Revitalizing Communities
Small Town Design Initiative
"I like the gathering of the people, places to sit, to offer the people a place to drink from the cup of our city. . ."
-Comment posted in response to STDI design idea.
Recapturing Small Town Quality of Life: STDI Story
There are the familiar things in this community--the hair salon that hasn't changed much in 50 years, although its second owner is now nearing retirement, and the old furniture store, dusty and more than a bit grubby. It's hard to know if the owner ever sells anything anymore but it's comforting to know the shop's still there. Then there are the boarded up stores no one seems to want to rent--where Betty's coffee shop, the Bijoux Cinema, Mike's Grocery, Kramer's Bakery, Dan's Meat Market (I remember the sawdust on its floor and the pungent odors) used to be. How proudly these buildings once displayed their clean, red and yellow brick, and sturdy, green cloth awnings. You'd never know it now, so covered they are in different layers of paint, in varying states of peeling. There are so few local shops now that most of the residents have to drive to the mammoth supermarket or the mall for essentials. It's particularly difficult for seniors to shop, and there's no housing facility for seniors in this neighborhood. Many older residents have moved away. Wheelchair users have a particularly difficult time with inaccessible sidewalk curbs and store entrances.
The corner where the children used to get their summer treats from the ice cream truck is now the night time home to drug dealers and prostitutes. The police advise not walking there after dark. The park where generations of children played and listened to summer concerts is too often strewn with broken glass to walk a dog there.
There used to be a chemical factory in town. It provided some good jobs, but now it's empty and a real eyesore. Some of the local kids keep playing on the property and have been getting very ill. A lot of families have moved away and the government says there's no money to clean up the old site. The police still occasionally have to chase the kids away.
Years ago, one was able to dash, almost without glancing, across the street to visit friends a few blocks away. Now it seems difficult to get to know people beyond one's own block. They seem like strangers. The road is now a four-lane highway slicing through the neighborhood. Except at rush hour, it's half-empty. It's inexplicable that they made it so wide. The cars speed by without even noticing the residents or their homes. Neighbors on the same block know one another and keep an eye on their children and homes when they're away. They watch out for one another.
The houses here are interesting, all different styles from one another, although some of them are pretty run down now. There used to be a lot of neighborhood pride here. Now, there seems to be a lot less.
But, some people are still moving in. It seems like they come from all over the world. One can occasionally hear the pleasant mélange of other languages and music. However, there are few places to sit and chat so people can get to know one another.
Things of course change with time and many things about this community are better now than they used to be--like the new community clinic and the recreation center. It would be good, though, if some of the things about this community that made it special, that made its residents proud to live here, could be preserved and built upon. Those old buildings could get the chance to show how beautiful and useful they once were, could be again. They could be filled with the kinds of stores and restaurants the community used to patronize and enjoy. These assets would no longer be wasted. Some of this community's residents are worried about their community's future and wonder whether their neighbors or the people at city hall, who are supposed to worry about these things, care what happens to their community, to them.
The notice on the library's community information board says the university is going to be partnering with the local residents' association to see if something can't be done to help improve the community's physical design. Maybe someone cares after all. There'll be a community meeting at the recreation center in a couple of weeks.
A surprising number of people from the community have turned out for the meeting--maybe 100 or so. The group is diverse--about an equal number of women and men, and all ages and racial groups are represented. In addition to residents, several representatives from local community organizations, including one that provides services to people with disabilities, are also present. So too are local business owners and some city and state government officials. The meeting has been well publicized to all of the various community members who will need to be involved if the quality of life in the community is to improve. A few of the attendees--some of the area's newcomers who don't understand English well--have brought someone to translate for them. Many of those present seem to have a nodding acquaintance with their neighbors. Polite, if somewhat stiff, "hellos" are exchanged among those who are strangers to one another. The food and soft drinks that some people have generously brought are a nice touch.
Warren Rauhe, a professor from the university's Landscape Architecture program, is standing at the front of the room, being introduced by someone from the residents' association. The professor is dressed informally in a navy blue polo shirt and beige jacket and slacks. He explains, in a very down to earth way, that he is here to facilitate a series of five meetings and to listen to community members, as they create, through their words, a "picture" of what they want this community to look like in the next ten years. He calls this "visioning." The idea is, the words will be recorded on paper and turned into visual images and planning design ideas that will help the community focus in on ways to revitalize the neighborhood. Many faces show a slight, hopeful smile.
The whole process is called the Small Town Design Initiative, or STDI, and in this first meeting Warren will ask three questions. Based on the responses, Warren, another professor, and about 20 university students who are just about to complete their landscape architecture degree, will come to the second meeting with a set of images of other places that may, or may not, resemble what the community sees as its "vision" for a revitalized community. At least it will be a starting point. As further comments are given, in subsequent meetings, the students will continue to refine the images until the images and design plans will, it is hoped, capture the vision the community is expressing.
