Page 2 - Community Building

A family of four cheers on their favorite football team while sitting in aluminum bleacher

College baseball. High school track. Little league. Fall sports. Spectators for all those sports need a place to sit and in the next few months it's going to be a scramble to get those aluminum bleachers up and ready.

Top ten tips to know when ordering aluminum bleachers Order early. Generally, experienced manufacturers know how to keep up with the demand and supply so shipping is not a problem. But things happen. There might a shortage of aluminum planks or other unforeseen circumstances that is out of manufacturers control. Murphy' law. Anticipate delays. Just ask the Chicago Cubs. Custom Bleacher Orders. The advice to "order early" is critical when it comes to custom bleachers. Because customization is involved, there's no way to give an exact estimate of lead times when it comes to these types of projects. Every project is different with different requirements. Call early.

Portable bleachers

Kaohsiumg National Stadium with dragon-shaped desig

By Gerald Dlubala

It's true, we love and are extremely passionate about our sports teams and for many Americans, sitting in stadium bleachers on the weekend is like visiting a vacation resort.

For that reason, the sports industry in America was said to be worth over $60 billion in 2015, and is estimated to top $73 billion by 2019. But the competition isn't always on the field. Sometimes, it IS the field, with the stadiums and venues taking on identities of their own.

With amenities such as shopping malls, restaurants, and conference/meeting room space, and even extended stay hotel rooms, the venue can be just as popular, and sometimes more so, than the teams that call these places home.

Following is a list of ten iconic, unique, or pretty cool stadiums and team venues. It was a tall task, because in fact, there are many, many cool and unique sports venues out there, and some rather dramatic ones in the process of being built. So this list

As more city residents commute by bicycle, more cities now require bike rooms in buildings to encourage them

Bike rooms, a covered, designated area for secure bicycle parking, used to be a luxury. Now, they are becoming mandatory in many urban environments.

As people trend towards cycling for both transportation and recreation, the demand for bicycle parking is on the rise. Many cyclists purchase high-end bikes worth thousands of dollars instead of buying a vehicle. Wanting to protect their investment from the weathering, theft, and damage that can happen in any city, cyclists now specifically search for condos and employers who offer bike rooms.

In an effort to be bike-friendly and encourage bike commuting, some urban communities are rewriting city codes and laws, requiring bike room accessibility from businesses and property owners.

The New York City Bikes in Buildings program is an example of this. It requires businesses with elevators to allow bicycles indoors. Tenants who want an

Dog park equipment adds excitement to any dog park or multi-family community

By Susyn Stecchi

Are you looking to add an agility or obstacle course with dog park equipment to your park or multi-family community?

There are two types of dog agility courses. One is for professional championship trials that have to adhere to the standards of the various dog agility professional organizations such as the USDAA. The other is the informal, recreational type of dog playground equipment course, best suited for dog parks and multi-family housing.

Why would you want your dog to use dog park agility equipment? Agility training is a wonderful opportunity for you to partner with your dog as their coach and trainer while your dog gets to learn to approach and complete various obstacles, increasing your dog's confidence and giving it exercise at the same time. Any dog, regardless of breed or size, will benefit from agility exercise. But start slowly, just as you would when starting your own exercise program.

Spectators on bleachers with drinks at gam

Aluminum bleachers endure a lot of use, misuse and abuse. How do you keep them safe and sound when you have so many crowds of people walking, cheering and jumping up and down on them?

There are very few structures out there that are subjected to this type of activity. And to add to the danger, a large number of bleachers are outside - subject to rain, sleet, heat and snow. Then you have the food and refreshments factor - people watching a game for three hours are going to eat and drink - and spill and drop food.

Here are some tips to consider to keep your aluminum bleachers in tip-top shape and safe for public use.

Be sure your bleachers comply with the International Building Code (IBC). These codes were created from an amalgamation of different codes and requirements in different states across the country. There's a reason these codes were enacted - to help prevent the thousands of injuries that occur on bleachers every year. Inspect bleachers

 

Trash collectors face more mountains of garbage than eve

Cities can work on all types of new initiatives - sustainability, new museums, bike paths but there's one recurring problem that keeps popping its head up in new and ugly ways and that's trash receptacles.

