One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
Long Beach Hopes Food Trucks Will Bring Voters To The Polls
A visual rendering of a City Fabrick "Place-make the Vote" pop-up space. (Image courtesy of City Fabrick)
Could transforming polling places into pop-up social spaces actually get people to show up on Election Day? The Southern California design studio behind "Place-make the Vote" thinks so.City Fabrick announced Tuesday that their nonprofit design studio had been awarded more than $150,000 through the Knight Cities Challenge for plans to create temporary social spaces around polling places. According to the Long Beach Post, the Long Beach-based studio will use the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation grant to develop a kit for creating pop-up social plazas at polling places with the aim of attracting voters and increasing civic engagement. City Fabrick's executive director Brian Ulaszewski told KPCC that the spaces will be designed to look like places where people would want to hang out, "including outdoor seating, string lights, food and entertainment."
The term "placemaking" originated in the 1970s, though it has its roots in the '60s-era writings of people-centric urbanists like Jane Jacobs and William H. Whyte. The design philosophy places a premium on creating interesting, inviting spaces that prioritize the physical, cultural, and social identities of a location and foster a "sense of place."
California voter turnout hit a record low in 2014, and recent datasuggests that younger voters are more likely to stay home due to busy schedules and a lack of interest in voting, rather than distrust in government. The long history of trying to make voting sexy is littered with bold-faced names (along with free concerts,viral videos, and even WWE wrestlers), but there has yet to be any systematic effort to transform polling places into social spaces as a means of increasing voter engagement.
The Post reports that the first pop-up plazas will appear during the June primary election, followed by a wider rollout for the November general election. City Fabrick with collaborate with the Long Beach City Clerk and a coalition of community groups to identify Long Beach polling sites that could work as potential locations, with an emphasis on low voter turnout areas.
"We're hoping this is something that could be adapted to other communities," Ulaszewski told KPCC.
One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
