[{"_1":2,"_99":-5,"_100":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,75,87],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},"mediaId",6460791,"mediaKeyId","5827625-471df30e6efc6183d96c16448905d041","parentId",5827625,"title","Consultant showcases parks, ‘cool pools’ and temporary interventions as low‑cost paths to placemaking","audioSeconds",743,"startMs",7488000,"endMs",8231000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=5827625-471df30e6efc6183d96c16448905d041&start=7488&end=8231","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5827625-471df30e6efc6183d96c16448905d041/thumbnail_7488000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6460791/Hampton-City-Independent-City/Virginia/Consultant-showcases-parks-cool-pools-and-temporary-interventions-as-lowcost-paths-to-placemaking","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6460791-bee5db060c627ccb40ff90a5d339d060/orig.mp4?Expires=1770504019&Signature=CB2BqVIv7ydh7qLLbvTzT1-DeSSPuKO5WqFvFf~sAanV7ByXK47~4zFYwrwEs9RohBoIwpiyxQt9A0E4bUFN7vLWU9LdmGIrM1i~UKKewQ0y6akXeF8UASsXl1Cf2Xjj6bK8OJjzy8V8f8mdsCCFCQqdw9FqX9JtwjEOgrmdZTvi0fizLCzlWMcd1fPaFFbkVKQeho5zif5M-e~3zDIcAAyZrF28Do6HQafnUAb~jkDnYOcSOoceW9u3l6TXGDRYpbZgzw~FtJMcD5rLnC8YuVOhc9bLer~b6Nv5srbBa7dsmUK3pl0W1bYrZsMq-IN4c59S8cRrpjZrN5Ubvy8dNQ__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Hampton City","date","2025-09-24T00:00:00Z","article","Mitchell Silver devoted a substantial portion of his presentation to parks, place making, and short‑term tactics municipal governments can use to create visible improvements while longer capital projects are planned and funded. He told the joint meeting that public spaces are central to residents’ quality of life and can generate economic value, visitation and community pride.

Silver described three complementary approaches: temporary or low‑cost “quick wins”; targeted capital investment driven by prioritized actions; and regulatory fixes that enable walkable, mixed‑use development. He used examples from cities where small, visible improvements changed public perception and increased demand for nearby investment.

Examples cited: Silver described a Raleigh parks initiative that targeted 67 underinvested parks for staged improvements and a public reporting program that tracked hundreds of capital projects. He also described “parks without borders,” an approach to lower or remove fences and reconfigure park edges so sidewalks and open space form a seamless public realm. “We took these 67 parks and put them in the front of the line,” he said, describing a program that combined capital funding and visible short‑term actions.

Another example Silver highlighted was a low‑cost “cool pools” program that refurbished neglected public pools using a mix of expense funding, staff labor and donations; the consultant cited an approximate per‑site expense of about $150,000 (donations and in‑kind contributions were part of the budget). He also pointed to a play plaza in Raleigh (Gibson Play Plaza at Dix Park) that drew hundreds of thousands of visits in its opening months as an example of parks acting as economic and social magnets.

Why it matters: Retreat participants repeatedly said residents value parks, green space and walkable public realms; Silver argued those amenities can help retain young adults, attract visitors and encourage local spending. He framed parks work as both a service (maintenance and care) and an economic generator when thoughtfully implemented.

Engagement and delivery: Silver recommended coupling public engagement with immediate deliverables so community members who invest time see tangible outcomes (the “quick wins” concept). He also urged cities to track implementation publicly with a capital tracker or dashboard so residents can follow progress and staff can be held accountable.

