The creation of the new San José City Hall was a fundamental component of this novel vision for downtown. The new building and plaza are impressive architectural spaces, which attempt to reclaim the role of city hall as the civic heart of San José, following a long tradition of cities across the world that find in their city hall the epicenter of public life. However, ten years after its opening, the plaza is underutilized as a social and civic gathering space. Like other places in San José, it is an impressive public space with very limited public life.

The Tech Museum of Innovation and Gehl Studio have partnered to study the public life of San José’s City Hall Plaza, prototype new creative uses of the space, and offer recommendations to propel longterm activation. This report offers an exhaustive description of the work carried through this collaboration and a synthesis of its results.

How to read this report

Introduction

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Public Space Public Life Survey

An Ethnography of the Plaza

Favorite Places Study

A Love Letter to San José: A Public Workshop

Urban Prototyping Sessions

An Ethnography of the Plaza highlights the codified and uncodified rules that regulate it.

The Favorite Places study gauges the makeup of public places that people love across the city and their fundamental characteristics as inspirations for future interventions in the plaza.

A Love Letter to San José was an open public workshop to engage with community members and stakeholders to share our research and discuss the future of the plaza.

The Public Space / Public Life Study is a tool for assessing public space’s performance by gathering people-focused data. It is at the core of Gehl’s methodology.

Research

Engagement

We used prototyping experiments to test the performance of the space and gather real time feedback on potential interventions and new invitations to participate in public life.

Activation

Part 6 Key Findings

Design Brief

Conclusions

The Key Findings offer a synthesis of the major takeaways elaborated in the previous sections, laying the foundations for the development of the Design Brief.

Recommendations for future interventions, aimed at improving the public life of the plaza through programming and the transformation of the physical space.

Reflections on potential next steps and future initiatives related to the plaza and Downtown San José.

Vision

Looking Ahead

Content Acknowledgments 2 Engagement Foreword 3 How to read this report 4 4. A Love Letter to San José: A public workshop 60 Content 5

The rotunda as a place for public participation 61 Introduction Testing our prototypes for the first time 62 Breaking the ice 64 Project partners 7 What are your favorite places in San José? 66 Prologue 8 Finding inspiration in places that work well 68 Project overview 12

Activation Research

5. Urban prototyping in the plaza 70

1. Public Space Public Life Survey [ PSPL ]

14

How the PSPL works 15 The method applied to study San José City Hall 16 The edge condition 18 The place is not a node 20 Hello vacant lots! 22 Quality but not quantity 24 The place is not sticky!

26

Introduction 71 An inviting space 72 Pathways to participation 86 Towards a new story 91

Vision

2. An ethnography of the plaza

6 . Design Brief 94

28

Methodology 29 City Hall Plaza: From 2005 to present day 31 The physical space 32 The activity 40 The vision 46

3. Favorite Places Survey

48

What is your favorite place in San José?

49 The Favorite Places survey 50 Results 52 The qualities of favorite places 54 Meeting new people in favorite places 56 Locations of favorite places 58 How we get there 59

Key findings 92

A new story 95 Recommended Strategies 96 Potential Actions 98 Looking Ahead

Conclusions 100

Introduction

Project partners This project was developed by The Tech Museum of Innovation and Gehl Studio, in collaboration with the City of San José. It is part of a larger, Knight Foundation supported initiative to advance opportunities in cities through the transformation of their public space supported by the Knight Foundation The Tech Museum of Innovation

Knight Foundation

The Tech Museum of Innovation is a hands-on technology and science museum for people of all ages and backgrounds. The museum - located in the Capital of Silicon Valley - is a non-profit learning resource established to inspire the innovator in everyone.

Through programs such as The Tech Challenge, our annual team design competition for youth, and internationally renowned programs such as The Tech Awards, The Tech celebrates the present and encourages the development of innovative technology for a more promising future.

Knight Foundation supports transformational ideas that promote quality journalism, advance media innovation, engage communities and foster the arts. We believe that democracy thrives when people and communities are informed and engaged. We help our communities to succeed through our Community and National Initiatives program. We invest in civic innovations that attract, retain and harness talent; that expand opportunity by increasing entrepreneurship and economic mobility; and that build places that accelerate the growth of ideas and bring people from diverse social and economic backgrounds together.

Gehl Studio Gehl Studio is the US based practice of Gehl Architects, with offices in San Francisco and New York. The Studio team is engaged with clients and projects from Canada, the US, Latin and South America.

City of San José For realization on the project, The Tech and Gehl Studio collaborated with various departments within the City of San José, primarily the Office of Economic Development and the Department of Public Works. Close coordination with the city was key to creative problem-solving and the successful implementation of this project.

Community members across downtown San José participated as volunteers, interviewers, interviewees and collaborators. We would like to thank each of our generous forty-five interviewees for their time and interest in this project.

Re-Imagining the Heart of San José : Making City Hall Plaza a Place for People

7

Introduction

Prologue / Towards City Hall Plaza as a place for people Old City Hall, the first large scale construction built to serve the city’s civic functions, was erected in 1887 in the center of downtown San José (today’s Cesar Chavez Park). It contained, among other things, a large public library.

In front of it stood an immense pedestrian plaza punctuated by cast iron and wood benches and adorned and shaded by conifers, palm trees and Mediterranean flora blooming in every season. It was demolished in June 1958, amidst fairly intense public controversy.

Introduction

Removed from the heart of the city and rebuilt far from the urban core as an automobile-only accessible office park in 1958, City Hall and City Hall Plaza have been waiting for the opportunity to fully function as a place for people.

On March 27th, 1958, the modern, impressive new San José City Hall building at 801 North First Street was dedicated. Proud officials and citizens gathered to celebrate the event and hear Mayor Robert Doerr inform them that the building was ‘a modern symbol embodying San José in its enormous expansion and dynamic growth.” The relocation of City Hall away from downtown, and its transformation into a space to be accessed and availed exclusively by car was controversial for some, but agreed upon by many.

Relocated back to the north-eastern side of downtown in 2005, and given new shape through the design of California architect Richard Meier, the plaza is now ever closer to fulfilling its civic role, yet its potential is far from being fully realized.

The new City Hall of San JosĂŠ at 200 East Santa Clara Street was opened to the public on October 15, 2005, replacing the former City Hall Center complex located on North First Street. The building layout includes an 18-story tower on the east side of the site; a three-story wing on the west side; a centrally located domed rotunda; a large plaza opening onto Santa Clara Street framed by a curved wall; and one level of 300 underground parking spaces. The city hall tower is also home to a famed couple of peregrine falcon named Clara and Fernando.

Introduction

Today Ten years after the opening of the new complex, a thorough assessment of the performance of its public space and an investigation on how to improve the public life of the space is more than ever necessary.

Introduction

Project overview The project began with ethnographic observations and interviews conducted by The Tech that aimed to delineate a qualitative understanding of the use of the space. For an Ethnography of a Public Space, The Tech conducted 12 weeks of ethnographic research, including over two hundred hours of observations at City Hall and forty-five in-depth interviews (30-90 min) with City Hall Plaza users and stakeholders, including City employees, community members, local business owners, and event producers. The goal was to discover opportunities for design by understanding individuals’ hopes, fears, and needs related to City Hall Plaza.

The team aimed to gather as broad a sample of perspectives as possible on topics pertinent to the project, especially:

1. Past successes and ongoing challenges for public space

use at City Hall Plaza, and in downtown San José;

2. Sentiments regarding the plaza’s design, daily use,

management, programming, and accessibility by the public;

3. Visions for what successful activation of the plaza might look

and feel like.

Midway through the ethnographic research, the team conducted a Public Space / Public Life Survey (PSPL), a tool that was developed to assess the performance of public spaces, following a methodology that has been perfected over decades of experimentation and that is at the core of Gehl’s approach. It entailed extensive counting of pedestrians’ flow and stationary activity in the area, during both weekdays and weekends. The survey provided a reliable baseline of people-focused data to be compared with Gehl’s database of international case studies.

12

Re-Imagining the Heart of San José : Making City Hall Plaza a Place for People

The Favorite Places Survey experimented with a newly developed method for gauging the makeup of the public places that people love in their city and by identifying the fundamental characteristics of these places, in order to offer inspirations for future interventions. The survey collected 223 responses, 45 of which were gathered first-hand by Gehl Studio’s researcher during intercept interviews across the urban area.

Subsequently, the project team curated and organized an open public workshop: A Love Letter to San José, that was held on February 12, 2015 in the City Hall Rotunda. The purpose of the event was twofold: to share the preliminary results of the research with the community, and to engage community members and stakeholders in a conversation about the future of the space, harnessing the creativity of the attendees to formulate a series of ideas to be implemented in the short, medium and long term.

The last part of the project was dedicated to Urban Prototyping sessions and to an evaluation such of sessions. We tested low resolution prototypes at City Hall Plaza during the evening Love Letter to San José event, and on weekdays February 20 - 27th.

The following design directives—shaped by the results of the PSPL survey and ethnographic research—guided the prototype concepts: • How might we (comfortably) support a larger variety of social interactions and activities in the plaza?

• How might we help plaza users better understand when and how they are invited to use the plaza? How might we give plaza users more voice in influencing what happens there?

• How might we provide pathways to more frequent (clean, safe, and low cost) activation of the plaza?

Introduction

We designed and built an urban prototyping kit for San José, the “SJ/UP Kit”, which includes a custom modular furniture assembly, Crate+, and Park Spots, organically-shaped patches of synthetic turf with 13 over-sized bean bag pillows. This kit allowed us to test a variety of seats and surfaces that supported different activities at the plaza, including lunch gatherings, meetings, co-working, games, and lounging. In addition to the SJ/UP kit, we tested a calendar of events that was physically placed in the plaza, and several methods for soliciting feedback from plaza-goers, including an idea-capturing whiteboard in the plaza and an urban prototyping ideation game.

Urban Prototype Survey. After prototype testing, we conducted an online survey, shared via social media and email lists (with Love Letter

attendees, interviewees, volunteers, City Hall tenants, and members of The Tech). We received 381 survey responses, 84% of which were from City employees. The survey was an opportunity for employees and community member to share ideas for the future of City Hall Plaza and for plaza-goers to provide feedback on the prototypes.

Taking into account all of the results from our research and prototyping, we developed a series of design recommendations for future interventions to improve the public life of the plaza through programming and the transformation of its spatial configuration. All recommendations were compiled into a Design Brief that is informed by these experiments and aims to be a fundamental tool to craft a new vision for the plaza.

Timeline WK 1

WK 2

WK 3

WK 4

WK 5

WK 6

WK 7

WK 8

WK 9

WK 10

WK 11

WK 12

Conduct design research (interviews and observations) with City Hall employees to determine goals, needs, and constraints PSPL Setup

PSPL Survey

PSPL Data Processing

Favorite Places Workshop: City Hall

Favorite Places in Person Survey Campaign

Public Workshop Results Sharing

Prototype Assessment

Ethnographic Analysis

Urban Prototyping

Design Brief

Create Report: Share outcomes with the City of San Jose and local community organizations

Re-Imagining the Heart of San José : Making City Hall Plaza a Place for People

13

Public Space Public Life Survey

Research / Public Space Public Life Survey

How the PSPL works The PSPL Survey is a method of analysis of the public realm that relies primarily on direct observation to examine how public spaces are used. The study provides information on where and how people walk, stand, sit or engage in other stationary activities in the city.

asked to record all counts on a diagram that has been provided beforehand.

Pedestrian/Cyclist Activity Tracing

Registering movement can provide basic knowledge about patterns of use in a specific site. The goal is gathering information such as walking sequence, choice of direction, flow, which entrances are used the most, which the least, and so on. Tracing involves drawing lines of movement on a plan. The observer draws the movement across the area under study as lines during a specific time period such as The survey is usually characterized by four key ten minutes or half an hour. Tracing provides a clear picture of dominant and secondary measurements: lines of flow and highlights the areas that are traversed most and least often.

- Pedestrian/Cyclist Activity Counts - Pedestrian/Cyclist Activity Tracing - Stationary Activity Mapping - Age and Gender Survey Pedestrian/Cyclist Activity Counts Pedestrian counts provide data on how people move around in the city. The counts indicate activity levels and destinations that attract people. A pedestrian traffic survey may be used in planning as a tool for strengthening and improving certain routes. Pedestrian data can also help to understand the hierarchy of streets in the city.

Counts are usually carried out from 8:00am until midnight for 10 minutes every hour.

Experience shows that this gives a reliable sampling from which we can extrapolate the number of pedestrians crossing a certain section of street every hour. Surveyors are

Age and Gender Survey An age and gender survey can provide a better picture of who uses the different parts of the public space under study. The balance between different age groups, and between men and women, is an indicator of the quality and safety of the public realm.

In the case where pedestrian traffic is limited, every person is recorded. In cases of high pedestrian traffic, every third or fifth person passing by is recorded. Age and gender surveys are particularly relevant at night when the presence or lack of women walking on their own can be a strong indicator for the perception of safety associated with a specific street or open space.

Stationary Activity Mapping Mapping of stationary activities provides a snapshot of the people spending time in, but not moving through, a public space. It gives an overview of the activities occurring throughout the day, such as standing, sitting, playing, working, engaging in sports and cultural or commercial activities.

Stationary activities mapping is a �behavioral mapping� method, where the activities are registered on a site plan. Stationary activities mapping is carried out by walking throughout the entire space in a set period of time, and recording the position of each person engaged in a stationary activity as well as the kind of activity they are engaging in on a diagram that is provided to the surveyor beforehand.

0238

count them

interview them

analyze the data

Re-Imagining the Heart of San JosĂŠ : Making City Hall Plaza a Place for People

15

Research / Public Space Public Life Survey

The method applied to study of the San José City Hall The Public Life / Public Space study in San José’s City Hall took a nuanced look at how people access City Hall and at how they use the space of the plaza. Do most plaza visitors enter from the west or the east? When do people spend time in the plaza, what brings them there?

What are the plaza’s peak times? How does City Hall Plaza’s public life compare to the life in other landmark public spaces across downtown?

16

We selected counting tools that focused on comparing City Hall Plaza and its use to neighborhood streets around it and other downtown destinations. Our count locations allowed us to capture pedestrian activity at every possible entry point to the plaza (count locations b, d, e, f, h, g). We then compared this data with pedestrian activity in streets surrounding the plaza (count locations a, c, j, k, g). Through tracing, we tried to understand how people move through the space of the plaza at different times of the day, both on weekdays and weekends. Through stationary activity mapping, we studied where people like to stand or sit within the different areas of the plaza and what activities they engage in there. Through age and gender surveying we tried to understand if there is a balance in terms of the gender and different age groups of people who use the space.

