СОЗДАВАЯ ЛУЧШИЕ КВАРТАЛЫ

Krista Nightengale, Executive Director of Better Block, discusses how after more than a decade of transforming streets and vacant lots into places people want to spend time, the organization has learned a few things about community engagement, urbanism, and life. This talk explores the lessons, successes, and (a few of the) failures that have shaped Better Block's approach. Along the way, Krista challenges some common assumptions about economic development, walkability, community engagement, and what it really takes to create places people love. Krista Nightengale: began her career in journalism before stumbling into the fascinating world of urban design. Today, she serves as Executive Director of Better Block, an international nonprofit that helps communities turn civic engagement into visible action by testing ideas in the real world. Over the past decade, Krista has worked alongside neighbors in more than 145 communities to rethink streets, transform underused spaces into places people want to gather, and remove the barriers that keep communities from making the changes they want to see. The work has helped calm traffic, strengthen local economies, and, in some cases, reduce crime—but the outcome she cares about most is turning strangers into neighbors. Krista has built hundreds of digitally fabricated benches, kiosks, and parklets via Better Block’s Wikiblock library. She uses social media to educate around placemaking and transportation, and she’s a pretty adequate drone operator (as long as there’s no wind). She has served on the Dallas City Plan and Zoning Commission and numerous local nonprofit and civic boards, always looking for new ways to help people build stronger neighborhoods together.