The International Avenue Design Initiative (IADI) was formed by a partnership between the International Avenue BRZ, the University of Calgary Faculty of Environmental Design, and the City of Calgary with a mission to create a vision and strategy for the redevelopment of the International Avenue corridor (17th Avenue SE).
Stories from the Fields > Calgary, Alberta | 50th Street Urban Centre
Calgary, Alberta | 50th Street Urban Centre
Stories from the Fields > Calgary, Alberta | East Village
Calgary, Alberta | East Village
The East Village plan includes a form-based urban code and provides for a new mixed-use, high density urban neighbourhood of 8,500-9,500 residents and over 100,000 square feet of ground level commercial retail in Calgary’s downtown core. Under sub-contract to Jenkins & Associates, PlaceMakers (operating as T-Six Urbanists at the time) prepared a comprehensive downtown area redevelopment plan on a 115 acre site on behalf of the City of Calgary.
Stories from the Fields > Calgary, Alberta | Envisioning International Blvd.
Calgary, Alberta | Envisioning International Blvd.
The International Avenue Design Initiative (IADI) was formed by a partnership between the International Avenue BRZ, the University of Calgary Faculty of Environmental Design, and the City of Calgary with a mission to create a vision and strategy for the redevelopment of the International Avenue corridor (17th Avenue SE).
Stories from the Fields > Chula Vista, California | Third Avenue
Chula Vista, California | Third Avenue
The Third Avenue Streetscape Master Plan is a city redevelopment project to revitalize and improve the pedestrian experience on Chula Vista’s historic Main Street, Third Avenue.
Stories from the Fields > Early County 2055 | Georgia
Early County 2055 | Georgia
Charles B. Rice grew up in Early County, Georgia, and moved away to make his fortune. Upon returning, he was struck by the downtrodden state of the county, and undertook a 50-year visioning effort to turn things around. Recognizing the expansive scope of his challenge, he engaged PlaceMakers to facilitate an economic development visioning process characterized by wide community engagement, master planning, a form-based SmartCode customization, and ongoing guidance in how to implement ambitious efforts in a climate of economic disinvestment.
Stories from the Fields > Hedgewood Homes | Atlanta, Georgia
Hedgewood Homes | Atlanta, Georgia
Hedgewood may have started as a small, independent homebuilder competing on the basis of quality and architectural distinction, but such modest days were short-lived. Over the course of twenty years, the principles that drove their early success fueled an evolution into one of the Southeast’s most admired builders of environmentally-friendly, architecturally inspiring, traditional neighborhoods.
Long story short, the company became more than just a homebuilder. Instead, they achieved a sort of marketing gold — the wholly unique and desirable prospect of “total community,” something unmatched in the region. What they lacked, however, was a strong sense of how to take such a story to market. They turned to PlaceMakers to overhaul the company’s brand.
Stories from the Fields > Hill Street Lofts | Atlanta, Georgia
Hill Street Lofts | Atlanta, Georgia
As any real estate professional will tell you, location matters. And sometimes, despite whatever desirable features you may be offering, it can be a deal-breaker.
Such was the case with the Hill Street Lofts, a 146-unit, entry-level residential project in the existing, intown Atlanta neighborhood of Chosewood Park — high atop the area’s highest point and featuring what is perhaps the city’s most dramatic and expansive skyline view. Characterized as an “area in transition,” Chosewood Park had long struggled with a variety of urban dysfunctions (such as ongoing property crimes) associated with concentrated poverty but, at the same time, maintained a deep and committed network of community organizations unwilling to give up. Progress had and continued to be made but it was slow-going. A truly diverse and healthy neighborhood was going to take some time.
Stories from the Fields > Lawrence, Kansas
Lawrence, Kansas
Unlike many — if not most — American cities, Lawrence, Kansas, has a vibrant, intact downtown. The fringes of the city, however, had been under increasing development pressure in recent years, leading local officials to undertake an intense planning and coding process to manage developing sprawl.
They turned to the SmartCode, and PlaceMakers, to create a parallel regulating ordinance where alternate outcomes were possible.
Stories from the Fields > National City, California
National City, California
PlaceMaker Howard Blackson led a downtown Specific Plan, Urban Design standards and project Environmental Impact Report for National City’s Redevelopment authority. The plan and EIR was adopted by the City Council in February 2005 after a two-year process. The project’s baseline operating system utilized the Form-Based Code approach to place the correct building intensity to the correct street and open space typologies.
Stories from the Fields > Post Falls, Idaho
Post Falls, Idaho
A commuter suburb of Spokane, Washington, with emerging employment and a growing retiree population, Post Falls, Idaho, had experienced an increasingly common scenario: rapid, unfocused growth, and the public discontent that results. In response, the city engaged PlaceMakers to help foster “sensible growth, real neighborhoods, and vibrant community” through a master regulating plan, sector plan, and form-based code, as well as design assistance on 11 local development projects.