In addition to this data, we also captured information about other popular downtown public places. We measured pedestrian flow and age and gender composition at the nearby MLK library, as well as in the Paseo de San Antonio.

The survey relied on a team of 24 volunteers.

They not only provided us with valuable quantitative data, but also offered their own insights about what worked and what could improve in the space, insights that could only be gleaned through prolonged hours spent observing the area.

Re-Imagining the Heart of San José : Making City Hall Plaza a Place for People

Research / Public Space Public Life Survey

Forms Compiled by Volunteers

GEHL STUDIO / PSPL / SAN JOSE CITY HALL / COUNT SITES

j

3

c

1

k

e

d

f

b

g h

a Legend

2

pedestrian + bike count stationary activity + age / gender ped + bike count + age/gender

i

Re-Imagining the Heart of San JosĂŠ : Making City Hall Plaza a Place for People

17

Research / Public Space Public Life Survey

The edge condition

In its new location, City Hall is removed from the active core of downtown.

City Hall’s design asserts its role as the heart of the city. The projecting height of the tower, the circular central plan of the rotunda, the sweeping curve of the City Council building are architectural statements that clearly speak of such aspirations. But the data of the pedestrian flow across the space tell a different story.

Rather than functioning as an epicenter, the plaza embodies an edge condition.

Pedestrian activity, considerable for San José standards on the south and west sides of the plaza, drops drastically north and east of the space, so that the plaza functions more like an ‘outpost’ of public life rather than its core. The most noticeable aspect of the misalignment between design goals and the reality is the grand architectural gesture of the embracing wings of the City Council building that project toward the least active part of downtown, effectively making the complex ‘turn its back’ to the city center.

18

Re-Imagining the Heart of San José : Making City Hall Plaza a Place for People

Research / Public Space Public Life Survey

The plaza fails to function as the center it aspires to be Weekdays / Average Pedestrians Per Hour

Weekdays / Ped Counts 500 450

182 j

400

c

350

k

318

156

d 122

300

b

140 a

58

37

222

250

244 e

f

h

40

Other ped. count locations a. South 4th St. g. South 6th St.

g

48

Pedestrian C Wednesday

200 150 100

90

Other ped. count l a. South 4th St. g. South 6th St.

50 0

500 500

8am 9am 10am 11am 12pm 1pm

2pm 3pm 4pm 5pm 6pm 7pm

8pm

474

450 450 400 400 350 350 500 300 300 450 250 250 400 200 200 350 150 150 300 100 100 250 50 50 200 0 0 8am 9am 10am 11am 12pm 1pm 150 8am 9am 10am 11am 12pm 1pm

300

i

248

300

pedestrians / hr

150

pedestrians / hr

75

pedestrians / hr

Other ped. count locations c. East Santa Clara St. (West) k. East Santa Clara St. (East)

84

100

Wednesday Average Pedestrians / Hour

282

90

50 500

222 2pm 3pm 3pm 4pm 4pm 5pm 5pm 6pm 6pm 7pm 7pm 2pm

0 450

Other Otherped. ped.count countlol c.a.East Santa Clara South 4th St.

8pm 8pm

8am 9am 10am 11am 12pm 1pm

2pm 3pm 4pm 5pm 6pm 7pm

k.g.East Santa Clara South 6th St. Pedestrian C Wednesday

Other ped. count l a. South 4th St. g. South 6th St.

438

Weekends / Ped Counts

Weekends / Average Pedestrians Per Hour

Pedestrian Pedestrian C C Wednesday Saturday

8pm

400

474

70

j

c

150 300

k

308

d 119

150

132

b

a

18

66

e

83

f

h

46

350 500 500 300 450 450 250 400 400 200 350 350 150 300 300 100 250 250 50 200 200 0 150 150 8am 9am 10am 11am 12pm 1pm

Other ped.. count locations a. South 4th St. g. South 6th St.

g

16

100 100

84

Pedestrian C Saturday

282

Other ped. count lo c. East Santa Clara

2pm 3pm 4pm 5pm 6pm 7pm

8pm

Other ped. count lo Other ped. count l c. East Santa Clara a. South 4th St. k. East Santa Clara g. South 6th St.

50 50 0 0

8am 9am 10am 11am 12pm 1pm 8am 9am 10am 11am 12pm 1pm

Pedestrian k. East Santa ClaraC Pedestrian C Wednesday Saturday

2pm 3pm 4pm 5pm 6pm 7pm 2pm 3pm 4pm 5pm 6pm 7pm

8pm 8pm

438

500 450 400 350 300 250

i

332 Saturday Average Pedestrians / Hour

300

pedestrians / hr

150

pedestrians / hr

75

pedestrians / hr

Other ped. count locations c. East Santa Clara St. (West) k. East Santa Clara St. (East)

200

Pedestrian C Saturday

150

150 100

Other ped. count lo c. East Santa Clara k. East Santa Clara

50 0

8am 9am 10am 11am 12pm 1pm

2pm 3pm 4pm 5pm 6pm 7pm

8pm

Re-Imagining the Heart of San JosĂŠ : Making City Hall Plaza a Place for People

19

Research / Public Space Public Life Survey

The place is not a node

Gammeltrov in Copenhagen.

A very succesful node of urban paths

San José’s City Hall.

A place to walk by rather than walk through

While the passage east of the Rotunda provides a convenient connection between Santa Clara Street and the San José State University Campus and MLK Library through the plaza, the plaza as a whole fails to function as a node of urban paths. There is no real need to cross its space to reach the destinations around it, so it fails to harness the power of through-pedestrian traffic. Pedestrians cross City Hall Plaza mainly in only one direction, from north to south and from south to north, using the above mentioned passage.

The tower and the bleachers block any other direction of movement across the space, considerably reducing the activity and the consequent possibility for more human interaction. More often than not, City Hall Plaza remains a place to walk by (along Santa Clara Street) rather than to walk through.

20

Re-Imagining the Heart of San José : Making City Hall Plaza a Place for People

Research / Public Space Public Life Survey

The plaza does not serve as an intersection of urban paths Wednesday / Tracing pedestrians paths every Hour 5 pm

SANTA CLARA

6TH

4TH

Saturday Hour: 17 Wednesday Tracing Pedestrian Flow 9 am

/ Tracing pedestrians paths every hour

6TH

Hour: 13 Saturday Tracing Pedestrian Flow

9am - 6 pm

SANTA CLARA

Hour: 18 09 Saturday 10 11 13 14 17 Tracing Pedestrian Flow

SANTA CLARA

6TH

4TH

6TH

4TH

Hour: 18 Saturday Tracing Pedestrian Flow

SANTA CLARA

4TH

6TH

6 pm

SANTA CLARA

6TH

4TH

6TH

4TH

Hour: 17 Saturday Tracing Pedestrian Flow

4TH

6TH

5 pm

1 pm

SANTA CLARA

Hour: 11 Saturday Tracing Pedestrian Flow

Hour: 10 Saturday Tracing Pedestrian Flow SANTA CLARA

11 am

SANTA CLARA

4TH

6TH

4TH

Hour: 14 Saturday Tracing Pedestrian Flow

10 am

SANTA CLARA

Hour: 09 Saturday Tracing Pedestrian Flow

2 pm

Pedestrians cross City Hall Plaza in only one direction, from north to south and from south to north, using the above mentioned passage. The tower and the bleachers block any other direction of movement across the space, considerably reducing the activity and the consequent possibility for more human interaction. As such, more often, City Hall Plaza remains a place to walk by (along Santa Clara Boulevard) rather than to walk through, especially during weekdays.

Re-Imagining the Heart of San JosĂŠ : Making City Hall Plaza a Place for People

21

Research / Public Space Public Life Survey

Hello vacant lots!

The monumental plaza is surrounded by empty spaces

The plaza is surrounded by vacant, inactive, or visually uninteresting lots that strongly reduce the activity in the entire area. The design of the plaza is undermined by the emptiness surrounding it.

The monumental scale of the tower and the plaza needs to be counterbalanced by a fine-grained and dense urban fabric that will be lacking for some years to come.

The most indicative factor describing this situation is the pedestrian activity on North 5th Street, a street that is activated chiefly by the people who are running in and out of their workplace in City Hall to reach the parking garage at 8am and 5pm on weekdays and sees barely any activity on weekends.

22

Re-Imagining the Heart of San JosĂŠ : Making City Hall Plaza a Place for People

The plaza becomes a central node with surrounding daily life

1

Research / Public Space Public Life Survey

The inactive spaces around the plaza affect its performance Weekends / Average Ped Per Hour

1

3

2

4

2

3

4

5

500 450 400 350

330

300 250

5

Pedes Wedne

200 150 100

Othe

50 0

Wednesday / Ped counts on North 5th St

450

Pedestrian peaks from Plaza to parking lots

400

Pedestrian peaks from Plaza to parking lots

400

330

350

300

300

250

250 200 Pedestrian Counts 150 Wednesday

200 150 100 50

500

8pm

500

450

0

2pm 3pm 4pm 5pm 6pm 7pm

Saturday / Ped counts on North 5th St

500

350

j. No

8am 9am 10am 11am 12pm 1pm

8am 9am 10am 11am 12pm 1pm

2pm 3pm 4pm 5pm 6pm 7pm

8pm

Pedes Saturd

108

100 Other ped. count locations 50 j. North 5th St. 0 8am 9am 10am 11am 12pm 1pm

Othe

j. No

2pm 3pm 4pm 5pm 6pm 7pm

8pm

Re-Imagining the Heart of San JosĂŠ : Making City Hall Plaza a Place for People

23

Research / Public Space Public Life Survey

Quality but not quantity The stationary activity mapping shows that the plaza is able to support a number of different uses that resemble those of many healthy and thriving public spaces, including children playing, exercise, cafe seating, and even the occasional work meeting. However, the number of people engaged the stationary activities is so low that it compromises the quality of the life on the plaza.

taking a break

passing through

cooling off

children playing

sunny seating

biking through

exercise

kids play

Comparing the amount of stationary activity present on site with San Francisco’s UN Plaza can clarify just how severely underutilized the space is. The problem is even more challenging as low activity plazas tend to enter a cycle of negative feedback where lack of activity further discourages people from using the space, just as the opposite is true for active places which act as magnets for further activity.

24

Re-Imagining the Heart of San JosĂŠ : Making City Hall Plaza a Place for People

10% 26%

Research / Public Space Public Life Survey

31%

Varied activity, but not enough to make the place thrive 0%

WEEKDAY STATIONARY 4% ACTIVITIES Standing 5% Standing Waiting3% for Transport 5% 24% Bench Seating Cafe Seating Secondary Seating Sitting Folding/Moveable Chairs 100 Lying Down people 25% Children Playing Commercial Activity Active Social Activity 34% Cultural Activity Physical Activity

3%

3% 10% 26% 31%

0%

0

8 AM 9

7 AM

9

Weekday Stationary Activity San Jose City HallPlaza Plaza San Jose City Hall STATIONARY ACTIVITIES 13 WEEKDAY 15 17 18 WEEKEND STATIONARY ACTIVITIES San José 3%

100 people

5%

San Francisco

Standing Standing Waiting for Transport Standing Bench Seating Standing Waiting for Transport Cafe Seating 100 Bench Seating Secondary Seating Sitting Cafe Seating people Folding/Moveable Chairs Secondary Seating Sitting Lying DownFolding/Moveable Chairs Lying Down Children Playing CommercialChildren ActivityPlaying Commercial Activity Active Social Activity Active Social Activity Cultural Activity Cultural Activity 0 Physical Activity Physical Activity

100 people

San Francisco UN Plaza

25% WEEKEND STATIONARY ACTIVITIES (SPRING 2011)

0

7 AM

9

13

34%

15

17

0

19

0%

100 people

0

8 AM

What?

San Jose City Hall Plaza WEEKEND STATIONARY ACTIVITIES Stationary Activities

100 people

8 AM

9

10

0

12

8 AM

13

9

10

How Many?

Stationary Activities

14

12

16

13

14

18

16

18

9

8 AM 9

13

15

17

18

8 AM

Standing 10 12 13 14 16Standing 18 Waiting for Transport Bench Seating CafeSan Seating Francisco UN Plaza WEEKEND STATIONARY ACTIVITIES (SPRING 2011) Secondary Seating Sitting Folding/Moveable Chairs Lying Down Children Playing Commercial Activity 100 Active Social Activity people Cultural Activity Physical Activity

0

17

19

8 AM

9

10

12

13

14

16

9

10

12

13

14

San Francisco UN Plaza

Standing Waiting fo Bench Sea Cafe Seati Secondary Folding/M Standing Lying WaitingDow for Children Bench SeatP Cafe Seatin Commerc Secondary Social ActS Folding/Mo Cultural A Lying Down Physical Children PlA

100 people

WEEKEND STATIONARY ACTIVITIES San José

4% 24%

15

WEEKDAY STATIONARY ACTIVITIES (SPRING 2011)

Standing Standing Waiting for Transport Bench Seating Cafe Seating Secondary Seating 0 Sitting 7 AM 9 13 15 17 19 Folding/Moveable Chairs Lying 13 Down 15 17 19 Children Playing What?

Commercial Activity Stationary Activities Active Social Activity Cultural Activity Weekend Stationary San Francisco UN Plaza San Jose City Hall Plaza Activity Physical Activity WEEKDAY STATIONARY ACTIVITIES (SPRING 2011)

100% 5%

100%

San Jose City Hall Plaza

100%

10% 15%(SPRING 2011) WEEKDAY STATIONARY ACTIVITIES

100 people

13

Weekend Stationary Activity / San José WEEKEND STATIONARY ACTIVITIES

WEEKDAY STATIONARY ACTIVITIES

2%

9

San Jose City Hall Plaza

Weekday Activity / San José San JoseStationary City Hall Plaza San Francisco UN Plaza

7 AM

Lying Dow Children P Commerc Social Act Cultural A Physical A

0%

8 AM

0

9 8 AM109

13 12

15 13

1714 1816

18

San Francisco UN Plaza

WEEKEND STATIONARY ACTIVITIES (SPRING 2011) San Francisco

100 people

16

18

Commercia Social Activ Cultural Ac Physical Ac

0

8 AM

9

10

12

13

14

16

18

Standing Waiting for Bench Seat Cafe Seatin Secondary S Folding/Mo Lying Down Children Pl Commercia Social Activ Cultural Ac Physical Ac

How Many?

