Roc City 2.0: Group uses tactical urbanism to promote city of the future
by Frank Bi
SOURCE: Democrat and Chronicle
A group of self-proclaimed urban operatives have started a campaign to turn Rochester into Roc City 2.0 — the city of the future.
Last week, more than a dozen members of TEDxRochester, an independent TED organization (Technology, Entertainment, and Design), initiated the first phase of a yearlong plan to promote social change with low cost, monthly events — tactical urbanism, said Jennifer Indovina, a TED Fellow and co-organizer of TEDxRochester.
TED is an internationally prominent nonprofit organization that has spawned independent chapters in many cities.
Under the cloak of darkness, members zip-tied signs to traffic posts. The signs, strategically placed around downtown , act as road signs to popular destinations and provide the distance it takes to get there by foot and by bike.
“We want people to re-imagine how to get around downtown,” TEDxRochester co-organizer Tony Karakashian said. “When we see downtown Rochester, we see it as a drive-through city – you go to the city for work and drive home. You don’t spend any time downtown. We’re trying to show there are interesting things downtown to see.”One special feature of the signs is its use of technology, Karakashian said. A QR code printed on each sign takes people to RocWiki.org where users can find more information about the destination.