I don't think it's too much to say that placemaking is grounded in love. While other methods of developing the urban fabric begin with great, or not-so-great Ideas in the minds of planners, or take their impetus mainly from economic calculations, placemaking—which excludes neither planning nor economics--is nevertheless supposed to be mainly about delight, attraction, wonder, loyalty—love.

At its best, placemaking begins with the expression of the wants and needs of the people who are going to spend time in the place, and those wants and needs include delight, and elevation of spirit as well as the physical things they shop for and engage service providers to supply. When a place provides delight and elevation of spirit, we love it.

That's why Dr. Katherine Loflin is an influential placemaker: she studies why and how people love cities, and she's coming here to spend a week keynoting a series of discussions on how urban-love turns into economic development.

The Line is a proud co-sponsor of the second annual Placemaking Residency. May 6-10. We're collaborating with the Citizens League, District Councils Collaborative of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, the Minneapolis Regional Chamber of Commerce, the Minnesota Museum of American Art, the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts, The Saint Paul Foundation, the Saint Paul Riverfront Corporation, and Wilder Research/Minnesota Compass.

Love and Money

Katherine Loflin was, officially,  "Lead Consultant and National Expert on the Knight Foundation Soul of the Community Project 2008-2010." The Line reported the results of the polling in that project in 2011, and we found out (to no one's huge surprise) that art and cultural opportunities, natural beauty, and an improving public-transit scene scored high in the why-we-love-our-towns sweepstakes.

But now Loflin, her local colleagues, and their audiences are upping the ante on love—they'll be looking deeply into how 21st-century urban amenities translate into civic delight and loyalty, and how delight and loyalty become magnets for attracting and retaining the best and brightest—the entrepreneurs, techies, designers, artists, dreamers, out-of-the-box executives, and other creatives we need to flourish in the global marketplace.

The first event of the series is one I'm particularly excited about, since The Line's hyper-connected and super–knowledgeable publisher, Dena Alspach, is one of the organizers. It's an informal gathering a week from Monday (May 6) at 6 PM at Honey, the eclectic bar/restaurant/music club/event center on East Hennepin, and it's entitled "Why Would I Work Here? A Discussion on Attracting and Retaining 21st-Century Talent in the Twin Cities." Loflin will be there, and so will state demographer Susan Brower, who'll no doubt have some interesting hard data on who comes here, who stays here, and why. (Register for the event here.)

On the morning of Tuesday the 7th, the action moves to Jax Café in Northeast for a placemaking-over-breakfast gathering sponsored by the Minneapolis Regional Chamber of Commerce and the Hennepin Theatre Trust (which I am guessing is just about the most placemaking-conscious legitimate-theater chain in America).

There are eight more events before we let go of Loflin—check out a full list here. And watch this space next week for more information about all of them.