Stationary Activities

18

Standing Standing Waiting for Transport Bench Seating Cafe Seating Secondary Seating Sitting Folding/Moveable Chairs Lying Down Children Playing Commercial Activity Active Social Activity Cultural Activity Physical Activity

Re-Imagining the Heart of San José : Making City Hall Plaza a Place for People

25

Research / Public Space Public Life Survey

The place is not sticky!

While the plaza is balanced in terms of the age groups and gender composition of its users, it fails to retain visitors for extended periods of time.

With the exception of city employees on their lunch time breaks and young bike enthusiasts mingling on the west side by the bleachers, people either pass by and don’t stop or stop for only a few moments. The place lacks the “stickiness” that characterizes more successful public spaces.

26

Re-Imagining the Heart of San José : Making City Hall Plaza a Place for People

54% 61%

Research / Public Space Public Life Survey

The plaza fails to retain the life that passes through it San Jose City Hall Plaza

San Jose City Hall Plaza

WEEKDAY AGE Age Distribution of Stationary Activity / Weekdays 4%

65+ 31-64 15-30 7-14 <7

35%

WEEKEND AGE Age Distribution of Stationary Activity / Weekends

9%

Women Men

18%

46% 33%

54%

65+ 31-64 15-30 7-14 <7

Women Men 51%

49%

61% 40%

Who? Age & Gender

San Jose City Hall Plaza WEEKEND AGE

9%

18%

33%

65+ 31-64 15-30 7-14 <7

Women Men 51%

49%

40%

Average pedestrians / Average Stationary Activities Who? Age & Gender

San José Weekdays

San José Weekends

San Jose City Hall Plaza

Ideal plaza stickiness

San Jose City Hall Plaza

WEEKDAY STICKYNESS

“Ideal” Plaza

WEEKEND STICKYNESS

AVERAGE STICKYNESS

Average pedestrians

Average pedestrians

Average pedestrians

Average staying activities

Average staying activities

Average staying activities

Re-Imagining the Heart of San José : Making City Hall Plaza a Place for People

27

An Ethnography of City Hall Plaza

Research / Ethnography of City Hall Plaza

Methodology The Tech conducted 12 weeks of design research, including ethnographic interviews and observations, in order to uncover opportunities for design to address the needs and aspirations of City Hall Plaza users, including City employees, community members, local business owners, and event producers. Our goal was to understand the meaning that people attribute to City Hall Plaza and its context within the City of San José.

We conducted interviews with fortyfive stakeholders and users of the plaza, including members of San José’s downtown community. Our interviews were an average of 60 minutes, primarily conducted by two researchers.

We aimed to gather as broad a sample of perspectives as possible on topics pertinent to the project, especially: 1. Past successes and ongoing challenges for public space use, at City Hall Plaza and in downtown San José; 2. Sentiments regarding the plaza’s design, daily use, management, programming, and accessibility by the public; 3. Visions for what successful activation of the plaza might look and feel like.

San José City Hall Plaza* is a place that elicits strong, conflicted responses across the San José community — including City employees, community stakeholders, small business owners, local artists, and San José workers and residents. Across these many voices, there is consensus that City Hall Plaza is a grand and impressive landmark, but one that does not live up to its role as an active civic center in downtown San José.

“Before it opened to the public in October of 2005, the vision for the new San José City Hall was that its cultural presence would match its grand architectural presence.

Today, almost a decade later, there remains a large gap between the original vision for the plaza and its current state. The potential for this gap was anticipated by a task force report presented to San José City Council, February 15, 2005 : The opening of the New City Hall will be an historic event presenting opportunities and challenges for the City of San José. *We will use the term City Hall Plaza to encompass the plaza and rotunda, unless otherwise specified.

The new facility, designed by an internationally renowned architect, most certainly will become San José’s architectural icon. But it should be more than a beautiful building where the government’s business is conducted. It should be the major gathering place for the people of San José. Our citizens should come to the New City Hall not just to see the New City Hall, but to experience the history, creativity, ideas, and government that make up our community.

We believe that the City must be proactive in making the New City Hall the vibrant public space the building’s design invites and the City Council intended when it approved the project in 1998. Internal spaces in the Tower and Council Wing should be filled with high quality exhibits and displays reflecting the best of our community. The Plaza and Rotunda should come alive with planned events and celebrations, as well as with spontaneous gatherings and rallies. We do not believe that this will happen on its own, however.“ - Cited from the San José Arts Commission Ad Hoc Task Force Report, presented to City Council 2/15/05.

No architectural plan can anticipate the complexity of social, fiscal, and political forces that come to shape the actual life of a public building. Our aim in this project was to study the whole context of City Hall Plaza, taking into account its original vision, understanding the current needs of the people who visit the space and those who manage the space, and identifying opportunities to chart a path towards making City Hall Plaza a beloved public space in San José.

Re-Imagining the Heart of San José : Making City Hall Plaza a Place for People

29

The rotunda is the spectacular centerpiece of architect Richard Meier’s design for the new “civic center” of San José City Hall, a soaring glass and steel dome that lends credence to the City of San José’s slogan, “The Capital of Silicon Valley.” Workers and residents respect the rotunda’s visual impact, and, in this regard, it is a great symbolic success.

Research / Ethnography of City Hall Plaza

San José City Hall Plaza / From 2005 to present day The rotunda was envisioned as a grand entrance to City Hall, a welcome desk serving the public, a bustling nexus for public life and democratic government. However, it has failed to fully achieve these functions, and many City employees and San José residents we interviewed expressed some form of embarrassment or anger about this unrealized vision.

Most days, the rotunda is empty of people. The grand welcome desk stands derelict.

The sweeping stairways are cordoned off. The entrances are often locked during the day, either in preparation or clean-up for reserved rental events, or simply because someone has forgotten to unlock them. After a spate of recent break-ins, the front doors of the rotunda are left unlocked less frequently in order to control illegal entry.

Given its distance from every functional center of activity at City Hall, the rotunda is wholly unsuited to be the ‘main entrance.’ It’s unclear how much this misplaced intention was due to architectural plans that changed (there was originally no rotunda in the new City Hall building plans) or lack of foresight.

Today, the grandeur of the building’s interior serves mainly those who rent the space for weddings, banquets, and other private events, the booking for which was recently outsourced to the Fairmont Hotel.

Facing severe budget cuts during the ensuing economic recession, City leaders have not had the resources to support the realization of the original vision for the rotunda. Today, ten years after its opening, the building is often empty of people during business hours, and it primarily serves as a private event space.

Externally magnificent, internally bereft, the rotunda leaves the community conflicted over the building’s public value.

The plaza was intended to be a vibrant public space, a focal point for diverse civic activities representative of San José’s diverse peoples. In reality, it is generally perceived to be a dead zone, an inhospitable ocean of concrete.

“The vision of the San José Civic Center is to become a great public space that is used as a gathering center (or “21st century town square”) by the people of San José and the

entire South Bay area. A public gathering center should serve the public by offering its space for leisure, pleasure, and excitement, as well as for activities that are cultural, civic, celebratory, reflective, academic, athletic, gastronomic and political. In most of the world and a few American cities, the public gathering centers (piazzas, markets, parks and zocalos) illuminate each city’s individual character. As San José is a mosaic of peoples, the new Civic Center must reflect this richness.”

-Dial|Larkin report

Many of the City staff pointed out that City Hall and its regulations were designed in an era when post-9/11 security concerns were front of mind. The large, blank expanse of open concrete, with parking prohibited along its frontage, prioritizes control and safety.

Unfortunately, it does so at the expense of the human needs of Plaza users to feel safe, comfortable, and in control. Furthermore, the City’s approach to programming the space poses barriers to participation that dissuade would-be ‘activators’ in the community.

In effect, the plaza currently works well to satisfy the City’s institutional needs: an empty plaza maximizes control, safety and cleanliness; it avoids any possible criticism of fiscal irresponsibility; it minimizes the effort required to manage and program the space.

An empty plaza is the simplest way of fulfilling the mandate that public space use is “fair and equal.”

Re-Imagining the Heart of San José : Making City Hall Plaza a Place for People

31

Research / Ethnography of City Hall Plaza

The way things are / The physical space People do not naturally linger long in City Hall Plaza; rather, they prefer to pass through it until they reach a space that is more comfortable. The reasons for their discomfort have much to do with the plaza’s physical environment. The vast, unbroken expanse of concrete, with its reflective nearwhite surface and lack of shade, greenery, and color, is unwelcoming to people, encouraging movement but not rest. Staff in the Planning Division told us that if the plaza design had been submitted to their office by a San José developer, it would not have passed their own planning review process: “it breaks all of our own rules,” for its lack of trees, lack of clear entrance to the building, and overall inhospitable design.

A harsh environment In clear weather, the California sun is oppressively bright and hot on the plaza, and there is little shade to be found. Making matters worse, the light-colored hardscape and shiny metal tables reflect the sun up from below as well. A lack of shade is the most frequent complaint we heard during our research, often expressed with colorful names for the plaza, such as “barren hellscape,” “melanoma plaza,” and “prison yard.”

Shelter is not only a key factor in physical comfort, it is also critical to psychological comfort. In public plazas around the world, people are attracted to edges and objects that interrupt open space. Boundaries offer a measure of shelter: they allow a person to stand or sit with the widest possible view of the open space and the minimum of invisible 32

space behind. It offers one a sense of safety and control over their situation.

When seating is placed in these comfortable locations, plaza-goers will tend to gather and remain. This creates a natural differentiation between ‘audience’ and ‘stage’ in the theatre of public life. We don’t mind appearing ‘on-stage’ as we move through a public plaza on our way somewhere — we often welcome it — but we much prefer to be in the ‘audience’ when we rest.

When seating is located in the middle of an open space, as the plaza tables were at the start of our study, anyone who sits is exposed from all sides, both to sun and to other people. In the paraphrased words our interviewees, “[On the plaza] I feel like an ant under a magnifying glass” or “prey waiting to be snatched up by a T-Rex.” These metaphors illustrate the visceral feeling of vulnerability elicited by the physical elements of the plaza. The plaza does not currently promote a sense of safety and control, which are essential for anyone to feel comfortable enough to linger, be idle, people-watch, converse, or congregate in public.

Need Identified: Plaza users need to feel more physically and psychologically comfortable in the plaza - while engaging in a variety of activities - in order to encourage extended stays.

Re-Imagining the Heart of San José : Making City Hall Plaza a Place for People

Plaza users need to feel more physically and psychologically comfortable in the plaza - while engaging in a variety of activities - in order to encourage extended stays.

Research / Ethnography of City Hall Plaza

A place to be alone The current layout of the plaza seating and patterns of activation appeal more to individuals than to groups. On typical days, there are a just handful of stationary individuals in the plaza - and they are almost always alone. The most popular tables are along the wall of the East Plaza, leaving the tables exposed in the plaza’s center largely unoccupied. These solitary users include individuals eating lunch, reading the paper, taking a work break, or using their phones.

The heaviest users of the plaza are solitary men, some of whom spend many hours sitting at the same table, on a regular basis.

Based on the plaza’s patterns of use throughout the day and week, we concluded that its current layout makes it an ideal place to be alone - a place that promotes solitude and invites those who prefer to be alone. This finding suggests that alternate configurations of elements within the physical space - perhaps even a rearrangement of the existing tables - could reshape the social space in desirable ways.

These interviewees implicitly suggested that we might discover, through the wonders of design, a solution that would appeal to the “right” people but not the “wrong” people (e.g., a bench that is great for sitting but not sleeping overnight).

Rather than attempting to exclude a particular user group, we adopted a different strategy, informed by secondary urban design research: a public space that is inviting to all visitors produces a ratio of visitor types that allows all groups to happily co-exist in comfort, without any one group dominating. The focus, therefore, should be on creating a comfortable space for humans rather than designing to dissuade particular uses and user groups.

Need Identified: A diversity of users need to feel welcome and supported by the plaza’s physical design.

Several City employees expressed concern that making the plaza more comfortable and inviting would attract the “wrong people.”

For these interviewees, this term referred to individuals who appear threatening or unclean. Their concern seemed to be driven by three factors. First, the heaviest daytime users of the plaza tended to be in this undesired group. Second, certain areas of the plaza are frequented by unhoused users at night, for sleeping, using drugs, fornicating, and going to the bathroom. And, third, there have been recent instances of theft and a history of encampments, such as during the Occupy Movement.

34

Re-Imagining the Heart of San José : Making City Hall Plaza a Place for People

A diversity of users need to feel welcome and supported by the plaza’s physical design.

Research / Ethnography of City Hall Plaza

A lack of informal meeting ground City Hall currently has little space for informal interdepartmental interaction, and with the addition of the US Patent Office, there is increasing demand for spaces that support group gatherings and meetings. The previous City Hall’s cafeteria served a vital social function among city workers. More than just the lunch room, it was often the locale for informal meetings and unplanned encounters with colleagues. The cafeteria, thus, afforded the development of new relationships by offering an informal meeting ground for workers within and across departments.

A cafeteria was not included in the new City Hall building by design as a strategy to encourage employees to frequent nearby local restaurants. Though a noble goal, the result was a building intentionally designed for people to leave. Without a cafeteria, many of the City employees, conscious of sticking to their lunch break time, eat bagged lunches at their desks or make use of the break rooms located on each floor. They self-organize donation-based snack stands, breakfast clubs, and potlucks. However, the break rooms accommodate only small groups; and, as most floors have limited key code access, these break rooms have not become places for interdepartmental interaction.

In the current City Hall building, the two most common spaces for informal intermingling are inherently timeconstrained. The best place for impromptu encounters with colleagues is the elevator.

There, colleagues greet each other by first name, check in briefly, and exit. Another space for quick, informal social interaction

is at the mobile coffee vendor, The Cart, located in the rear of the lower level of City Hall Plaza. However, with no dedicated café seating, it functions primarily as a take-away coffee establishment, which reduces the possibility for chance interactions.

