Kent: The thing that always comes up is comfort. That's a really big deal because comfort says that people are welcome, that that place is available for people to be a part of. It gives a smile in a way, and people notice.

I was in Toronto recently, walking back from meeting, and the guy I was with said he put a bench out in front of his house, and the community went apoplectic. He said people were upset for a while until someone else did the same thing, and then they got over it. People are exposing themselves in a way of welcoming people. It's a simple idea that's profound. It changes things, and it's a shock to the system, but the system needs to get shocked—everyone wants it, but they don't know how to get it. So, you take that metaphor and say, “We need a square—not a parking lot, but a food truck and some seating.”

GlobeSt.com: What is key to activating public spaces so that they achieve their highest and best use?

Kent: One thing we do is consider, if you put that bench out, what do you put with the bench? It might be a dog park. Then, maybe a coffee cart. You're starting to create gathering place, where people come with their dogs and talk. You can do this almost any place—say you live across the street from an elementary school. If you put seating there, an ice cream cart and do some planting, you're starting to create something where parents could come and children could play. It could help the elementary school.

GlobeSt.com: What should Downtown San Diego be focusing on in order to achieve these goals?

Kent: It's pretty tough right now because you walk around and see so many homeless people; it's pretty bad. There are some good and some bad parts. One real opportunity is that San Diego is both a waterfront city and downtown city, but right now, these two aspects feel separated. But, if you use esplanades, you can connect yourself between the waterfront and Downtown. You need to connect the two over time in people's minds. You have a prime place on the West Coast, and yet there's nothing to do on the waterfront. Maybe put an esplanade from Little Italy down to the waterfront—that would be better—and maybe one up by the convention center. There are placemaking exercises to come up in the short term to make this work.

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Michell: Our goal is to work toward that, to work from the outside in, to start with the Bay and take some of the streets and work inward toward each other because that's the opportunity. There's a lot we have done not a lot right recently, but there's a lot of room for improvement. Fred sees our waterfront, and we think it's beautiful, but he says it's pathetic: what are you doing to activate it?

We're going to study four Downtown sites—Faultline Park, Horton Plaza Park, North Embarcadero and Seaport Village—and the community will tell us what we need. Mayor Faulconer will allow us to try these things in our community. People are participating from all over the region because they can take back the strategies and process that Fred is teaching us to their own communities: La Jolla, San Ysidro, City Heights, Linda Vista. They all get to take this home to their communities. This is really the powerful nature of placemaking.

GlobeSt.com: Can you be more specific about the process?

Michell: For example, at Seaport Village, while the development projects are being developed by Protea, we can try out uses and see what works. The uses will be authentic to San Diego—local uses that bring residents down to the waterfront. This helps form permanent development, and it's good for both residents and visitors. The visitors want to do what locals do, to feel like they've lived a few days in the shoes of a San Diego resident. Fred has consulted to more than 3,500 communities, and he has seen what works. For instance, in New York's Times Square, during the Giuliani era, they took a can of paint, restriped the road, took out lanes and put lawn chairs in to activate the area, and it became the talk of the town. As Fred says, lighter, quicker and cheaper is gaining momentum. Things like temporary restaurants bring people in. It's a campaign to create great places. Placemaking is programing space with elements like food, music, seating and serendipity.