The first question Warren asks is: "What are you PROUD OF in your community?" This question initially jars the audience and the people hesitate momentarily. Then, a flurry of hands go up and people start calling out words and phrases that someone starts to write down on a flipchart at the front:
"Compassion for one another; we take care of each other."
"Stamina of the people. We don't let anyone push us around."
"The scale of the community. It feels like a small town, very livable."
"Open porches. We can interact with our neighbors."
"The different types of houses."
"The diversity of people in our neighborhood."
Several others nod or voice agreement and add comments of their own. As the list gets longer, the room is full of positive energy. Then a new sheet of paper goes up and Warren asks: "What are you SORRY ABOUT in your community?" The residents appear deflated. A litany of negatives follows:
"Some houses look bad."
"Boarded up buildings."
"The drug dealers and prostitution."
"That horrible highway. It makes you lose the feel for the neighborhood streets."
"Not enough assistance for seniors."
"Lack of accessible sidewalks."
Warren seems to sense when it's time to move on and then asks the final question: "If you were to float over your community in a hot air balloon 10 years from now, WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO LOOK DOWN AND SEE?" The positive energy returns and the responses come almost faster than the person writing on the new sheet of paper can record them:
"Fix up and re-use those great old buildings in town."
"There would be a hardware store, a grocery shop and more coffee shops and restaurants."
"A retirement home."
"A movie theatre."
"A dog park."
"Bike trails."
"Walking paths."
"More trees and flowers."
"Accessible sidewalks."
"Reduce the width of the highway or at least add a grass median."
"Keep the same diversity; we don't want to lose what we have."
"Yes, keep our small town feel."
It's amazing how many people talk about not just how they want the buildings to look better but also how they want to have pleasant places to meet and get together with others--coffee shops, local grocers, bike trails, walking paths, beautified parks. Someone even talks about preserving the "small town feel." Many nod in agreement or simply say, "Yes!"
A few weeks later, in the second meeting, Warren shows slides of images from other places, not this community. Although the crowd is a little smaller, there is still a lot of enthusiasm and energy. As each image goes up, people call out:
"I like how they've used trees to separate the traffic from the pedestrians."
"Those street lamps really suit our character."
"Great façade details and awnings. Very like what we used to have."
"Great coffee shop and benches for chatting."
"Interesting sidewalks."
"Love the look of the park and concert shell."
"No. Too much concrete."
"Not enough green and flowers."
"Too futuristic for us."
"That's not us."
"That's close."
"Yes."
"Love it."
"That's us."
"Build it."
At the third meeting, the audience is presented with large boards, some standing, some flat on tables, filled with all types of designs and design details. Each set of boards shows the neighborhood transformed in some way. The students present slides of their work and talk about what they're trying to achieve with the particular design. Many have a "theme" to their work. After the presentations are done, the community members walk around the tables, carefully reviewing each design and writing down on cards their comments on what they like and don't like. One of the neighbors mentions quite loudly that in the design he is looking at his house no longer exists. He's less than thrilled with that design.
During the following month, the community is given an additional opportunity to review the designs at various locations around the neighborhood and on the residents' association's Web site. Throughout the process, community members review hundreds of images, dozens of design ideas and design boards, and provide hundreds of comments to Warren.
At the fourth meeting, Warren and his associates receive further comments, all aimed at helping them distill the images into about 30 "before" and "after" design images and details of some key locations within the neighborhood. These images are designed to reflect the community's consensus on what it wants to look like in ten years.
At the fifth and final meeting, Warren shows the 30 or so "before" and "after" design images that will guide future design plans. These are the images that seemed to resonate with what the community has said it is, was and wants to be, or to be again. In place of the boarded up old coffee shop is an "Internet" café with welcoming tables and chairs enclosed by a black wrought-iron fence trimmed with flower boxes. Another "after" image shows the old Bijoux all spruced up and waiting for the right owner. A local developer who attended some of the meetings has expressed an interest in turning it into mixed-use housing, including a facility for seniors. She plans to talk to the city government about her ideas. A local community nonprofit that assists newcomers has expressed an interest in turning the former Mike's Grocery into a micro-enterprise that will provide jobs and job training for its clients. The owners of the salon and the furniture store found out at one of the meetings that there might be funding from the city to do some revitalization of their buildings and a couple of people from that meeting have offered to help guide them through the process and paperwork.
In addition, several people have expressed an interest in cleaning up the park, adding some benches and picnic tables and planting some trees and flowers. They want to start using the park as a park again. Warren has told the community that the university has a gardening program that may be able to partner with them to help with this. Some others talk about the need for good after-school programs for the kids, possibly some plays and concerts in the cleaned-up park this coming summer, and a better recreational program for seniors at the community center. Perhaps also some ways to help people with disabilities and seniors complete their errands and socialize more. A few others want to work on having that four-lane highway narrowed and bike lanes and some trees added to it.