Informal social interactions are crucial for effective collaboration and innovation, and they happen in discrete spaces in the workplace that are conducive to regular visits and spending time. Unplanned and spontaneous encounters are especially important at City Hall, where the City workers not only need to collaborate across departments but also with local residents and workers. The current City Hall building, however, with its lack of informal social spaces and locked doors between departments, creates silos between colleagues and between the City and its people.

Need Identified: City employees need to interact with colleagues across departments in informal spaces that can accommodate small and large groups.

City employees need to interact with colleagues across departments in informal spaces that can accommodate small and large groups.

Re-Imagining the Heart of San José : Making City Hall Plaza a Place for People

35

Research / Ethnography of City Hall Plaza

A food desert As described above, the new City Hall building was intentionally designed without a cafeteria so that City employees would frequent local restaurants. The presence of City Hall employees has encouraged some new food offerings. However, the restaurant options in the immediate area remain limited, and walking to these establishments, often across the large expanse of the plaza, takes time out of their closely timed lunch breaks. Most employees, and especially hourly employees, eat packed lunches at their desks or in the small break rooms located on their individual floors. The exclusion of a cafeteria at City Hall does not seem to be having quite the intended effect of encouraging City employees to eat at local restaurants.

The only food vendor at City Hall is The Cart, a mobile establishment with coffee, tea, and pastries at the rear of City Hall Tower’s lower level. Dave, the Coffee Cart owner, is a wellknown and well-loved community member.

The Cart is frequented most often by regulars, who are primarily City Hall Tower employees. Visitors often do not know that it exists, as Dave’s advertising in the building is strictly regulated: he is allowed only one small sign in the window, making The Cart nearly invisible from every vantage point, inside and outside. The upcoming redesign of the first two levels of the tower and The Cart’s lease ending soon offer opportunities for re-imagining how to incorporate visible, desirable food options at City Hall.

Needs Identified: City Hall visitors and employees need to fulfill basic biological needs - especially eating - in order to spend any extended time there.

City Hall visitors need to be better informed about the food and drink options available.

Photos: Employees voluntarily stock their break rooms with snacks. Pictured here are the “Munchie Mart” and the “Stooge Cafe,” break rooms on two separate floors at City Hall.

City Hall’s only food vendor, The Cart, is located on the first floor of the Tower building. Pictured here is Dave, the owner of The Cart.

36

Re-Imagining the Heart of San José : Making City Hall Plaza a Place for People

Research / Ethnography of City Hall Plaza

City Hall visitors need to be better informed about the food and drink options available.

City Hall visitors and employees need to fulfill basic biological needs especially eating - in order to spend any extended time there.

Re-Imagining the Heart of San JosĂŠ : Making City Hall Plaza a Place for People

37

Research / Ethnography of City Hall Plaza

West Plaza playground West Plaza, with its wide, open space and peripheral seating, is ideal for large events, flag raisings, and fairs. It is the field and the outdoor ballroom of City Hall Plaza - an expansive, flexible area to accommodate large groups and an endless variety of activities.

West Plaza is also an unintended playground.

While the City officially discourages recreational sports on the plaza, workers generally enjoy the presence of skateboarders, bicyclists, and break dancers during the day, as they lend life to an otherwise lifeless space.

Though West Plaza has similar climate challenges as the rest of the plaza, with its exposure to the elements and lack of shade, it is unique in that it draws the most diverse set of public users. The openness and flexibility of the space means that it can serve its various functions well.

San José community members, including flag raising attendees and wedding parties, need to celebrate in large, flexible, ceremonial spaces.

San José city youth need a public place that welcomes them to gather and play, skateboard and bike.

Needs Identified: San José community members, including flag raising attendees and wedding parties, need to celebrate in large, flexible, ceremonial spaces.

San José city youth need a public place that welcomes them to gather and play, skateboard and bike.

Photo: Vietnamese Heritage Flag Raising Ceremony at San José City Hall, February 19, 2015

Innovation in Public : Re-Imagining the Heart of San José

39

Research / Ethnography of City Hall Plaza

The way things are / The activity The plaza is at its best when it is intentionally activated by groups. City Hall employees and community members described their favorite moments in the plaza: projected artwork, such as installations that were part of the ZER01 biennials, Disability Awareness Day, and Bike Party. In each instance, groups gathered, stayed, and socialized. Experiencing City Hall Plaza full of energized community members offers justification for the grandness of the space and the financial investment.

These types of public events are few and far between. In the month of February this year, for instance, the plaza and rotunda were reserved for a public event only once (aside from our own interventions.)

Barriers to participation The people of San José dream of more art, play, and community activity at City Hall Plaza. City employees informally share how much they love seeing break dancers making use of the plaza’s compelling spaces and how they secretly dream of turning the plaza into a roller skating rink. Community members also share countless aspirations for how they would like to bring life to City Hall Plaza. However, there are fears and mindsets that put a damper on these wishes: City employees fear that non-essential use of the space would appear irresponsible, the Event Services team fears they will not be able to accommodate more requests, and community members have developed a sense of mistrust towards the City after painful past experiences navigating its opaque policies and fees.

City Hall Plaza is currently a “no no” place, as one plaza-goer called it. The approach to City 40

Hall events management, under the Department of Public Works, is intentionally one of building protector rather than activator. The current permitting structure leaves little space for community contribution or casual use of the space. Sleeping on the plaza is prohibited, and placing any thing on the plaza requires a permit. For instance, an individual who put his head down on a table to nap was asked to leave as were a young couple at City Hall for an informal engagement photo shoot (because the photographer was carrying a tripod).

The policies and fees for renting City Hall Plaza were created ten years ago and are enshrined both in the Municipal Code and the City Policy.

The current service delivery model for outdoor events at City Hall involves reservations and event management through the Event Services office in the Department of Public Works.

The workload for managing each event is high, typically involving a long series of email exchanges and face-to-face meetings between event planners and the Event Services manager, in order to negotiate event details. Each event presents a unique set of demands that must be re-negotiated to fit into one of four broad categories: Simple Assembly, Expressive Display, Limited Outdoor Event, and Outdoor Event.

City Hall Event Services is responsible for event coordination and management of the facilities at City Hall. The team has intimate knowledge of the regulations and policies thus charged with contracting the space and providing assistance to facilitate events for both employee and community uses. The City acknowledges the City Hall Plaza is one of the most regulated City spaces in San Jose. Staff is charged with

Re-Imagining the Heart of San José : Making City Hall Plaza a Place for People

administering consistent regulations for each and every event and do not have the discretion to interpret regulations on an individual event basis. Staff is also responsible for improving the administration of the contract process; adjustments to the regulations are difficult to achieve due to lack of staff resources. Universal knowledge of past events and activities is virtually unknown with the exception of recorded documents related to historical events which provide a limited profile of event activities.

At present, there are two non-rental options for plaza users: Expressive Display and Simple Assembly. Expressive Display is the only permit that allows for individuals to put an object on the plaza, and there are strict regulations in terms of space allocation and location. The only organization that has used the Expressive Display permit in the past year has been the Jehovah’s Witnesses. This group sets up their displays nearly every day at the front door of the Tower, becoming the de facto information booth of City Hall. The infrequent use of this permit suggests that it may be too narrow to accommodate many users’ needs.

There are currently no permits available to accommodate recurring interventions at City Hall Plaza, such as our urban prototype testing, which posed significant challenges to the current permitting structures. The only existing channels would have required our team to rent City Hall Plaza, at private event fee rates ($125/h for each plaza space), which would not have included East Plaza, where the prototypes were most relevant.

Research / Ethnography of City Hall Plaza

City Hall plaza permitting structure Simple Assembly

Expressive Display

Limited Outdoor Event

Outdoor Event

free

free

$125/hour per space

$125/hour per space

Public/Private Open to public free of charge Private (invitation or fee to enter)

y n

y n

y n

n y

Equipment Tables/Booths Chairs Generator Driving on the plaza Parking on the plaza Public Address Sound System Anything touches the ground Signage

n n n n n Handheld PA, noise level monitored n conditional

1 up to 3 n n n Handheld PA, noise level monitored n conditional

1 to 5 1 to 19 chairs n n n Handheld PA, noise level monitored n conditional

6 or more 20 or more y y y y y up to 4 2'x2' signs for wayfinding

Temporary Structures Stage Barricade Other temp structures

n n n

n n n

n n n

y y y

Commercial Merchandise Merch Sales Merch Distribution

n n

n n

n n

y y

Food/Beverage Preparation Serving Sales

n n n

n n n

n n n

y y y

Drinks Drink Prep Food Cooking Food Serving Food Sales

n n n n

n n n n

n n n n

y

Fees Fee for space use

y y

Note: This tables was created by the researchers, based on plaza regulations shared on the City Hall website.

Re-Imagining the Heart of San JosĂŠ : Making City Hall Plaza a Place for People

41

Research / Ethnography of City Hall Plaza

Process map / Which City Hall permit works for you?

Community Expressive Display Limited persons to communicate views to the public.

Equipment: Up to one table and/or three chairs Food or Beverage Services: None Fee: None Permit Process Time: 24 hours

Outdoor Event

A Plaza event which involves, cooking, preparation, or distribution of food or beverages, use of equipment, placement of temporary structures or use of vehicles on Plaza.

Equipment: As needed Food or Beverage Services: Yes Fee: $125 per hour Permit Process Time: 30 days

42

Innovation in Public : Re-Imagining the Heart of San JosĂŠ

Simple Assembly

Assembly of persons on an unreserved area of the Plaza, permitted one hand carried microphone/loudspeaker.

Equipment: None Food or Beverage Services: None Fee: $20 Permit Process Time: 24 hours

Limited Outdoor Event

Plaza event with a small gathering of individuals who do not require food or beverage service, and with limited equipment use.

Equipment: Up to 20 chairs Food or Beverage Services: None Fee: $125 per hour Permit Process Time: 15 days

Research / Ethnography of City Hall Plaza

The strict regulations are an understandable response to fiscal constraints and past experiences with theft, encampments, and harm to the property. Interpreting regulations (from the municipal level to the federal) is an extremely time-intensive task for the Event Services team and directly impacts the amount of time available for supporting activation at City Hall. The Event Services team reported that the smallest events take as much time to manage as the largest events.

Feeling understaffed and informed by experienced challenges, they take a defensive stance to requests of Plaza use, which, though understandable, is an approach that hinders activation of the space.

The City’s goal is to support “fair and equal” use of City Hall Plaza to all members of the community. The primary purpose of City Hall is to provide for legislative and administrative operations and programs of the City for the community. The City strives to achieve this goal and purpose through a “free use” program which allows all City Departments, Council Districts and Mayor’s office the opportunity to utilize the City Hall plaza’s for community events; events that welcome and engage the public in civic and cultural activities.

“Free use” is allocated at the discretion of City Officials in accordance with the policy. Members of the public are welcome to suggest community events to City Officials for which “free use” may be applied.

“Free use” events are held at City Hall Sunday through Friday except on Holidays, are free and open to the public and considered Official City Business. A full policy description is available through the Event Services Office.

Needs Identified:

Community members who are excited to activate City Hall Plaza need to feel welcomed by the policies and practices of the City.

They have a voice in influencing what happens at City Hall Plaza.

The managers of City Hall Plaza need to feel supported to encourage community use of the Plaza.

City Hall employees and community members need to feel that they have a voice in influencing what happens at City Hall Plaza.

The “free use” program creates an estimated 100 community meetings and cultural events per year however staff acknowledges there is greater opportunity to harness the community’s widespread energy to make City Hall Plaza a more vibrant, central hub for both city staff and the community.

Re-Imagining the Heart of San José : Making City Hall Plaza a Place for People

43

Research / Ethnography of City Hall Plaza No calendar transparency

The rotunda is open to the public when there are no events (or event set-up or break-down).

There is a lack of transparency about events However, the only way the City communicates at City Hall. Currently, the plaza and rotunda that the rotunda is open is by setting up cafe schedule is highly irregular, and contacting the tables and chairs, which, though colorful, are Events Services team is the only way to gain imperceptible except from a few feet away access to a definitive and up-to-date calendar on the plaza. This is not a reliable signal, as of upcoming events. people do not understand their meaning, and, even when the tables are out, the front doors The digital communication channels at City of the plaza are frequently locked.

Hall include email lists, newsletters, intranet In sum, it is difficult for anyone aside from the postings, and press releases, though few Event Services team to know when there are events in the plaza and rotunda are shared public events or when the rotunda and plaza this way. Some City Hall staff and departments are open and available for public use. also use their Twitter and Facebook accounts for sharing information about events at City Hall.

Needs Identified: City Hall Plaza users need a better way to learn Persistent displays in City Hallâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s physical about upcoming events. spaces include information screens in the lobby, a display case in the East Plaza, and a City Hall rotunda users need a better way to display case in the employee elevator lobby. learn when it is open to the public.

None of these platforms is regularly updated nor are they effective at attracting attention.

In fact, the display case in the plaza has gone mostly unchanged and unnoticed for years, with the paper covering the corkboard essentially disintegrating, and no one knows who is responsible for maintaining the case.

44

Re-Imagining the Heart of San JosĂŠ : Making City Hall Plaza a Place for People

City Hall Plaza users need a better way to learn about upcoming events.

City Hall rotunda users need a better way to learn when it is open to the

Research / Ethnography of City Hall Plaza

The vision Despite the original vision for City Hall Plaza, as a vibrant civic space, little has been done to realize this dream.

On the contrary, the current regulations, which are designed to protect and to keep out the “wrong” people, prevent activation by everyone. Far from lively and inviting, the plaza is seen as dead, barren, and harsh. As a result, the people of San José tell stories about City Hall that reverberate with embarrassment, resentment, and a need for change.

46

What does San José itself represent?

The architect designed the new City Hall building to represent San José as the center of technological innovation, to reflect the city’s image shift from “The Valley of Heart’s Delight” to the “Capital of Silicon Valley.”

San José, which feels more like a small town than a bustling technological hub, struggles to live up to this dream, and the current use of the City Hall building reflects this struggle. Moreover, it is not clear how the building should be perceived, who belongs there, or whether City Hall Plaza is a civic space or a private space.

Might there be a way to integrate San José’s historical character, high-technology aspirations, and small town present?

How might the City better communicate the plaza’s role to the residents and workers of San José?

Needs Identified: The community needs to hear a clear message about what the City wants the plaza to be.

The City needs a new story to tell about City Hall that redeems its perceived failure and faults and that integrates San José’s historical character, high-technology aspirations, and small town present.

