ReCover Acadiana and Better Block events

Better Block is a national organization that helps to redevelop portions of cities across the country. Their founder Jason Roberts, who's known for his use of public space and planning strategies, otherwise known as tactical urbanism, aims to improve the quality of life in towns and cities one block at a time. Some projects reenvision downtown streets, some make use of vacant spaces, and some create 'parklets' inside existing parking spaces.

The 705 organization's philanthropic project ReCover Acadiana is working with the Lafayette Consolidated Government to host some events featuring Jason later this month.

• 705 members can hear Jason speak at their May meeting on Thursday, May 15.
• The general public can hear Jason speak for free at the Lafayette Science Museum on Tuesday, May 20. Registering to attend the event on EventBrite is recommended.

 

Image: A Better Block parklet

Going one step further, Lafayette will be constructing its first Better Block parklet sometime in May at an undisclosed location. The IND reports that an anonymous source stated, “We don’t want to let anyone tell us no before we even get started. See, the point is to break the rules to show how the rules aren’t best serving the people.”

Another event ReCover Acadiana is putting on is happening on Thursday, May 22. To prepare for the Better Block event, members of the 705 (and anyone interested in helping out) will be cleaning up Bertrand Drive in Lafayette, starting around 5:30 p.m. All you need to do is show up and be ready to pick up litter; all supplies will be provided. And you can make your trash pickup a little more social by snapping a photo of the litter and posting it on social networks using #trashtag (a new one!) and the classic #litterati.

Lafayette is a great city...now let's help make it prettier through parklets and litter cleanup!