What wasn’t decided: No capital appropriations or specific park projects were adopted at the retreat. Silver’s examples were presented as options and models; any local program will require separate authorization, budgets and public review.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Hampton City - City Council Special Joint Session","oneSentenceSummary","Presentation highlighted parks and public‑space tactics — quick wins, community parks initiative, 'parks without borders' and low‑cost 'cool pools' — as ways to build community and spur economic activity while larger plans and funding are developed.","taxTitle","Hampton City (Independent City), Virginia","taxId",5062,"location","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":76,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":77,"_41":78,"_43":79,"_45":80,"_47":81,"_49":82,"_51":83,"_53":84,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":85,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":86,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6460797,"Consultant urges Hampton to convert plans into action with clear priorities and implementation tools",12485,1095000,13580000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=5827625-471df30e6efc6183d96c16448905d041&start=1095&end=13580","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5827625-471df30e6efc6183d96c16448905d041/thumbnail_1095000.jpg","/articles/6460797/Hampton-City-Independent-City/Virginia/Consultant-urges-Hampton-to-convert-plans-into-action-with-clear-priorities-and-implementation-tools","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6460797-9d75fb60edb460b2d27b3e57f61669a0/orig.mp4?Expires=1770504019&Signature=TT04ynmWe7NSzi6RKnnOaaF3fKplcCEGpezE7ErHatcNfw1oIDEnMRQE-DhyhLWI823rTQy6GbU38c2Xs1n2T~H6Px154JBATgZd5a8CPhJKQ4YAGBsI8U71IEiXNo9Ygk9FoqGcck582LN6Abh68-FjjtAKNRir5gjxhgT1bOgOYuYgdVC0L6fd7PhwDVUwTHPMJVJjO-t6rEL02tDWaSM95kbs7UMXtkvHz2CzJwcUondZFi9QD3a-KDbCtG7cEAPY0HJvtXwQM6uW63be657cC7uQ8~Vci46WmXQJih~txefegsAlchVv1CSWB~R93crKDBXjrvkP0NiJx-GsrA__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Mitchell Silver, a planning consultant and facilitator brought in for a special joint retreat, told members of the Hampton City Council, Hampton School Board, the Hampton Economic Development Authority, the Hampton Planning Commission and the Hampton Redevelopment and Housing Authority that the city must link its many planning documents to a firm implementation strategy. The presentation, delivered at the city’s multi‑agency workshop, focused on identifying the problems a plan should solve and creating a predictable blueprint for growth that officials and developers can follow.

Silver said the first question a planning process should answer is not “What do you want to see?” but “What problems are you trying to solve?” He warned that plans that collect aspirational wishes without a reality check leave staff and the public with promissory notes rather than deliverable projects. “Fall in love with the problem, and not the solution,” Silver said.

Why it matters: Hampton has multiple policy documents and several area/master plans with varying vintages; staff and board members repeatedly flagged limited staff and funding as barriers to moving recommendations into construction. Silver argued that a clear implementation framework — one that assigns a lead department, a timeline, funding expectations and a cadence of accountability — makes it easier for elected officials to prioritize and for developers and residents to understand what is likely to be approved.

Key elements Silver recommended include: a) framing a plan around clearly stated problems and prioritized outcomes; b) using a compact implementation matrix tying each recommended action to a lead agency, supporting partners, a time frame and a capital designation; and c) creating an annual public progress report so the community can see which items moved from policy to funded projects.

Silver described three implementation “levers” for turning plans into built outcomes: policy/guidance (the plan itself and departmental programs), regulatory change (zoning/code updates), and funding (capital improvement budgets or public‑private partnerships). He emphasized early vetting of recommendations with the implementing departments to avoid creating expectations the city cannot meet. “If you prioritize everything, you prioritize nothing,” he said.

Presentation examples: Silver drew repeatedly on Raleigh and New York City case studies. He described Raleigh’s approach to compressing priorities into a manageable queue and tying capital projects to a tracker used to brief council, and he said that implementation success required limiting the number of top priorities and protecting staff capacity for delivery. He also recommended a combination of short‑term “quick wins” (small, low‑cost actions delivered within months), short‑ and mid‑term capital projects, and a narrower set of long‑term priorities rather than hundreds of unsequenced recommendations.

Local follow‑up: City Manager Mary Bunting told participants staff will assemble an internal team to review the retreat outputs and coordinate next steps with the mayor and boards. Bunting said staff will meet in the coming week to process retreat feedback and begin prioritizing plan recommendations for implementation. Silver said he will continue to provide observations and recommendations to the mayor and city manager following the retreat.

What wasn’t decided: The retreat produced no formal votes or regulatory changes; it was a facilitated strategy session. Any specific code amendments, capital funds or project approvals will require separate public processes and formal action by the relevant boards and council.