Re-Imagining the Heart of San José : Making City Hall Plaza a Place for People

The community needs to hear a clear message about what the City wants the plaza to be.

The City needs a new story to tell about City Hall that redeems its perceived failure and faults and that integrates San JosĂŠâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s historical character, hightechnology aspirations, and small town present.

Favorite Places Survey

Research / Favorite Places Survey

What is your favorite place in San José?

What is your favorite place?

This simple question uncovers the DNA of spaces that are comfortable, social, peaceful, vibrant, friendly, interesting and humanscaled.

SAN JOSE FA VORITE PLA CES CAMPA

IGN

(YOUR FAVO

RITE P

You’re my place in Sa because... ____________

We asked more than 200 people to provide descriptions of their Favorite Place and include information about the spatial and social characteristics that make it special. Through online, in person and paper surveys, respondents from across San José offered insights about these formal and informal spaces that illuminate possibilities for improving “official” public spaces.

SA

Each Favorite Place tells a story about the relationship between the physical space and the life that it supports.

(REASON YO

U LOVE YOU

Please fill ou t

& bring with

I love you, ___. ____________

SAV

SAN JOSE THE D

E

FEB 12 2015

E AT

By understanding what makes these spaces work well, San José can sample and combine those qualities to improve the life of existing and proposed MPAIGN LACES CA spaces—including San José FAVORITE P JOSEHall.

N City

I love you __________

RITE PLACE)

(YOUR FAVO

vorite You’re my fa Jose place in San because... _________. ____________ E)

AC FAVORITE PL U LOVE YOUR

(REASON YO

t Please fill ou

you to the & bring with

workshop!

CALIFORNIA

d to a You’re invite orkshop W es ac Favorite Pl ie ov M & Dinner date workshop screening location

February 12 5:00-7:00pm 7:00-9:30pm a City Hall Plaz Rotunda RSVP

ite.com

www.eventbr

Re-Imagining the Heart of San José : Making City Hall Plaza a Place for People

49

Excited/energized Relaxed Interested

Research / Favorite Places Survey

Social

San Jose Favorite Places Survey

The Favorite Places Survey

We are studying the social life of San Jose's public spaces to make them more inviting for people from all over the city to spend time. We are interested in learning lessons from the places people already spend time – even places close to home or that may not be important to others or well known.

Taking this quick survey will help us make recommendations to the City of San Jose.

Playful Curious Like I belong Like I can stay as long as I want Peaceful Engaged Like an outsider Creative Other:

* Required

What do you do when you go there?

What is your favorite place in San Jose? *

The Favorite Places survey asked basic questions about what people do in there, who they socialize with, and how the space makes them feel. These questions helped us to understand how Favorite Places support things people like to do and are already doing in their daily routines—the life of the space.

This place is special to me because...

How do you get there?

Walk Bike Bus

Train Car

Other:

Shop

The survey also asks about the spatial qualities of the place. The qualities mentioned most often supported the strolling, sitting, eating, and people watching activities associated with a human-scaled, social space. Some, like Paseo de San Antonio, contain other elements like transit and connection to transit, that make them stand out as high quality pedestrian environments.

Play sports/physical exercise Socialize with people I know People-watch Meet people Eat/drink

Something creative

Read/relax/listen to music

Passive recreation (e.g. strolling/fishing) Just be alone Other:

Taken together, responses to the Favorite Places survey help draw connections between the life and space of San José’s Favorite Places.

How often do you visit?

Once a year or less

Every couple of months Once a month

San Jose Favorite Places Survey

Who do you visit your Favorite Place with?

Once a week or more Daily When I'm at my Favorite Place I feel...

Friends Family

Co-workers Neighbors Alone

Other: Do you meet up at your Favorite Place with people you know?

Yes – usually I make a plan to meet people there.

Yes – I often run into people I know there.

No – I usually don't run into people I know there.

How many people are usually in your group when you visit?

Safe Excited/energized Relaxed Interested Social

San Jose Favorite Places Survey

Playful

We are studying the social life of San Jose's public spaces to make them more inviting for people from all over the city to spend time. We are interested in learning lessons from the places people already spend time – even places close to home or that may not be important to others or well known.

Like I belong

Taking this quick survey will help us make recommendations to the City of San Jose.

Like an outsider

* Required

Other:

What is your favorite place in San Jose? *

Curious Like I can stay as long as I want Peaceful Engaged Creative

What do you do when you go there?

Shop Play sports/physical exercise

This place is special to me because...

Socialize with people I know People-watch Meet people Eat/drink Something creative Read/relax/listen to music

Have you talked to new people at your Favorite Place?

Yes – friends of friends Yes – stranger I struck up conversation with No No – but sometimes I recognize people I don't know If Yes – What brought about your interaction with them?

Pets Sports/physical exercise Children Event/concert/class Volunteering/religious event Friends of friends Other: If Yes – Have you seen them outside of your favorite place?

Yes No Sometimes Other: What is your home Zip Code? *

Passive recreation (e.g. strolling/fishing) Just be alone How do you get there?

Other:

What is the street intersection closest to where you live?

Walk Bike

Who do you visit your Favorite Place with?

Bus

Friends

Train

Family

Car

Co-workers

Other:

Neighbors Alone

How often do you visit?

Other:

Once a year or less Every couple of months

Yes – usually I make a plan to meet people there.

Once a week or more

Yes – I often run into people I know there.

Daily

No – I usually don't run into people I know there.

When I'm at my Favorite Place I feel...

50

Do you meet up at your Favorite Place with people you know?

Once a month

How many people are usually in your group when you visit?

Safe Re-Imagining the Heart of San José : Making City Hall Plaza a Place for People Excited/energized Relaxed

Have you talked to new people at your Favorite Place?

How old are you? * 0-6 7-14 15-30 31-64 65+ What is your Gender? * Male Female Other:

Submit

Never submit passwords through Google Forms.

Research / Favorite Places Survey

People are most social when they feel “relaxed” and “safe”

Life What do you do there?

Who do you go with?

Who do you meet?

How do you feel there?

How often do you visit?

How do you get there?

Favorite Places have provisions for people to socialize, sit, eat and drink, and feel safe and comfortable.

Space What are its qualities?

What invitations exist?

How is it connected?

Where is it?

Re-Imagining the Heart of San José : Making City Hall Plaza a Place for People

51

Research / Favorite Places Survey

Results / Favorite Places are mostly social places

The people who work there

Watching the same turtle

Watching a big game on the tv

There are many “excuses” to interact with new people

Sat next to them Proximity

Outgoing personality

Food

Just being in the same place

Small talk (communal table)

Favorite Places are predominantly social. People visit them with others five times as often as going alone.

Three-quarters of those we surveyed reported meeting new people once they got there.

However, for some people peace and solitude (sometimes found while watching others) is also an important draw for Favorite Places. In either case, feeling like one belongs, is safe, and relaxed are the most important characteristics.

Usually meeting new people required an “excuse” — a program, event, or set of spatial conditions that set up the conditions for a spontaneous interaction to happen naturally.

Of the three-quarters of people we heard from who met new people in their Favorite Place, most were able to meet new people by either socializing with friends-of-friends, or through an event or class. Sports, watching children, “casual proximity” (already being near someone), and taking care of pets were other, though less common, excuses for meeting new people.

We received many anecdotal reasons for socializing that fell into these general categories. The most common characteristic for all the interactions was a combination of physical proximity and food, suggesting that the basic formula for bringing people together is a familiar and simple one.

52

Re-Imagining the Heart of San José : Making City Hall Plaza a Place for People

Research / Favorite Places Survey

0238

Most people make plans to meet people at their Favorite Places. Many run into friends once they get there.

Except for a significant group of respondents who reported solitary activities in their Favorite Places, at least half of respondents make plans to go with friends, spouses, co-workers and neighbors to their Favorite Places. Once they get there, at least half of those are likely to run into other people they know.

In this way, Favorite Places are a spatial node in a social network that may provide important in-person / offline interaction time.

Friends

5

Family & Significant Others

4

Alone

The relationship between the form, or space, of the Favorite Place, the kind of life that happens there, is described in many ways by survey respondents.

Visitors describe what they do in their Favorite Place: primarily eating and drinking, and social activities.

The physical environment, including the seating, walking environment, options watching and being watched, and the availability of transit and mobility all invite for the kind of life that people cite as their reason for loving the place.

I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t usually run into people

3

Co-workers

2

Neighbors

1

0

The qualities of Favorite Places allow activities to happen.

I run into people I know there

I usually make a plan to meet people there

When I go with...

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

Eat /Eat/drink Drink with people I know Socialize Socialize with people I know

PeoplePeople-watch - watch people MeetMeet people to music Read / relaxRead/relax/listen / listen to music Passive recreation Passive recreation Shop Shop Other Other Something creative Something creative Play sports/exercise Play sports / exercise alone Just Just be be alone 0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

Re-Imagining the Heart of San JosĂŠ : Making City Hall Plaza a Place for People

53

Research / Favorite Places Survey

The qualities of favorite places

54

Paseo de San Antonio SJSU students are streaming by on their way to and from the light rail. Great possibilities on such a small block... It’s rare I don’t bump into at least one person I know.

Peking House I was homeless for 4 years and during that time, Lucy befriended me. Her food has always been amazing and I keep going back for more.

San José Flea Market Reminds me of places in Honduras and it’s where I can meet people from Honduras.

MLK Library It’s the first library I took my son too when he was younger. I remember loving the children’s area.

Great Mall of the Bay Area I work there.

Santana Row It has a lot to do in one place. You can socialize and have drinks or dinner at the same time while shopping or running errands. I also like all the events they have there and that they are open late.

Re-Imagining the Heart of San José : Making City Hall Plaza a Place for People

Research / Favorite Places Survey

Rose Garden A subtly peaceful environment within a hightraffic area of commerce and a community of people representing the very high value nature of San José.

William Street Park There’s this one huge, perfect tree that I love, toward the back by the creek... this one is so magnificent it takes my breath away every single time.

Scott’s Seafood Patio My husband and I like to go up there after a Mortons Steakhouse dinner. You can see the city lights.

San Pedro Square Market It is a great place to hang out, people watch, have a beer and nosh on food. The outdoor patio is the closest thing to a European square in the South Bay.

Psycho Donuts The best thing was that there were friendly people there, it felt well lit and safe, and there was information about local events that we could go to. So it was like a hub of information about how to be involved in San José.

Plaza de Cesar Chavez In the summer you can take the kids to play in the fountain to cool off and people watch... the different festivals they have there all make you feel like you are within the heartbeat of the Silicon Valley.

Re-Imagining the Heart of San José : Making City Hall Plaza a Place for People

55

Research / Favorite Places Survey

Meeting new people in favorite places Recognized strangers

8% 17%

Interacted with new people

Did not interact with new people

75%

75%

Those who interacted with new people, met them while...

30%

At events, classes

17% Doing sports, exercise

30%

Meeting friends of friends

16% Interacting with children

15%

12%

In casual proximity

Taking care of pets

4%

6% At religious event, volunteering

56

Shopping

Re-Imagining the Heart of San José : Making City Hall Plaza a Place for People

Research / Favorite Places Survey

Do favorite places support larger social networks?

Do meetings in Favorite Places lead to meeting up again somewhere else?

Some excuses for bringing people together are stronger than others.

Some respondents reported meeting up again elsewhere with people they’d met at their Favorite Place. This was strongest for people who’d met through friends or at events and classes—with over half of respondents saying the relationship continued beyond their Favorite Place.

If one of the functions of Favorite Places is to be “the glue” that helps people connect with new acquaintances, these results suggest that strengthening certain types of activities, like events and classes, and social meetings supported by food, drinks and comfortable seating in Favorite Places may help to promote lasting relationships that extend beyond those spots.

So while casual passing-by is a common urban situation, it does not do much to create social networks.

Those who met new people while...

...met up with them again outside the Favorite Place

54%

At events, classes

63%

Meeting friends of friends

48%

Doing sports, exercise

52%

Interacting with children

43%%

23%%

Taking care of pets

In casual proximity

17%%

50%%

At religious event, volunteering

Shopping

Re-Imagining the Heart of San José : Making City Hall Plaza a Place for People

57

Research / Favorite Places Survey

Locations of favorite places

58

Locations of Favorite Places in San José

Where respondents live

Respondents registered more than 200 Favorite Places through the surveys.

The most popular location by a wide margin was San Pedro Square Market.

Santana Row, Martin Luther King Jr. Library, Alum Rock Park, Japan Town, and Alum Rock Park were also popular. Respondents also listed back yards, churches, schools, cafés, corner stores, bars, malls and theme parks.

Respondents were evenly distributed across San José by ZIP code, with most people citing a Favorite Place that was close to their home.

Re-Imagining the Heart of San José : Making City Hall Plaza a Place for People

Research / Favorite Places Survey

How we get there How do you get there? It depends on how often you go...

For all visits, car trips accounted for about half the travel to favorite places

But among daily visitors, walking and biking account 3/4 of the trips!

34%

13%

7%

There is a strong relationship between active mobility and frequent visits to Favorite Places.

San JosĂŠ is largely an automobile-dependent city, and this fact is born out by the mobility patters listed for all respondents. Taken as a whole, Favorite Places seem to be dominated by automobile trips.

However, when looking at daily visitors to Favorite Places a different picture emerges. More than half of daily visitors walk to Favorite Places and three-quarters use bicycling or walking.

Automobiles only account for 13% of daily Favorite Places.

3%

7% 10%

4% 4%

67% 51%

Favorite Place visits of all frequencies

Daily visits to Favorite Place

Based on 230 responses for transportation mode

Conclusion: Daily visits to Favorite Places are strongly associated with active mobility. Strengthening bicycle and pedestrian experience should go hand-inhand with strengthening Favorite Places.

Re-Imagining the Heart of San JosĂŠ : Making City Hall Plaza a Place for People

59

A Love Letter to San JosĂŠ Public Workshop

A Love Letter to San José Workshop

The rotunda as place for public participation

workshop setup

workshop setup

introduction

favorite places sharing

more sharing

key speakers

collecting input

key speaker

transition

transition

flexible

film screening

Half-way into the project, the team held a public forum to share the preliminary results of our research with the community, to learn first-hand how San José residents feel about their downtown and City Hall, and to learn how City Hall Plaza can be infused with some of the invitations, programs and design characteristics of the places people love the most in their city.

