What If? The Power of Possibility | Michele Dempsey Cunningham | TEDxScranton

This talk was given at a local TEDx event, produced independently of the TED Conferences. Michele Dempsey Cunningham is an architect with a lot of questions, namely, asking everyone how their sense of possibility is doing today. Michele closes TEDxScranton with a spark that cities can envision their corner of the world for a better tomorrow.

About TEDx, x = independently organized event In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)

Someone once told me
I have Save the World syndrome!

(Laughter)

It was the summer before college,
I was 18,

and I had to do my tour of duty
doing fleet maintenance

at my family‘s uniform and
linen supply company

This entailed working
on GMC step-vans for the summer,

in an old worn-out garage,

with dirt floors and no air conditioning.

So while all my girlfriends
were working at the local pool,

getting their perfect tans,
the only color my face was getting

was from engine grease.

But there was a bright side
to this assignment:

I got to work with Tim McNickles.

Tim was about 15 years my senior,

he had bright blue eyes,
an easy laugh

and a great sense of humor

And from Day 1, I could tell
e felt protective of me

and treated me like a little sister.

So one day, Tim and I were laying
underneath one of those step-vans,

fixing a drive shaft or something,

and we were even on
sheets of cardboard,

not even those rolly things,
which was cool.

And Tim casually asked me:
"What'd you gonna study in college?"

And I said, "I don't know."
So he said:

"Well, what do you think
you wanna do after college?"

I said: "I don't know, but I really
want to make a difference,

so I might join the Peace Corps
or something."

Tim stopped what he was doing.

He turned to me
and that's when he said it

He said: "Oh. You have
Save the World syndrome."

I said: "What?"
He's like: "No, it's ok,

it's really noble to want to go off
and make the world a better place

but you know, it's just as valid
to fix your corner of it."

I'd never thought of it that way,

that I could make a difference

by fixing where I lived
in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

So I went off to college,

I studied engineering,
and then I went off to grad school

eventually I became an architect.

I lived in Philadelphia and Washington DC,

and I worked for two great firms.

And when I moved back to Scranton,
I thought it was temporary

I had designed a house for my parents

and I wanted to see it
through construction.

When I got back,
there was a young mayor

making positive changes and
there was a buzz and an energy...

And I fell back in love with my area.
I decided that

despite all the challenges
I knew I would face,

I wanted to start my architecture firm
in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

Now, let me introduce you to Scranton.

Scranton has held
distressed City status since 1992.

Scranton is still reeling from
multimillion-dollar arbitration awards

to public safety unions that
almost bankrupt the city.

We have a $170-million budget deficit.

We have high wage and mercantile taxes

and we just passed a commuter tax.

And to put it all into perspective,

Scranton has lost half its population
since its heyday in the 1930s.

And yet we're still operating
with the same number

of government and public safety jobs
as for a population twice its size.

Now let me tell you why
none of that matters.

Because despite
what may seem hopeless,

Scranton is alive with
people who have hope

and who see the power of possibility.

Like a lot of places,
we have our fair share

of naysayers and apathetic citizens too.

But it's those who see
the power of possibility

and are willing to act on it

who seem to cut thorough the quagmire.

You see, there are two parallel
universes happening in Scranton right now.

There are more people
living in downtown than ever before

and the shops and the restaurants
have followed.

And local citizens have taken it
upon themselves

to start incredible
grassroots events and efforts

that have added tremendously

to the culture and
the charater of the downtown.

You have to be willing to

do something to fix your situation.

Nancy Duarte, another TEDx speaker,
once said:

"The future is not a place for going.

The future is a place we get to create"

Think about that.

We get to create our future.

I'd like to share a story with you.

About 12 years ago,

I had the honor and the pleasure
of attending a lecture

by Pritzker Prize winning architect
Tadao Ando

at the National Building Museum
in Washington, DC.

Ando said that when he was young,
and had just started his firm,

he would have all these ideas
for the city of Osaka.

And he would put them down
into a proposal

and he would present them
to the local government

or local stakeholders.

And time and time again,
they would say:

"We didn't ask for these."

And they turned them away.

And eventually, one day,
there was an earthquake.

And one of the buildings --

one of the sites the buildings
were condemned.

And won't you know it,

Ando get a phone call saying:

"We urgently need the design
and we'll take yours

exactly the way you designed it."

His point to us was simple:

when you have an idea,

you have to present it to society
and make it understood.

Because you'll never know
when an opportunity will come.

That always stayed with me.

A few years after starting
my firm in Scranton,

stores started leaving the downtown mall

and I could see the writing on the wall

as urban malls lived out
their life span across the country.

My team and I decided that
we shouldn't wait until it was too late

to think of a possible alternative
for a building occupying

occupied 4 city blocks of our downtown.

So we started thinking and
researching and designing

and we collaborated
with a local developer.

This is what the mall looks like today.

There are no active store fronts

and walking along those 4 blocks
is really a bit of a deadzone.

