The Montgomery County Planning Department and Dallas-based nonprofit Better Block Foundation worked with the Fairland and Briggs Chaney to bring to life the goals of the Fairland and Briggs Chaney Master Plan. The Fairland and Briggs Chaney Placemaking festival temporarily reimagined the Briggs Chaney Park and Ride on October 21 and 22, 2022. The effort brought together residents, visitors, local business owners, and representatives of civic associations to make the space a vibrant place for the community to gather.
Community members worked with the Better Block team through the summer and fall to build, paint, and construct their ideas and bring them to life. The transformed outdoor space hosted food and retail vendors, Montgomery Parks’ activities and features, and a welcoming place for residents to gather with their family, neighbors and friends during the public celebration.
Goals of the Festival
The Fairland and Briggs Chaney (FBC) Placemaking Festival was intended to:
- Highlight the vision and recommendations of the ongoing FBC Master Plan.
- Demonstrate ways of achieving the plan’s vision for public spaces through short-term solutions before major investments are made.
- Embrace placemaking as a means of capturing shared values and generating ideas for public spaces.
- Engage local businesses, schools, and community members in a dialogue about the role of public spaces and streetscape designs within their community.
- Encourage property owners to plan for the long-term transformation of their properties.
- Use temporary placemaking as a tool to gather data and help inform permanent designs for successful public spaces and streetscapes in the Fairland and Briggs Chaney Master Plan.
- Make a positive impact on the community with a public space that can be used for community events after the placemaking festival.
Watch the Fairland and Briggs Chaney Placemaking Festival Kickoff meeting recording below (Note: due to technical difficulties a portion of the introduction was not recorded).
What we’ve heard
In June, community members were invited to respond to a questionnaire to guide the festival’s program and design.