A Love Letter to San José was an evening of storytelling, passionate discussion, sharing, and fun. A strong showing of over 120 San José participants, from the Mayor and several other city officials to families, from cultural organizers to city’s urbanists, had an energetic evening of discussion and mapped out their aspirations for San José’s public life.

Re-Imagining the Heart of San José : Making City Hall Plaza a Place for People

61

A Love Letter to San José Workshop

Testing our prototypes for the first time During the workshop, we deployed Crate+, a modular furniture system made from milk crates and digitally milled plywood parts that can be assembled to support a variety of functions. This system transformed day-to-day industrial objects into seats, a stage, a welcome desk, a podium, and two sets of bleachers. Our Crate+ prototypes were supplemented

by Park Spots, another social furniture kit of parts made with high-quality synthetic turf patches and colorful giant bean bag pillows, which softened the hardscape of concrete and marble of the plaza and the rotunda.

These elements, together creating the SJ/UP (San José / Urban Prototyping) kit, were transformed from plaza seating, to workshop seating, and into a lounge-able landscape during the course of the evening.

62

Re-Imagining the Heart of San José : Making City Hall Plaza a Place for People

A Love Letter to San José Workshop

Re-Imagining the Heart of San José : Making City Hall Plaza a Place for People

63

A Love Letter to San José Workshop

Breaking the ice As participants entered the building, they were welcomed by a gigantic map of San José, rendered on the circular surface of the rotunda’s floor, over which 200 photos of great public places around the world were laid. They were asked to pick their favorite photo, and pin it to a board, writing down a word about why they chose it.

64

Re-Imagining the Heart of San José : Making City Hall Plaza a Place for People

A Love Letter to San JosĂŠ Workshop

interactive / feel like a kid again!

great for people of all ages

street trees / artistic street furniture

large scale murals are visually pleasing

safe & comfortable

so much fun!

participitory / creates a sense of place

public spaces to just be

brings people together / art

bubble / very engaging!

brings books to outdoor space

bring the playground to the street

stylish / simple / sexy

space for sharing / educational

it is both a sculpture & a playground!

sand in the city / peace & calm

Re-Imagining the Heart of San JosĂŠ : Making City Hall Plaza a Place for People

65

A Love Letter to San José Workshop

What’s your favorite place in San José?

After sharing the preliminary results of the Favorite Place Survey, participants shared their favorite places in the city, placing a red paper heart on the floor map to mark their favorite place. Some participants briefly shared why they chose their favorite places.

66

Re-Imagining the Heart of San José : Making City Hall Plaza a Place for People

A Love Letter to San José Workshop

Ask what people love, not what they hate A Love Letter to San Jose an open workshop on the life of San Jose’s Public Spaces + Dinner and Movie!

What is your favorite place in San Jose? What can we learn from your favorite place to make Downtown San Jose's public spaces more inviting?

With Valentine’s Day the following weekend, we framed the public workshop as a love letter to the city, written to the city by its residents, describing all of our wishes and aspirations for its future.

Gehl Studio and The Tech Museum of Innovation, in collaboration with the City of San Jose, invite you to workshop ideas for how to make Downtown San Jose’s public spaces more inviting, more active, and better-suited to the needs of San Jose residents.

After our workshop, participants are invited to join us for a street food feast and a special screening of The Human Scale, a documentary that explores and frames some key issues facing residents and city builders and what happens when we put people at the center of our planning All are welcome!

D!

OO EF

February 12 E FR 5:00-9:30 p.m.

Workshop followed by Dinner & Movie City Hall Plaza Rotunda RSVP: SJFavoritePlaces.eventbrite.com

Hashtag your favorite place or an expression of public life, we’ll show your photos at the event!

#SJFavoritePlaces

Re-Imagining the Heart of San José : Making City Hall Plaza a Place for People

67

A Love Letter to San José Workshop

Finding inspiration in places that work well

A Love Letter to San Jose an open workshop on the life of San Jose's public spaces + dinner and movie

2.12.15

The high production value we brought to the event showed to our guests that this event was important to the process, not an afterthought.

San Jose e Jos San n JJo Sa n ossse ee an S n a S a S

$$$ $$$$ $$$

A Love Letter to A Love to terr to Let e Letter A Lov tte to San Jose Le ve err to A Lo San te vee Le e to etttse Jos LJose A Lo San #SJFavoritePlaces ov Jo L n cess A Sa se oritePla #SJFav Jo n lace se riteP Sa Favo ces Jo #SJJFa Pla ite es vor #S San aces oritePlac JFav ritePl #SSJ # Favo

68

kkk u B u B ucccck B Bu k Buc Buck

se SSaannnJJJooossee a n Jose SSa e San San Jos Jose

at le at mab le eeem ab edde at R le ab Re ck em u de ekat Re Tr abl dmable eem uc Red oo Tr F Redee od kat ucck Fo Tr Redeemable od Fo Tru at Food Truck Food Food Truck

r to e Letttteer to A Lovve Le ser to Jotte A LoSve anLe es acto A LoSa Jo Pl nLet tese ter ri evo Lov Fa A#SJ es Jo Placto Sa itese Letter avnor A#SLove JF e ces Jos San itePla A#SLove Letter vor JFa Joselacetos San FavoriteP #SJSan Jose ces oritePla #SJFav #SJFavoritePlaces

$JJ $ $JJJ $ J $ $ $J $J $J $J $J $J se SaannJJJooossee S k n c a S u k Jose SanJos ckck BBBuuck Bu San Buc Buck San Joseteer to

2015 ,20 515 ,201 $J 12 12 2015 12, 2015 ry 12, ry 12, yry February 12, 2015 uary ua Februar rua Febr brua $J Feb Fe Febr $J $$$JJJ San Jose e Jos San Jo Sa JJJoose Let to ossseee SSSaan A LoveLetter annnthe Re-Imagining Heart of San José : Making City Hall Plaza for People Jorse A Love to es antte SLe able ata Place

$$$ $$ $$$$$$$$$$$$

eem leatat ab edem Rde leat ab Re uck em deF dTreTr Re abl oo uck eem Red at od mable Redee ck Fo

Plac Jo A Love teto nvo rise Sa ter Fa Let eSJ A Lov#Sa se Places n orite to avJo Letter A Love #SJF n JosePlaces

$$$$$$$$ $$$$ $ $$ $$$ 15 ry 12, 20 Februa 12, 2015 February 5 201 12, February February 12, 2015 2015 February 12, February 12, 2015

$$$$$$$$ $ $$$$ $$ $$$

Buckk Buc Buck Buck able at Redeem k ck at ule Buc d Tr ab ooem F de Re Buck uc lekat ab emTr deod ReFo

ucekat od Tr Foeem abl Red Truckat Foodmable Redee Food Truckat Redeemable

$J $J $J k Buc$J k Buc$J k Buc$J ck able at Bu Redeem uck kdabTrle at Buc Foo Redeem k ucat Trle Buck od ab Foem Rede Food Truck

k Truc odabl e at eem RedFo d Truck Foomable at Redee Food Truck

$J

This high production value was the platform for some of the important community-building work that took place at the event.

Sharing a meal together is one of the most fundamental forms of social connection, and we saw many participants engaging with strangers around the topic of favorite places.

Guests broke out into teams to discuss what they loved about the places they had chosen. They talked about things like loving being â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;alone together,â&#x20AC;&#x2122; retreating into urban nature, and being exposed to the diverse cultures of each neighborhood. By focusing on what people are attracted to in the public realm, we can begin to think about what already makes places great, and how to use some of the DNA of these places to influence places that we want to change.

Re-Imagining the Heart of San JosĂŠ : Making City Hall Plaza a Place for People

69

Prototypes in City Hall Plaza

Urban Prototyping / The City of San José

Introduction More than a trial of a final, implementable solution, our prototypes tested hypotheses about plaza visitors’ use of the space, alongside their hopes and fears for the plaza, and served as a provocation to involve members of the community in the process of re-imagining City Hall Plaza.

Analysis of our research findings generated clusters of needs where prototyping could reveal new opportunities for activating City Hall Plaza. These clusters fall into two categories: 1. “An Inviting Space” investigates physical changes to the space designed to make the plaza more comfortable and support a greater variety of interactions. These include table arrangements, new seating and surface options, and food options.

2. “Pathways to Participation” explores artifacts designed to invite participation in the daily life and programming of City Hall Plaza.

These include event information sharing and invitational artifacts.

We designed, built, and tested a variety of prototypes in this phase of the project. The process of planning and implementing our interventions also tested the policies and practices currently in place to regulate what happens at City Hall Plaza.

Taken as a whole, our creative explorations demonstrate the opportunity for a “new story” to be told about City Hall and its plaza, one that better serves the people who use and interact with the space.

Re-Imagining the Heart of San José : Making City Hall Plaza a Place for People

71

Urban Prototyping / The City of San José

An inviting space We placed physical elements - seating and surfaces - across City Hall Plaza in order to provoke discussion and engage City employees and the community of San José residents and workers in collectively reimagining the plaza. This test aimed to attract people to the plaza, use a variety of seating and surfaces, and contribute feedback to our team.

→ How might we test a variety of seating and surfaces in different areas of the plaza to accommodate multiple users’ needs?

seagulls, attracted Plaza-goers - especially those on their way to/from SJSU and the restaurants near 4th Street.

IMPLEMENTATION This prototype proceeded in two phases, the first through rearranging the existing tables and chairs on the plaza, the second through the introduction of custom modular furniture.

Prototype A: Table Arranging

With the help of the building manager and facilities staff, we rearranged the current tables into new configurations in order to observe how they might inspire different uses. The goal was to observe how new table arrangements are used by different demographic groups at various times of day in various weather conditions.

Table use at City Hall Plaza is climatedependent. Plaza users have individual needs when it comes to sun shade and temperature, which can change significantly with even the passing of a cloud. Though most Plaza users express the need for more shade on the plaza (92% of our 381 survey respondents), some individuals deliberately seek spots in the sun.

Providing a variety of options to accommodate individual preferences is key.

NEEDS ADDRESSED Plaza users need to feel more physically and psychologically comfortable in the plaza - while engaging in a variety of activities - in order to encourage extended stays.

A diversity of users need to feel welcome and supported by the plaza’s physical design.

City workers and those conducting business at City Hall need to informally gather with colleagues in spaces that can accommodate groups of different sizes and that are open to everyone.

DIRECTIVE 72

We tested and compared four configurations, which varied in terms of their cluster size (from isolated tables to large groups of tables) and proximity to physical elements on the plaza (the fountain, front entrance to the tower, cafe entrance, etc.).

TEST RESULTS Placement of tables affects their frequency of use - but, more importantly, plaza users respond to the sun and shade.

Most Plaza users seek shade. Not surprisingly, tables were used least when they were placed in the center of East Plaza with no umbrellas; and, the most desirable tables, no matter the location, were those with umbrellas. Perhaps more surprisingly, tables near Santa Clara Street and near the fountain, despite traffic noise, fountain smells, and

Re-Imagining the Heart of San José : Making City Hall Plaza a Place for People

Our research also uncovered some challenges with the form of the current table and seating options at the plaza. First, the tables are uncomfortable: they are reflective and compound the challenges of the plaza’s climate. Second, the current tables, which are built to seat 5-6 individuals, constrain group size. We observed several instances in which individuals needed to split up or stand in order to accommodate everyone in their group.

Third, the tables and umbrellas are extremely time-intensive to move. It takes two people and a lift to move the set of 25 tables currently available at the plaza, and each umbrella takes 10-15 minutes and two people to install in each table. The current tables and seating at the plaza are designed to be durable and to prevent theft; they are not designed for flexibility of use or comfort.

Urban Prototyping / The City of San José

Prototype B: Seating & Surface Options NEEDS ADDRESSED Plaza users need to feel more physically and psychologically comfortable in the plaza - while engaging in a variety of activities - in order to encourage extended stays.

City employees need to interact with colleagues across departments in informal spaces that can accommodate small and large groups.

DIRECTIVES → How might we (comfortably) support a larger variety of social interactions and activities in the plaza? → How might we contribute color to the gray hardscape of the plaza?

IMPLEMENTATION SJ/UP kit 1. Crate+: We designed and built 200 modular furniture components, the Crate+ kit, to make possible a wider variety of postures and flexible configurations, and to discover unmet needs and opportunities for plaza users. These simple, colored modular furniture components fit together to create: 1) stools of different heights, 3) table surfaces of different sizes and heights, 3) benches, 4) bleachers, and 5) stages.

2. Park Spots: We placed five Park Spots, which include organically-shaped patches of high quality synthetic turf (approx.

1000 sq ft) with large, brightly colored, rectangular bean bag pillow seating elements, in different areas of the plaza on each day of testing. These park spots were moved to different areas of the plaza in response to climate changes.

Re-Imagining the Heart of San José : Making City Hall Plaza a Place for People

73

Urban Prototyping / The City of San José

SJ/UP kit / San José urban prototyping kit The SJ/UP kit, composed of our custom, milk crate-based modular furniture kit [Crate+] and organically-shaped synthetic turf with brightly colored bean bag pillows [Park Spots], allowed us to test a variety of seating, surfaces, and “room” layouts in the plaza.

74

the basic stool

the lounge chair

the star table

the picnic table

the stage

the farm table

the lounger

the bleachers

Re-Imagining the Heart of San José : Making City Hall Plaza a Place for People

The SJ/UP kit was positioned across the East, West, and South Plaza in different configurations to test how we might transform the plaza into a workspace, lunch room, lounge, performance space and a fountain-side â&#x20AC;&#x153;beachâ&#x20AC;? scene.

Urban Prototyping / The City of San José

Test results

During our Day of Prototyping on Friday, February 20, and our Week of Prototyping, February 23-27, the plaza attracted tourists, conference attendees, local start-up workers, San José community members, and City Hall employees.

The bean bag pillows, synthetic turf, and crates made an impact on the feel of the space, breaking up the plaza’s expansive field of white cement with splashes of color. Despite the massiveness of the overall space, the Park Spots (turf and bean bag pillows) attracted attention and use when they were spaced close together and far apart, on the South, East, and West Plaza, and when they were near the fountain or not. The least frequently used Park Spots were those completely isolated from other activity on the plaza (e.g. one small Park Spot near the fountain at Santa Clara Street when the rest of the activity was on the South Plaza.)

