Transforming bike paths left unused in the coldest months into skating paths snaking through Grand Forks, North Dakota. Opening a “busker booth” where street musicians can record their work in Long Beach, California. Creating “front porch” style gathering spaces in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and Columbia, South Carolina.

These are among the 144 creative ideas for improving cities that the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation announced as finalists of the third annual Knight Cities Challenge Tuesday. More than 4,500 individuals, governments and nonprofit groups applied to receive a piece of the $5 million that will be awarded.

Lynn Ross Announces Knight Cities 2016

“The finalists use creativity and inventiveness to tackle community challenges and realize new opportunities, proposing ideas that are unique to their city, but also hold lessons and inspiration for civic innovators across the country,” George Abbott, Knight Foundation director for community and national initiatives, said in a press release. (Abbott’s also a Next City Vanguard.)

Each of the proposals focuses on an idea for one or more of 26 target communities (all places where the Knight family has run newspapers). Past winners of the challenge have gone on to create a co-working hub for immigrant entrepreneurs in Philadelphia and a network of “urban consulates” across the U.S. where travelers and city-dwellers can connect and form a “cross-city exchange.”

This year, a number of projects are rooted in social justice, such as converting blighted city blocks or commercial spaces into urban parks, organizing spaces to discuss racial justice, and better engaging all members of the community about what they want to see out of city projects. Naturally for submissions written in a presidential election year, there are also projects that focus on bringing citizens’ voices to local government, and making voting or attending public meetings more fun. And once again, food-themed and pop-up projects are well represented, from parks to swimming pools to community art centers.

....

See the complete list of finalists here. The winners will be announced this spring.