‘Slow charrette’ for slow times

Washington, DC-based planning consultant Jeff Speck moved himself, his wife, and their 21-month-old son to Lowell, Massachusetts this April for what he calls a “slow charrette” — a full month of working on a plan for Lowell’s future development while living in a converted mill downtown.

It’s the kind of arrangement that could hold advantages for some planners and communities as the nation slowly comes back from a deep recession. The Lowell Plan, a nonprofit corporation responsible for setting the city’s course, had Speck and family live in the former Boott Mill in an apartment donated by the WinnCompanies, a major rental landlord in Lowell that supports the planning effort.

“As much a fan as I am of the traditional week-long charrette method, it’s a far cry from a month of total immersion,” Speck says. The schedule called for four weeks of Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays filled with meetings booked by the client, including a midweek meeting of the steering committee and a weekly two-hour meeting with the entire city planning staff.

“Living there afforded the luxury to take one’s time, literally s-l-o-w things down,” Speck told New Urban News. “I had a

...