Observed behaviors on the Park Spots signaled that users were feeling at ease and playful: they sunbathed, kicked off their shoes, swan dived onto the bean bag pillows, did handstands, and lounged. Kids gleefully danced, ran, and scooted around the organic shapes of turf. City Hall Plaza became a photo opp: one of the most common activities we observed on the plaza was posing for photos with groups or individual “selfies.”

Re-Imagining the Heart of San José : Making City Hall Plaza a Place for People

77

Father and daughter lounging on bean bag pillows

Game playing at a Crate+ table

Impromptu stand-up meeting

Planned meeting with the City and college students

Urban Prototyping / The City of San José

An Inviting Space (cont’d) We conducted an online survey to learn how the San José community and City Hall employees felt about the prototypes and collect their ideas for the future of the plaza. After sharing the survey link via social media and several email lists, including The Tech members, the Love Letter attendees, and the City Hall tenants, three hundred and eighty-one people responded.

These survey results shed light on a breadth of responses and feedback that observations alone could not capture.

Are you a city employee?

How do you get to City Hall?

Some details about survey respondents: • Slightly more women replied to our survey than men (61%), and the large majority of survey respondents were in the age range of 31-64 years old (72%). Not surprisingly, most of the survey respondents were City employees (84%).

Did you observe or participate in the prototyping in the plaza?

Did you attend the Love Letter event on February 12?

• Fifty-two percent of respondents participated in the prototype testing in the plaza, whereas 23% of respondents neither saw nor participated in the prototypes.

• Thirty-four percent of respondents used the prototypes once or twice, 13% used the prototypes 3 - 5 times, 5% used them 5 - 10 times, and 1% used them over ten times.

• Fifteen percent of survey respondents reported having attended our Love Letter event on February 12.

• Forty-one percent of survey respondents did not use the plaza at all in the past month (on typical days, when the prototypes were not in the plaza).

Re-Imagining the Heart of San José : Making City Hall Plaza a Place for People

79

Urban Prototyping / The City of San JosĂŠ

An Inviting Space (contâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d)

during Week of Prototyping

In the past month

Many plaza-goers were excited to lie back and enjoy the atmosphere. Indeed, of the survey respondents who used the prototypes, 58% reported having spent time relaxing on the plaza during the prototype sessions. On typical days in the plaza during the last month, only 21% of all survey respondents reported relaxing.

80

co-workers

friends

someone new

The environment created by the prototype testing also seemed effective at spurring impromptu encounters. Seventy-three percent of survey respondents who used the prototypes reported having had unplanned conversations in the plaza during our prototype testing: 65% had unplanned conversations with co-workers, 29% with friends, and 36% with people they had just met.

Re-Imagining the Heart of San JosĂŠ : Making City Hall Plaza a Place for People

during Week of Prototyping

In the past month

Plaza-goers were more likely to meet new people during our prototyping sessions than other days in the plaza in the past month.

Twenty-five percent of survey respondents who used our prototypes reported having spent time with someone new at the plaza during the prototype sessions, as compared to only 8% of survey respondents reporting that they ever met someone new in the plaza on a typical day in the past month.

Urban Prototyping / The City of San José

Re-Imagining the Heart of San José : Making City Hall Plaza a Place for People

81

An Inviting Space (contâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d) Plaza-goers found work-arounds to meet their needs at the plaza -most often in response to the sun.

Bean bag pillows became sun visors, the whiteboard became a sun shade, and we shifted the Park Spots to move in the shade when it was hot and in the sun when it was cool. One group of co-workers chose to build standing tables with the Crate+ kit.

Photo courtesy Viv Labs.

Urban Prototyping / The City of San José

These results suggest that the prototyping sessions encouraged intermingling between strangers, but the design of the prototypes may not have attracted all groups. Though there were some instances to the contrary, we observed that individuals in formal business suits seemed less likely to sit on the turf and bean bag pillows, the Park Spots, than others. Our follow-up survey confirmed that some individuals chose not to use the prototypes: some found them uncomfortable, not appropriate for adults, or feared they were unhygienic. In addition, the unhoused individuals who spend time on South 5th Street, just fifty feet away from the South Plaza, often chose not join the groups of plaza-goers during our prototype testing, even when explicitly invited.

Placement of the prototypes also affected use. Similar to the current plaza tables, usage of all prototypes was heavily dependent on the micro-climates of the plaza. Plazagoers requested to move the prototypes when they were too much in the sun (during warm moments) and too much in the shade (during chilly moments).

As noted in previous chapters, the climate - and one’s comfort - can change quickly on the plaza. The South Plaza’s climate is more predictable because the building shields it from wind; The East Plaza, however, is often extremely windy and can be too hot in the sun or too cold in the shade at any moment of the day. On our follow-up survey, 92% of respondents agreed that shade would make a positive change to the plaza (73% strongly agreed); similarly, 89% agreed (72% strongly agreed) that trees would be an improvement.

To what extent do you agree that the following changes would improve City Hall Plaza?

Plaza-goers adapted our prototypes during our testing sessions - sometimes to make shade, other times to create a more comfortable posture. To cope with the harsh sun, one plaza-goer turned the bean bag pillow into a personal shade structure; and’ a group of plaza-goers, who were holding a meeting, asked to move the whiteboard over for shade. Selected postures on the plaza were related to personal preferences and activity: one team of start-up co-workers preferred standing tables, which we made with the Crate+ kit, while another group expressed that they needed a table surface in the sun for eating lunch.

The adaptability of the SJ/UP kit, including the Crate+ furniture and Park Spots, allowed plaza-goers to create work-arounds and find the most comfortable way to spend time on the plaza.

The prototype testing, however, drew the most participants when there were reasons to be there. Survey respondents reported that food, as described in detail below, would make the most positive impact on use of the plaza.

Re-Imagining the Heart of San José : Making City Hall Plaza a Place for People

83

Urban Prototyping / The City of San José

An Inviting Space (cont’d) Prototype C: Food Options NEEDS ADDRESSED City Hall visitors and employees need to fulfill basic biological needs - especially eating - in order to spend any extended time there.

City Hall visitors need to be better informed about the food and drink options available.

DIRECTIVE → How might we include food elements at the plaza?

IMPLEMENTATION Food trucks We invited food trucks to City Hall Plaza on the evening of February 12, as part of the Love Letter event, and during lunchtime on February 20 and 27, accompanied by the Park Spots and Crate+ modular furniture.

Signage to signal the presence of The Cart On February 25-27, we placed a sign in the South Plaza next to the entrance to the tower and The Cart, the mobile coffee establishment that is located just inside the Tower building on the lower level.

TEST RESULTS The climax of plaza use during our prototype testing was, as expected, when we invited a food truck for lunch. The presence of food options gave people a reason to come and a reason to stay in the plaza.

84

Results from the follow-up survey confirm that food trucks may have had a more perceived positive impact on the plaza than any other aspect of our prototype testing sessions: 93% of survey respondents who used the prototypes felt that the presence of food trucks improved the experience of the plaza (59% of these respondents felt food trucks improved the plaza “a great deal”).

In terms of survey respondents’ future dreams for the plaza, 85% of respondents agreed (60% strongly agreed) that public food events should happen more often in the plaza; and, 84% agreed (61% strongly agreed) that food vendors should be integrated into the current plaza offerings on a regular basis. Integrating more food options at City Hall Plaza is not controversial: only about 5% of respondents disagreed, and these results hold across City Hall tenants and community members who are not City employees.

On our Day of Prototyping on Friday, February 20, we observed that plaza-goers who were spending time in South Plaza were not able to see that there was a food vendor in the building even when seated in direct view of The Cart.

On several days the following week, we placed a sign in front of the entrance to the Tower building near The Cart. However, even with a 3x2ft sandwich board sign, the establishment was not particularly visible. The Cart plays an important role at City Hall since it is currently the only vendor of food or beverages. City Hall guests might benefit more from its presence if it were more visible. In addition to the snacks and beverages that The Cart serves, as noted above, participants in our research favor the integration of additional food options.

Re-Imagining the Heart of San José : Making City Hall Plaza a Place for People

Urban Prototyping / The City of San José

Pathways to Participation The following prototypes address needs around participation in the plaza by both City employees and the public. Prototypes D and E explore how low-tech tools might help communicate what is happening in the plaza and invite plaza users to give creative input on what they would like to see happen there.

Prototype D: Information Sharing NEEDS ADDRESSED City Hall Plaza users need a better way to learn about upcoming events.

City Hall rotunda users need a better way to learn when it is open to the public.

Community members who are excited to activate City Hall Plaza need to feel welcomed by the policies and practices of the City.

The managers of City Hall Plaza and Rotunda need to feel supported to encourage community use of the plaza.

The community needs to hear a clear message about what the City wants the plaza to be.

DIRECTIVES → How might we help plaza users better understand when and how they are invited to use the plaza and rotunda? → How might we give plaza users a voice in influencing what happens there?

86

IMPLEMENTATION We positioned a large calendar on the plaza near the front door to the tower (East Plaza side). The first iteration of the calendar was rapidly built, using rough materials readyat-hand: we borrowed a seven-foot rolling whiteboard and created a calendar of plaza events with handwritten text. Our researchers observed and interviewed passersby while the calendar was present on the plaza.

During the calendar prototype testing in the plaza, most every person who walked in and out of the plaza-side front doors of the Tower noticed the whiteboard calendar, with the majority stopping to look. We observed that most people entering the Tower pushed the wheelchair access button, which is positioned approximately ten feet from the front door, rather than pulling the doors open manually.

These brief moments of waiting gave them time to stop and look at the calendar, suggesting that this location is uniquely suitable for attracting attention to a display or signage. Passersby asked questions about the upcoming Love Letter event, which was noted on the calendar, and appreciated learning about it.

Re-Imagining the Heart of San José : Making City Hall Plaza a Place for People

Urban Prototyping / The City of San JosĂŠ

With the current structuring of City Hall, the implementation of a physical calendar in the plaza for everyday use would require the participation of the Events Services team, the only group that has access to the full schedules for the plaza and rotunda.

However, investigation into additional calendar prototypes revealed that the Events Services team does not have the resources to regularly update calendars of any sort - digital or physical. There were also concerns that making event information visible would lead to more interest in organizing plaza events, which the team does not currently have the capacity to handle.

The physical calendar at the East Plaza entrance to City Hall Tower was successful in terms of sharing information with City Hall visitors and employees.

However, implementation of this prototype past the duration of our intervention would require the appropriate allocation of resources and a staff that is incentivized to take on the task.

Re-Imagining the Heart of San JosĂŠ : Making City Hall Plaza a Place for People

87

Urban Prototyping / The City of San José

Pathways to Participation (cont’d) Prototype E: Invitational Artifacts NEEDS ADDRESSED Community members who are excited to activate City Hall Plaza need to feel welcomed by the policies and practices of the City.

The managers of City Hall Plaza and Rotunda need to feel supported to encourage community use of the plaza.

City Hall employees and community members need to feel that they have a voice in influencing what happens at City Hall Plaza.

San José’s active community members need opportunities to rebuild trust in the City through successful creative collaborations.

DIRECTIVE → How might we give plaza users a voice in influencing what happens there?

Whiteboard Feedback During our prototyping experiments on February 20 and February 23-27, we installed a blank whiteboard in the plaza alongside the Park Spots and Crate+ modular furniture. The whiteboard read, “What’s your wish for City Hall Plaza?”

Plaza-goers contributed ideas via post-it notes and whiteboard markers. The goal was twofold: 1) to foster open idea sharing among plaza-goers and 2) to gather feedback and ideas for plaza improvements and programming.

88

SJ/UP Game During two days of prototyping, we mounted blank cards for a game we created, SJ/ UP, to solicit ideas for what public spaces should be re-designed, what partners should get involved, and what mood these spaces should elicit.

Final Survey We invited community members and City employees to share their ideas for City Hall Plaza, and offer feedback to our prototypes, via an online survey. The survey was shared via social media, an e-newsletter sent to members of The Tech, attendees and individuals on the waiting list for the Love Letter to San José event, and an email to City Hall tenants from the building manager.

TEST RESULTS The presence of the whiteboard in the plaza during our prototype testing provided an opportunity to capture the many ideas that were generated that day. The most common suggestions were related to landscaping, including plants, trees, grass, and flowers.

Other contributions suggested more activities in the plaza, such as festivals, farmers’ markets, music, a roller disco, and artwork, including digital installations, sculptures, and chalk ground murals. More notable, perhaps, than the ideas themselves was users’ interest in participating in the act of contributing ideas. City Hall Plaza is widely perceived to be a blank canvas begging for re-imagining, and this prototype demonstrated that plaza-goers want to actively contribute to that effort.

Re-Imagining the Heart of San José : Making City Hall Plaza a Place for People

Urban Prototyping / The City of San José

Similarly, the final survey was evidence of individuals’ interest in contributing feedback to the project and informing the future of City Hall Plaza - especially among City Hall tenants. Within an hour of the building manager sharing the survey link, 150 City Hall tenants responded. There were a total of 381 survey responses, 84% of whom were City employees.

This impressive response to the survey suggests that the City Hall community would be receptive to taking a participatory design approach to re-imagining City Hall.

Survey respondents’ wishes for the future of the plaza echoed the ideas shared on the whiteboard during our prototype testing: shade structures, trees, and food vendors were the most common desired permanent changes to the plaza. The most desired programs and events in the plaza were events with temporary food vendors, a farmers’ market, arts events and musical performances. Not surprisingly, twice as many survey respondents favored community events and employee gatherings on the plaza as compared to private events and weddings. In addition to these dreams for future positive change, there were self-reported concerns about the plaza’s safety, cleanliness, and the presence of “transients.”

Re-Imagining the Heart of San José : Making City Hall Plaza a Place for People

89

Urban Prototyping / The City of San José

Towards A New Story Our prototypes sought to redefine the feeling of City Hall Plaza; they were provocations and explorations of what the space could symbolize for the community. The prototypes were colorful, playful, and whimsical, with rough materials and hand-drawn, imperfect signage - a stark contrast to the minimalist, monochromatic vision of the building’s architect. The look and feel of our rough prototypes were appealing to some plazagoers, while others considered the inexpensive materials and youthful appearance of the prototypes inappropriate for City Hall. Despite differences in individual taste, the prototypes served as a “straw man” to which the plazagoers could respond.

Survey responses underscore the current feelings about City Hall Plaza as a “gray,” “cold,” unclean, unsafe, and expensive “embarrassment” to the city.