And there is an overpass that provides
a dark cavernous experience

walking through it.

You see malls by their very nature
are introverted,

everything faces towards the inside.

But cities and downtowns are extraverted,

it's all about street life and vibrancy.

So we decided the only way
to save the mall

would be to deconstruct it

and turn it into a mixed-use destination.

Here we imagine
what that might look like.

We've turned the mall inside out

and given it back
to the urban street grid.

The first floor would be
shops and resturants.

The second floor would be
apartments and the back offices.

We would keep Boscov,
the successful department store,

as an anchor tenant.

And we would keep the above ground
and below ground parking.

The positive feedback we got
from the community

for this idea was inspiring.

We realized that we could use
our gifted vision as architects

to uncover the hidden potential
in many other areas of the city

just as Ando had done in Osaka.

And at the same time,

we could subtlely educate the public

on the value of good planning principles.

And maybe our possibilities
could become realities.

We felt this was a perfect way
to stoke the embers of revitalization.

We could help creat our future.

So we wanted to give this idea
an identity,

something that would characterize it
and yet be easy to recall.

And since all the project would
ultimately ask the question,

what if we did this
or what if we did that,

we thought it would be so simple
yet so provocative

to call the effort "Scranton, What If?"

So with that [unclear] ahead,
we took on the challenge

of finding other what-ifs
throughout the city.

And now I'd like to share
a few of those with you.

What if an important corner
of the downtown

was reimagined to have
a sustainably designed,

appropriately scaled building

that was connected to an elevated park

along the train tracks behind it?

What if you could live or work
above the organic food market

and be within a 5-minute walk
of the downtown stores,

restaurants, movie theaters and the park?

This would be healthy living at its best.

What if an abandoned train station

was reimagined to have a simple path

that would connect it to the trails
along the river below?

And what if they had a recreation center,

so that you could rent bikes or kayaks?

And what if they had cafe

so that you could stop to rest
and refuel along your journey?

A former train station
reimagined for a new era.

What if an important avenue
of the downtown

was reimagined to have
efficient public transportation,

pedestrian walkability and bike lanes?

This would add to the walkability
and vibrancy of the downtown.

Some simple moves that would have
a potential tremendous impact,

not only on the city but on the planet.

What if the historic Scranton
iron furnaces were reimagined

to be something different?

These iron furnaces is where
the blast furnaces were

that created the pig iron that ultimately,

that's where they made the T-rails

that took the coal out the area
and across the country,

and literally helped fuel
the Industrial Revolution.

What if we reimagined the structure
to be something different?

Maybe a microbrewery and restaurant,
with an amphitheater.

Here we imagine what that could
look like on an summer afternoon

with people arriving
to go to the restaurant

and have a drink or have some dinner,

with others taking in the view
from the observation deck

and saw others waiting
in the amphitheater

to listen to a local band.

These visions are intended
to empower and inspire others

to take action in their own community.

And they're not purely hypothetical:

because of this rendering, we are now
working on a comprehensive plan

for an area of the downtown that
we're calling the Iron District,

which will become
a cultural and artistic link

between the downtown and south Scranton.

Today 15 million dollars of state money

has been authorized for this project,

which doesn't mean we are gonna get it;

but it means we've been deemed
a project worthy of consideration,

which is an incredible
and exciting first step.

A few months ago,

the same town mall went into foreclosure

and it was sold at share sale.

This we could see coming.

A couple of hours later,

the local news showed up at my office

because they remembered this rendering

from 2 years earlier.

Again there was a groundswell
of positive reaction to this idea.

I don't know what's going
to happen to the mall,

but I do know that we've created
possible bright future

for a mall going dark.

And earlier this month,

my firm had a presentation
and exhibition downtown

of "Scranton, What If?",

where we invited the community to come

and not just see what've we done
but give us their ideas.

And that's what we're showing
on these flags here.

Each flag is an idea from someone
in the community

that they put at the spot on the map
where they thought that that could be

The conversations that we had
were so uplifting and inspiring

that it was really amazing,
and I'm happy to say that

out of those conversations,

two other What-Ifs have taken their
first steps towards becoming a reality.

And despite its name, "Scranton, What If?"
is not an idea intended to be isolated

to this area or this community.

It's an idea that's more of philosophy
that could travel

if others were willing to pick up on it
and take it where they live.

In fact, this could just as easily be

Detroit, What If?

Or even

Beijing, What If?

I invite all of you
to insert your city here.

This is an idea for all of us to share.

We are in this together.

And it doesn't have to be
through the vehicle of architecture.

That's just the way we chose
to pursue the question.

You can pursue it in your own way.

You have to be willing to
do something to fix your situation.

The future is not a place for going,

the future is a place we get to create.

I see the possibility, of you
and everyone watching,

embracing your own power possibilty

to fix and transform
your corners of the world.

Then maybe just like Tim said,

all those years ago, under the truck,

then maybe all those corners will meet

and the world will be a better place.

Thank you.

(Applause)