Matt talks with Leslie Zemsky, Director of Fun for Larkin Square, a dynamic public space in Buffalo, NY. Dubbed “Larkinville,” the neighborhood became a true destination when Leslie and her family began developing the area that, in the late 1800s, was home to the Larkin Soap Company, a mail-order conglomerate that was the Amazon of its day. Leslie talks about the common sense component of placemaking, turning a huge vacant lot into the heart of a neighborhood, and how her early career planning the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade prepared her for it all.
Episode 36: Director of Fun
