Dot Dot Dot: The NINE dot ARTS Podcast
Sep 6, 2026 · 48 min · 14 segments
Bill Mahar, Principal at Norris Design, breaks down “health-centric placemaking,” and why the small, human-centered details of a place often matter most. For show notes and more…
Bill MaharGuestMolly CaseyHostI feel like that is the one thing people go into these meetings and they don't know the other side of the table.
And there's just a lot of like you almost come in with your guard up and ready to fight instead of figuring out how to collaborate.
Yeah, if you can leave that facade and that armor behind and just go in with an open understanding and understand where those people are at.
They may be other policy decisions, city council, and they're just representatives of it.
So the art and the fun part is getting to know the people on the other side of the table and how we can find common ground.
Because if you can come with that collaborative mode and figure out what it is that their needs are and then what it is that the project needs are and bring them together, you get a better project at the end of the day.
But how can you find some middle ground? And you may be enlightened on what things they may have to say that could actually improve your project.
What do you think it is? Like, what does each side of the table understand from the private and the public sector particularly well? And where do they sometimes struggle to meet and meet one another? Like, where do those little like points of conflict or points that need resolution come into play?
And that can be a blessing or a curse if they are able to, either the private or public sector, to step outside of what they know and be open and listen.
And see what opportunities are there to collaborate and move a project forward constructively.
I feel like that is the one thing people go into these meetings and they don't know the other side of the table.
And there's just a lot of like you almost come in with your guard up and ready to fight instead of figuring out how to collaborate.
Yeah, if you can leave that facade and that armor behind and just go in with an open understanding and understand where those people are at.
They may be other policy decisions, city council, and they're just representatives of it.
So the art and the fun part is getting to know the people on the other side of the table and how we can find common ground.
Because if you can come with that collaborative mode and figure out what it is that their needs are and then what it is that the project needs are and bring them together, you get a better project at the end of the day.
But how can you find some middle ground? And you may be enlightened on what things they may have to say that could actually improve your project.
What do you think it is? Like, what does each side of the table understand from the private and the public sector particularly well? And where do they sometimes struggle to meet and meet one another? Like, where do those little like points of conflict or points that need resolution come into play?
And that can be a blessing or a curse if they are able to, either the private or public sector, to step outside of what they know and be open and listen.
And see what opportunities are there to collaborate and move a project forward constructively.
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