Planning in the Midst of the Pandemic - Rediscovering the Role of the Outdoors
by Brad Smith, PLA, ASLA, AICP
We’ve all experienced it to some degree: isolation, cabin fever, feeling cooped-up indoors. The COVID pandemic has wreaked havoc to our normally predictable and manageable world. It’s weird to have to learn to read facial expressions only by examining the eyes of another, while the rest of their face is sequestered behind the safety of a mask. We long for social interactions, even if it means having to maintain a bit of a distance.
A lot has changed since the onslaught of this pandemic last spring. Fortunately, some truths remain consistent. For example, we know that being outdoors in the midst of beauty does indeed have a restorative effect on the soul.
Fall is in the air, and I’m longing for the time when we can again enjoy dinners in the garden without being drenched in sweat. I’m looking forward to spontaneous gatherings of neighbors to enjoy a glass of wine on the terrace.
There are so many underutilized outdoor spaces that could be re-energized:
Create an outdoor room in the backyard
Transform that leftover area of your community into a place where neighbors can gather to socialize
Talk to the City about adding benches in the shady spot under the trees in your neighborhood park, then organize a work party to handle the installation work.
Develop useful and purposeful places to expand your outdoor living opportunities, and in the process – discover the joy of social interaction in a safely distanced fashion. Plant an herb garden, and invite your neighbors to come clip away, because you’ll have more rosemary and oregano than you could ever use. Build a great water feature in the garden so that you’ll enjoy the sounds of water in transit, and maybe make it large enough so that it could double as a wading pool for the kids or grandchildren, not to mention a magnet for birds and other wildlife. Try your hand with aeroponic tower growing. Give food away to neighbors. Have them over for the ultimate farm-to-table experience.
The possibilities are endless. There is an abundance of empirical evidence that being outdoors does have therapeutic benefits. Why not explore ways to leverage those benefits, and in the process – overcome some of the drawbacks that this pandemic has played on the quality of our lives? In the process, we might just rediscover how vital relationships are, and why community matters to our well-being.
Takeaway Truth: We all need one another; let’s consider how to foster these meaningful relationships safely in outdoor settings.
For the rest of this series, we will follow the PLACE Acronym as we explore ways in which outdoor area development can effectively mitigate many of the COVID-induced problems we face. Next time, we will dive into the idea of Planning, and how it can be targeted toward basic human needs.
Good advice, but it takes a toll!
Top 3 Ways We Can Help
We can work to address the problems posed in the blog posting above by:
Creating a memorable experience and positive first impressions for those visiting your property. Also, increasing resident referrals by meeting their felt needs through targeted planning and design.
Exploring avenues for outdoor dining, food truck events, and even on-site food production. Reclaiming areas formerly devoted to vehicles, transforming them into vital “people places”.
Re-purposing forgotten or underutilized outdoor spaces, bringing vitality and opportunities for safe interactions in open-air environments.
Move Ahead
Ready to consider implementing some new ideas for outdoor area development? Download many of our helpful resources found at the Resources tab at the top of the page.
Reach out to schedule an initial Zoom Consultation. We’re eager to learn more about you and your needs.