Looking ahead: Silver recommended treating comprehensive planning as a living document with regular (about five‑year) updates and building in a realistic implementation checklist from the project’s start, not as an afterthought. That approach, he said, reduces time and cost overruns and improves public trust in the planning process.","At a special joint retreat, planning consultant Mitchell Silver urged Hampton leaders to “plan with purpose,” prioritize problems before solutions and adopt a transparent implementation system tying policies, code changes and funding to specific tasks and timelines.",{"_33":88,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":89,"_41":90,"_43":91,"_45":92,"_47":93,"_49":94,"_51":95,"_53":96,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":97,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":98,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6460790,"Consultant outlines demographic shifts and engagement approaches; urges problem‑first planning and fairness",759,1501000,2260000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=5827625-471df30e6efc6183d96c16448905d041&start=1501&end=2260","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5827625-471df30e6efc6183d96c16448905d041/thumbnail_1501000.jpg","/articles/6460790/Hampton-City-Independent-City/Virginia/Consultant-outlines-demographic-shifts-and-engagement-approaches-urges-problemfirst-planning-and-fairness","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6460790-6611e09577041d2f1f9251dbde94d5ce/orig.mp4?Expires=1770504019&Signature=b4RbvSrBsN8e2Zwk8SL2~gQ~ZqDe0xfGZ3ujVdnhMJwuoWpXcYEjQfHgh0F~oexDSHgivgeF7GFkhGCQxPMLNnWQCVbBsCH3QtCiO-9OJciMPVeo-bZtgXMxMKR3JshflLXZm3ViMR3qdpHUgkk~v5y8kTlH4bWbrp5p3wDHy~03LBXzBmmGWKPsV7Acd~8QJsIStTKmuDlKr2l2C9aSUp5vbRkFx-4GXz9Rma39L6BMCWJ3jLiDPhGJvz7lhdSGn5IQbMnH-KfUR7-Vkz9qiwY4ft85KBvMR6cbx6kuDYAWvgxdSOUKfXkpRuapRBExsCGV~KBGIwqPitRaj3Z8mg__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Mitchell Silver spent a portion of the joint retreat reviewing national and local demographic trends, cautioning local leaders that who shows up to public meetings is not always representative of who will live in a community in 10–15 years. He urged leaders to frame engagement around the problems the city needs to solve rather than open‑ended lists of desired amenities.

Silver highlighted several demographic trends that should inform planning: an aging population and increases in single‑person households; declining marriage rates and greater racial/ethnic diversity in the coming decades. He noted that different generations and groups engage differently and that public outreach must be designed to reach those who do not typically attend evening town halls. He recommended outreach by geography, demographics and topic, and suggested pairing younger residents or newcomers with long‑term residents in facilitated conversations to surface different priorities.

On equity and inclusion, Silver said he avoids acronyms and defines the terms plainly: diversity as “the value of different perspectives”; equity as “fairness”; and inclusion as creating places where people feel they belong. He warned that the shorthand “DEI” has become charged in some forums and recommended that Hampton emphasize transparent definitions and practical outcomes in outreach materials.

On gentrification and affordability, Silver said municipal control over housing prices is limited, but local governments can deploy anti‑displacement strategies proactively by identifying vulnerable neighborhoods and targeting preservation resources or overlays where appropriate. “Rather than a broad brush on gentrification, let us focus on the communities that are vulnerable,” he said.

Why it matters: Participants from council, the school board and other authorities repeatedly said retaining young families and improving neighborhood livability are priorities. Silver argued that better-designed, problem‑based engagement and explicit anti‑displacement work give leaders more credible tools for responding to resident concerns and delivering outcomes.

What wasn’t decided: No formal public‑engagement program was adopted at the retreat. City staff and the consultant will refine outreach approaches; the consultant recommended immediate actions to ensure engagement is representative and that plan recommendations are vetted for implementation feasibility and equity impacts.

Next steps: Silver and staff urged the city to pair public education about tradeoffs with early, realistic vetting of funding and staffing for proposals so the public’s time is matched by concrete deliverables and so unintended effects such as displacement can be anticipated and addressed.","Mitchell Silver briefed multiple Hampton boards on demographic trends (aging population, rise in single‑person households), public engagement strategies to reach underrepresented groups and equity as fairness, and urged leaders to focus outreach and test implementation feasibility early in the planning cycle.","actionData","errors"]

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Consultant showcases parks, ‘cool pools’ and temporary interventions as low‑cost paths to placemaking

Consultant urges Hampton to convert plans into action with clear priorities and implementation tools

Consultant outlines demographic shifts and engagement approaches; urges problem‑first planning and fairness