Here's a new one for you. In Seattle, people complained that commuters were continually overfilling a trash can by a metro stop. What did the city do? Removed the trash receptacle.

It was a sticky situation. Here's the backstory. The metro stop happened to be very close to a Starbucks. As you know, people love to hang onto their mocha lattes to the last drop. So, for that reason, coffee drinkers would all converge on the bus stop and hang onto their drinks until the last second before they stepped onto the bus, and then dumped them in the trash receptacle nearby.

Every day, that trash receptacle would get fuller...and fuller and eventually start spilling out onto the ground.

One solution was to remove it.

That turned out not

 

Friday nights is when hometown fans hit the aluminum bleachers

By Gerald Dlubala

The conversation generally picks up in earnest about midweek before anybody is seated on aluminum bleachers in the stadium. But the more excitable fans will be talking all week.

You'll hear it at work, in the line at the grocery store, while pumping gas at the nearby convenience store, and anywhere else there happens to be a couple of people within close proximity to each other.

Heck, some people are more than happy having this sort of conversation with themselves, getting themselves worked up for weekend matchup.

 

"Big game this weekend, Joe. Everybody is goin'. You goin'? We gotta get 'em back for last year. Remember that game? They beat us pretty good if I remember right. We didn't play our best game though, and they had that kid who was a star recruit. I remember that. How are they doing this year? Any good? We gotta get a little revenge on those old crosstown bullies, hehe."

 

Fans in bleachers with

Drawing for Miami Dolphins stadium that is undergoing a $450 million makeover (Source: NewMiamiStadium.com

When fans for the Miami Dolphins and University of Miami Hurricanes cheer their teams this fall, they will probably pay more attention to the structure they are in than the teams because the New Miami Stadium will be an incredible change from the old facility.

Dolphins owner Stephen Ross is spending about $450 million for renovations to the stadium that will truly make it a world-class sports facility. Early reports had that amount at $300. You can tell he is going all in on this bet.

Details of New Miami Stadium facelift

Here are some of the major improvements taking place at the 27-year old facility:

- Enormous 14-acre canopy. If you ever sat in the sun in Dolphin stadium in September or even October under a sizzling Florida sun, this feature alone will be worth its weight in cool air. The Dolphins CEO Tom Garfinkel said the canopy will place 92% of all seats in the shade. The center

Entrance to Delray Beac

What does it take for a small town to overcome obstacles thrown in its path and eventually turn itself into an award-winning city?

Delray Beach is one prime example. The transition this municipality made from a village by the sea faced with several challenges to one of the most successful small towns in Florida is a noteworthy study in how to get the right things done.

All along residents believed they lived in a special place, and they passed on that belief from one generation to another. That mindset became the driving force to take some bold steps to revitalize the town and a philosophy to keep innovating and never stop making improvements.

Some residents will point to one particular period in the town's history as an example of how this civic drive was able to push past several obstacles and take the city to the success it experiences today.

"(During this time) It had the bones, but no energy. You could have thrown a bowling ball down the middle of Atlantic Avenue

Great American Cleanup 2016 is on March 2

By Alysa Kleinman

Tossing some trash out the window may feel like a victimless crime. In reality, the financial implications of litter are devastating on communities. Thousands of car accidents are caused by litter, which increases insurance rates. Picking up litter costs the United States $11 billion annually. Litter also reduces property values and tourism, can spread germs and viruses, and spoils water quality. In short, we are all victims of litter's effects. The Great American Cleanup 2016 reminds us there is a solution.

Even though the negative effects of litter are obvious, it doesn't prevent people from throwing trash on the ground. The Great American Cleanup 2016 (organized by Keep America Beautiful) is working to solve that issue.

You see, if one person tried to pick up every piece of litter across America it would be impossible. But if each of us picks up one piece we can easily solve the problem together.