The survey also reveals the community’s aspirations for the future of the City Hall. They dream of a plaza with a lush landscape (as opposed to the current hardscape) with trees, shade, flowers, and benches; a plaza with food vendors, art, a speaker’s corner, and regular community events. Though some respondents shared financial concerns related to improving the plaza, the overall passionate response is indicative of the value that the community sees in making City Hall, the symbol of San José, a more welcoming place.

Our prototypes explored just some of the possible components for a re-imagined plaza. To integrate the lessons learned through these experiments and implement the recommendations we present in the next section, it is critical that the City come to a consensus around a “new story” for City Hall Plaza, one that integrates the original vision for the plaza with San José’s history, high-technology aspirations, and small town present.

“City Hall Plaza can be and should be the heart of San José.”

“San José needs more places for people to freely congregate. By freely I am referring to spaces that do not require anyone to make a monetary transaction. Almost every activity within San José requires people to spend money, and that creates transactional relationships among citizens.”

- survey respondents

The realization of these aspirations will require policies to support them. During the “City Hall is GRAY and lifeless right now--gray course of this project, our prototype testing cement, gray tables and chairs, gray atmosphere resulted in City leaders taking a close look and even gray-looking trees! It needs color...it at the challenges that their own regulations needs GREEN trees, plants and/or grassy areas. and policies posed to activation at City Hall It needs inviting tables and chairs with shaded Plaza. Experimenting in the City’s front yard areas where people can gather. It needs LIFE required extensive investigation on their part and right now it just isn’t there…” to understand how they might encourage and support new types of interventions, activation, - survey respondent and community involvement in the future.

Re-Imagining the Heart of San José : Making City Hall Plaza a Place for People

91

Key Findings The Public Space / Public Life Study, the Ethnography of the Plaza, the Favorite Place Survey, the Public Workshop and the Urban Prototyping sessions offered a better understanding of the present conditions of the space of the plaza, redefined its real potential, and unveiled its most pressing needs. This section synthesizes its key findings according to five fundamental categories: Perception & Trust (1), Invitations to Participate (2), Activity and Social Interaction (3), Spatial Conditions of the Site (4), Urban Context (5).

92

Perception & Trust

Invitations to Participate

• The plaza is perceived to belonging to the other: City employees see it as a place for the unhoused, and the community sees it as a place for City employees and “bureaucrats.”

• The current regulations are designed to avoid discrete, undesirable behaviors; these same regulations present barriers that have built a sense of mistrust between the City and its community.

• City employees perceive City Hall Plaza as unsafe and unclean due to a series of thefts and the presence of a significant number of the unhoused camping on 5th Street.

• The regulations, policies, and permitting options are currently difficult to parse and exclude a subset of community members.

• There is no shared, upto-date calendar of public events for City Hall Plaza, so City employees and community members are not able to make plans to visit or understand what is happening when they see it on the plaza.

• There are no legible invitations to participate in the physical space of the plaza, and it is unclear when the rotunda is open to the public.

Re-Imagining the Heart of San José : Making City Hall Plaza a Place for People

Activity & Social Interaction

Spatial Conditions of the Site

Urban Context

• The plaza currently houses a variety of activities -- but there is not enough activity to make it a “sticky” place.

• The plaza is located in a food desert, and the City Hall building was designed to exclude food options, which is the primary catalyst for social interaction.

• The City Hall building lacks spaces for informal interaction, which hinders opportunities for collaboration and innovation across City departments and between the City and its community.

• The scale of the plaza, alongside City Hall Tower and Rotunda, is impressive but intimidating; Plazagoers feel vulnerable spending time there - or even walking through because they are dwarfed in the space.

• The vast expanse of cement is harsh; it reflects light, and there are few places of refuge from the sun.

• The lack of color in the plaza is uninviting.

• There is a lack of variety and flexibilty in the seating options.

• The plaza has an everchanging microclimate; it is difficult to be physically comfortable for long.

• The plaza is located at the edge of downtown. It is not currently a node, or regular pathway for pedestrians or cyclists, but the upcoming installation of the BRT and BART stops will create more reasons to pass through the plaza.

• The plaza is surrounded by empty lots; what might happen if these lots are filled with reasons for pedestrians to visit - food, recreation, etc.?

• The traffic on Santa Clara Street is fast; places near slow traffic tend to be sticky.

Re-Imagining the Heart of San José : Making City Hall Plaza a Place for People

93

Design Brief

Design Brief

Recommended Strategies PERCEPTION & TRUST - A New Story

INVITATIONS TO PARTICIPATE - Open Invitations

INVITATIONS TO PARTICIPATE - Policies

ACTIVITIES & SOCIAL INTERACTION - Food

ACTIVITIES & SOCIAL INTERACTION - City Break Room

Recommendation #1

Recommendation #2

Recommendation #3

Recommendation #4

Recommendation #5

Enable the community to create meaning at City Hall by hosting events and activities so that a new, shared story of City Hall emerges.

Communicate when the plaza and rotunda are public spaces by offering clear and inviting signals when they are open to the public.

Align fees, policies, and management to support a variety of community and City employee uses.

Provide food options at City Hall to encourage people to visit and spend time there.

Needs addressed:

Needs addressed:

Create an informal environment where City workers can be among colleagues, whether taking a break or doing city business.

Needs addressed:

Needs addressed:

The city needs a new story to tell about City Hall that redeems its perceived failure and faults and that integrates San José’s historical character, high-technology aspirations, and small town present.

City Hall Plaza users need a better way to learn about upcoming events.

Community members and employees who are excited to activate City Hall Plaza need to feel welcomed by the policies and practices of the City.

City Hall visitors and employees need to fulfil basic biological needs - especially eating - in order to spend any extended time there.

The managers of City Hall Plaza and Rotunda need to feel supported to encourage community use of the plaza.

City Hall visitors need to be better informed about the food and drink options available.

City Hall rotunda users need a better way to learn when it is open to the public.

City Hall employees and community members need to feel that they have a voice in influencing what happens at City Hall Plaza.

San José’s active community members need opportunities to rebuild trust in the City through successful creative collaborations.

96

Re-Imagining the Heart of San José : Making City Hall Plaza a Place for People

Need addressed: City employees need to interact with colleagues across departments in informal spaces that can accommodate small and large groups.

Design Brief

SPATIAL CONDITIONS - Flexible Spaces

SPATIAL CONDITIONS - Microclimate

URBAN CONTEXT - A New Centrality

URBAN CONTEXT - Filling the Gaps

URBAN CONTEXT - A Street for People

Recommendation #6

Recommendation #7

Recommendation #8

Recommendation #9

Recommendation #10

Create a flexible, multi-use space that accommodates all types of plaza users.

Create a welcoming environment for all visitors to City Hall Plaza.- one that is comfortable in a variety of weather conditions.

Connect City Hall Plaza to the fabric of downtown’s active core, making it a node of the urban paths that define the public life of downtown.

Fill the gaps in urban fabric surrounding the plaza, create compact and active edges around its perimeter.

Mitigate the exposure of the plaza to vehicular traffic along Santa Clara Street to make walking along the Boulevard a more pleasant experience.

Need addressed:

The plaza is surrounded by vacant, inactive, or simply non-permeable lots that strongly reduce the activity in the entire area.

Needs addressed: Plaza users need to feel more physically and psychologically comfortable in the plaza - while engaging in a variety of activities - In order to encourage extended stays.

A diversity of users need to feel welcome and supported by the plaza’s physical design.

Need addressed: Plaza users need to adapt on-the-fly in response to the quickly-changing weather.

The plaza is located at the edge of downtown. It is not a node of urban paths, or regular pathway for pedestrians or cyclists, but the upcoming installation of the BRT and BART stops will create more reasons to use its space.

Need addressed:

Need addressed: The traffic on Santa Clara Street is fast, making the space of the plaza less pleasant and less safe.

San José community members, including flag raising attendees and wedding parties, need to celebrate in large, flexible, ceremonial spaces.

San José city youth need a public place that welcomes them to gather and play, skateboard and bike.

Re-Imagining the Heart of San José : Making City Hall Plaza a Place for People

97

Design Brief

Potential Actions What can be done in the next 6 months: Opportunities for the City PERCEPTION & TRUST

- Publicly launch a new story for the City Hall plaza at its ten year anniversary in Fall 2015 - Introduce “free use” days at the plaza for community partners. (Build on existing initiatives, such as Bike Party, First Fridays) - Provide opportunities for community members to share their aspiration, and needs related to public space in San José

- Keep the online calendar up-to-date, inclusive of all public events - Place visible, regularly updated physical calendars in the plaza at the entrances to the Tower - Remove the unused and invisible display case in the East Plaza - Place visible, regularly updated analog calendars of plaza activities and employee-initiated events in the employee elevators - Keep rotunda doors unlocked (and, when weather permits, open the walls of the rotunda) when it is open for public use INVITATION TO PARTICIPATE - Post signage that indicates when the rotunda is open to the public - Collect stories of past events in the plaza so that the event managers can more readily work from historical precedent - Create new permit categories for the plaza to encourage experimentation, lower barriers of entry for community members - Provide real incentives to City Hall Plaza managers to encourage them to support more community events - Plan a series of cultural activities to foster creative expression and participation on the West Plaza

98

SOCIAL ACTIVITY

- Waive tow zone fees for food trucks to regularly visit South 5th Street - Allow the current City Hall food vendor to put up additional signage; consider defining a café space in front of The Cart - Waive fees and attendee limits for City Hall staff to organize informal gatherings in the plaza/rotunda - Invite community members to create meaningful moments in the plaza/rotunda during lunch hours

SPATIAL CONDITIONS

- Maximize and strategize use of existing furniture (tables/chairs and umbrellas) - Offer different seating options and surfaces that support a variety of postures and types of activies in the plaza - Cluster existing tables to create distinct spaces in the plaza (near the fountains, near café, etc.)

- Keep umbrellas on all tables all year round

URBAN CONTEXT

- Implement an Early Activation Plan for the vacant lots surrounding the plaza and South 5th Street - Organazing pop-up events at the lot across from the plaza - Host regular events on South 5th Street to provide an active pathway from SJSU to City Hall

Re-Imagining the Heart of San José : Making City Hall Plaza a Place for People

Design Brief

Opportunities for the Community Partners - Share directly with City representatives ways they might better support community events at City Hall - Create a platform for publicly sharing the communityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s stories, challenges, aspirations, and needs related to public space in San JosĂŠ

- Share stories about challenges navigating permits, policies, and regulations at City Hall Plaza directly with the City

- Self-organize regular food truck visits to South 5th Street; it is not officially part of City Hall Plaza and only requires a tow zone permit - Share requests for food and beverage items at City Hall - Organize a regular series of lunchtime events for the plaza or rotunda

- Create a guerilla bike lane on the south side of Santa Clara Street to test its viability

- Initiate pop-up events and interventions in privately owned vacant lots surrounding the plaza - Initiate events and interventions for South 5th Street Re-Imagining the Heart of San JosĂŠ : Making City Hall Plaza a Place for People

99

Design Brief

Potential Actions What can be done in the next year: Opportunities for the City PERCEPTION & TRUST

- Fund and implement a re-branding campaign for San José City Hall

INVITATION TO PARTICIPATE

- Create new permit zones for all of San José’s downtown spaces that encourage urban prototyping and reduce fees - Re-align staff to better support community events at City Hall Plaza

SOCIAL ACTIVITY

- Fund and implement a platform to support pop-up commerce and new programs in the space - Incentivize desirable food vendors with reduced rents and favorable lease terms - Invest in stronger, more reliable WiFi at City Hall

SPATIAL CONDITIONS

- Fund and prototype a new flexible furniture kit of part for the space - Prototype a movable sun-shading, green arbor over west plaza - Create a buffer to screen the vehicular traffic along the Santa Clara Street by installing vegetation and introducing a bike lane - Create green, vegetated spaces

URBAN CONTEXT

- Fund and implement a Walkability and Bikeability Plan for the area

What can be done in the next 3 years: Opportunities for the City

100

SPATIAL CONDITIONS

- Build a sun-shading, green arbor over south plaza- Break up the monumental scale of the space - Introduce permanent vegetation

URBAN CONTEXT

- Shape the vision of the future role of the plaza within the Downtown; Shape the debate on the future of the surrounding lots

Re-Imagining the Heart of San José : Making City Hall Plaza a Place for People

Design Brief

Opportunities for the Community Partners

- Opportunities for local designers, artists & makers

- Opportunities for local urban planning, advocacy organizations

Opportunities for the Community Partners - Opportunities for local designers, artists & makers

- Opportunities for local urban planning, advocacy organizations and local businesses

Re-Imagining the Heart of San JosĂŠ : Making City Hall Plaza a Place for People

101

Conclusions

Conclusions

The project presented in this document works towards creating a new story and experience of City Hall Plaza in San José -- for City employees and for the San José community.

More than just an evaluation of a discrete place, the methods and mindsets introduced here can be applied to any public space in the city.

The Love Letter to San José workshop and prototype testing in City Hall Plaza brought together a group of community members passionate about revitalizing the city and eager to participate in a new approach. There are opportunities to harness this optimism and energy; however, the current regulations, permits, and fees are prohibitive and damaging to the community’s sense of trust in the City.

To fully reach the goal of creating a thriving community, the City must push past its fears about being perceived as fiscally irresponsible, try new things, and make tangible changes to empower and support the community. At the same time, community members must be willing to make a reciprocal change: they must allow the City and fellow community members the space to experiment and make mistakes.

We took a risk by placing rough prototypes in City Hall Plaza. Some plaza-goers were “heartbroken” when we left. Others considered the prototypes inappropriate. A few people, who misinterpreted the project as City-funded, were upset at the allocation of funds. Nevertheless, everyone recognizes the need for change.

In short, San José must open its heart to the breadth of community members who are making more favorite places in San José: to the artists who want to be left to do their own thing, to the organizations that facilitate community participation, and to the City officials who sometimes face long-standing institutional barriers. By supporting each other to attempt a variety of solutions, while making small mistakes along the way, we can build a New Story for San José together.

The only way to make change is by trying something - experimenting. We adopted an urban prototyping approach so that we could test ideas and provoke discussion before there is an investment in a final solution.

Inexpensive, light, and quick prototyping is a way to work incrementally towards a solution that is not based merely on assumptions but also takes into account individuals’ hopes, fears, behaviors, and needs.

Re-Imagining the Heart of San José : Making City Hall Plaza a Place for People

103