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Terminology: Plannervs. Public <br />Theneedtodefinetermshasbeencommentedonbyotherpeopleandisimportant.But <br />beyondthatisthenatureoftheterminologythatisused.Manyterms are familiarto <br />plannersandotherpeoplewhospend a significantpart oftheirtimeinplanningcircles. <br />They are notfamiliartothegeneralpublic,andsocauseconfusionandfrustratepeople’s <br />attempttounderstandwhat’sgoingon;they are “off-putting”. <br />Theserangefromcommonlymisunderstoodterms,suchasmedianand average(ormean), <br />tothemoreesotericterms,suchas“charrette”and“parklet”. <br />Commonlymisunderstoodterms are hardtodealwith,justbecausethey are common; <br />peopleneedtohavelearnedthem for manypurposes,buttheymaystillnotunderstand <br />them.That’snotsomethingthat a planningdepartmentcandealwith.Theydoneedtobe <br />usedcarefully,andnotbeinterchangedinordertogetthedesiredresults.I’veseenno <br />indicationthattheCitydoesthat,it’sjustsomethingonehastobeonguard against,both <br />inproducinginformationandassessingit. <br />TheCitydoesappeartohavemorethanonefigurefor“medianincome”whichhas <br />becomeensnaredin a bureaucraticmorass.Whichfigureisbeingused,andwhy,needsto <br />bemadeclear. <br />More troublesome, buteasiertoavoidarethe“insiderterms”. I mentionedcharretteand <br />parklet: I havetroublebelievingthatmanypeopleknowwhatthoseterms mean,andthere <br />arewell-understoodalternatives.It’smorethanmeaninginvolved:it’sthewaythingsare <br />framed.Usinginsiderterms makespeoplefeelliketheprocessinlessthanwelcomingto <br />thetypicalindividual.“Parklet”is a wordyou arehardputeventofindin a dictionary,as <br />itonlyemergedaround2005,andinplanningcircles.Andjusttocomplicatematters,the <br />Cityplanningstaffuses itin a waythatdoes notseemtobeinaccordwiththewaythat <br />theAmerican PlanningAssociationusesit. A divisionoftheAPAiswhatpasses outthose <br />AIClettersthatmanyoftheseniorplannersincludewiththeir names. <br />\[Ifyou wanttoseetheAPA’sideaof a parklet a cleardefinitionisontheoutlineofan <br />APAeventathttps://www.planning.org/events/activity/4171417/. Thekeystatement is: <br />“Theelementsof a parklet - a parkingspottransformedinto a tinypublicrelaxation <br />area....”Soit’spurposeis a “relaxation area”,not aplaceforgivingoutinformation. <br />Althoughinformationcouldbepassedoutthere,parkletsaregenerallylonger-term,and <br />notprimarily for passingoutinformation,althoughthatappearstobehowtheCity <br /> <br />