The Great American Cleanup kicks

Copenhagen is a prime example of bike-friendly citie

What does it take to make more walkable and bike-friendly cities?

In a word - codes. Zoning codes.

Obviously there's more to transforming streets for use by all members of the public. But a change in zoning codes for citizens who walk or bike shows a fundamental mindset that a town is serious about moving away from cars and closer to alternative modes of transportation.

Why does a town need to do this? Because citizens all over America are demanding change.

For too long, America's infrastructure was built around the automobile and cheap gas. The country created massive suburban communities so more people could own a house, a lawn and a backyard.

The problem is that this caused communities to be spread out over large tracts of land. For a resident to buy food, they had to get in their car and drive across town to the grocery store. The construction of strips mall and mega-malls encouraged this practice.

Planners mainly focused on making

More bicyclists in cities will require more bicycle parking - bike bollards are one solutio

You've seen them a millions times but probably don't know what they are called. But now that we are seeing more and more people riding bicycles, these simple, knobby, century-old devices can be a major problem-solver for cities and towns.

What are they? Bollards. What can we use them for? Traffic control and bike parking - bike bollards.

Bike bollard

Bollards are those posts you see stuck in concrete all over the place. The posts that prevent motorists from driving up onto a sidewalk and into a plate glass window. The posts that let motorists know you can drive here but you can't drive there. The posts that protect pedestrians at corners and other critical areas.

Bollards have been around forever. In old England, they were first created by burying cannons upside down in the ground. Sailors would use them to tie up their boats. Bollards were used to designate wagon and buggy trails (getting run over

Gil Penalosa and his message about people-centric cities. Source 8 80 Citie

If you look at the speaking schedule for a guy named Gil Penalosa, you'll notice he is everywhere. Why? Because his message about doing something now to change cities in the future is resonating with quite a few people.

In fact, Penalosa will be the keynote speaker at the annual National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA) conference in Las Vegas Sept. 15-17.

Essentially what he is saying is really a no-brainer. We ALL know this is going to happen. How we shape the way we manage what is going to happen is another story, another story that Penalosa urges us to act on NOW.

Here's the scenario. The population of people living in cities is going to double from 3.5 billion to more than 7 billion in just 35 years. Do you think it is hard to drive to a city now? As anyone can predict, with all those people flocking to urban areas it is not going to get any better.

More millennials are moving to cities. More people own

Lucy reading on a park bench in the Twin Citie

Here's a simple formula to make a park exciting. Add a sculpture in front of a park bench and you have essentially transformed a plot of grass into an outdoor museum.

It certainly works for St. Paul, Minn. They added hundreds of statues from the Charlie Brown cartoon series and have turned many of their parks into tourist destinations, creating a sense of civic pride as well with local residents.

There is a connection between the city and the Charlie Brown creator Charles Schultz. He was born there and went on to become one of the most popular cartoonists in history. At his peak, his "Peanuts" comic strip was featured in 2,600 newspapers which spawned several TV specials as well.

When he died in 2000 at the age of 77, the statues were created to honor his legacy.

Now more than 100 statues of Charlie Brown, Lucy, Linus, Snoopy and Woodstock can be seen interspersed in parks all over the Twin Cities. Created by famous artist Tivoli Too, most

Scenic bike paths like this one in NYC can be an effective way to attract tourist

If a city or town is looking for a simple strategy for economic development, consider bike paths and trails. They're easy to create - you determine a scenic route in your town, find some bike racks for sale, arrange for rentals, create a map, and voila, you just created a tourist destination!

All across America, municipalities are pouring millions into building some feature in their town that will lure in tourists. Tourism dollars are great for any local economy. People visit, they drop money in restaurants, hotels, gas stations, stores and then they leave. So a town reaps the benefits of all those dollars without having to support all those people with schools, services, etc. They arrive, they spend, they go.

What a great way to generate revenue for a town. Local businesses benefit. Tax revenue grows. Area residents have more pride in their town.

But you don't necessarily have to spend millions to build the