How to Change Your Neighborhood
Tactical Urbanism 101

Taught by Claire Vlach

Thursdays, August 4-25 || 6:30-8:30 pm
Taborspace, 5441 SE Belmont St.
Four weeks, $99 || Space is limited to 20 students.

Is there something you want to change about the way Portland is built? Do you wish we had safer bike lanes, easier pedestrian crossings, and more places for community to gather? The official city planning process is often slow, opaque, and expensive. Tactical Urbanism is a fast, visible, and cheap strategy for changing the way that humans experience and interact with shared public spaces.

In this course, you'll learn about projects that have been implemented in Portland and beyond, and apply what you’ve learned to design your own tactical urbanism project.

Week 1: What is Tactical Urbanism?
We’ll talk about what defines Tactical Urbanism, and look at examples from cities such as Portland, New York, San Francisco, and Bogotá. 

Week 2: Design
Which places in Portland would benefit from Tactical Urbanism interventions? We’ll break up into small groups and brainstorm ideas for improving them.

Week 3: Refine
We’ll look at examples of Tactical Urbanism projects that are particularly relevant to projects that the class is working on, then refine our designs together.

Week 4: Present!
Each group will present their project to the class for comments. We’ll wrap up by talking about possibilities for implementation. Groups are encouraged to continue their work together beyond the classroom.

Claire Vlach is an urban planner and designer who focuses on public projects such as streets and plazas. She has Masters’ degrees in both Urban Planning and Urban Design.