The residents' association is going to work on raising money to hire professional design consultants who will further shape the community's ideas, and prepare the necessary technical studies, plans, and such. But there is so much more, beyond the physical design, that folks indicate they want to work on. The association's chairperson says they are going to need a lot of help and asks for volunteers for various committees. The community will need to develop a comprehensive plan and set priorities. Undertaking some immediate small projects that show results would be a good start, Warren says. There is a look of hopefulness on the faces in the audience. Many residents, business owners, and representatives from various community organizations raise their hands.
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Initiative's Significance and Description
Many of Michigan's urban areas face serious environmental, and community and economic development problems and challenges. The Small Town Design Initiative (STDI) is an exciting and important example of Michigan State University applied research, community partnerships, and the "engaged scholar," in the areas of land use and physical environmental design assistance with community development. The STDI also provides an excellent service-learning opportunity and capstone experience for MSU landscape architecture students.
Jointly developed by MSU Extension, MSU Outreach and Engagement, the College of Social Science, and the Landscape Architecture Program, the STDI is provided by MSU's Landscape Architecture Program.
The STDI addresses physical environmental challenges and quality of life issues in Michigan's small towns. Using the STDI process, multidisciplinary MSU faculty and staff and students of MSU's Landscape Architecture Program work in partnership with community members to help small towns and communities with populations of 500 to 15,000 reinvent commercial or other public areas, while also preserving character and history. (A companion initiative, the Community Design Program, is available to communities with populations over 15,000.)
The objectives of the STDI are to: (1) work with communities to develop environmental design ideas for local issues and opportunities, (2) build consensus, (3) generate ideas, (4) attack a challenging environmental concern, (5) act as a bridge between communities and consulting design professionals, (6) provide for in-community student learning, and (7) provide a creative and scholarly work outlet.
Back to topContextualization: Forum for Community Members
The STDI provides a forum for community members to identify problems and potential solutions related to their community's physical environment, and to articulate and create a vision of their desired design. Design elements include: downtown streetscapes, parks, bikeways and trails, open space systems, industrial/commercial development, signs, agricultural land preservation, ecosystem management, and residential development.
Representatives of a community, such as a community organization, make application (in March or September) to the STDI project, via a downloadable application on the project's Web site. The organization answers some questions about its community concerns, opportunities, problems, vision for itself in ten years, and details of the proposed project, and provides letters of support, project sponsors, and contact information.
When an application is approved, the community organization and Michigan State University's Landscape Architecture Program sign a Project Agreement. After preliminary discussions and publicizing of upcoming meetings, the first community meeting is held in a local, accessible community site, such as a hospital or church.
A series of five meetings is attended by community residents, business owners, and local and state government officials such as city planners and Department of Transportation representatives. At these meetings, faculty and students listen to community members as they create through their words a picture of what they want their community to look like in the next ten years. Throughout this "visioning" process the community's words are recorded on flipchart paper and by note-takers. The Landscape Architecture students, working with faculty, then turn the community's creative input into visual design images, planning design ideas, and written reports that will help the community focus in on ways to redesign and revitalize the neighborhood's built environment.
Throughout an iterative process, which takes place over several months, community members are given several opportunities at various locations around the neighborhood and at libraries and community organization Web sites to provide input and review the changing designs. They review hundreds of images, dozens of design ideas and design boards, and provide hundreds of comments to the Landscape Architecture faculty and students.
Students and faculty then distill the design images into about 30 "before" and "after" images and details of some key locations within the neighborhood, which they show to the community at a final meeting. These final images are designed to reflect the community's consensus on what it wants to look like in ten years.
The intended follow-through of the STDI project is for the community to engage professional design consultants who will further evolve the ideas and prepare the technical studies, plans, drawings, and specifications that turn the project ideas into reality. The community organization involved in the project may ask members of the community to volunteer to work on developing action plans and undertaking various projects.
Back to topImpacts: Effective University-Community Collaboration
General Impact
- Two-way transfer of and increase in knowledge regarding physical environmental design and land use.
In this collaborative process, knowledge and expertise are exchanged between the university community and community participants comprising residents, business owners, and government officials.
Impact on Communities
- Since 2001, the STDI has helped 50 communities in more than 30 Michigan counties plan for brighter futures through improved infrastructures, more inviting commercial districts and attractive living spaces.
- In 2005, the STDI is engaging with six additional Michigan communities in this process.
- Communities develop environmental design ideas related to local issues and opportunities.
- Communities build consensus on what they want to look like in ten years.
Impact on Scholarship
The STDI provides an opportunity for:
- Identifying and undertaking multidisciplinary scholarly research on topics such as effective community participation, and the relationships among the physical environmental design, community social capital, community health, and social policy development and review processes.
- An excellent service-learning opportunity and capstone experience for MSU landscape architecture students.
- Faculty at other universities can draw on the STDI's publications, poster, and Web site information to develop similar programs elsewhere.
STDI Contact Information
Warren J. Rauhe, Director
Small Town Design Initiative
Landscape Architecture Program
Michigan State University
101 UPLA Building
East Lansing, MI 48824-1221
E-mail: rauhe@msu.edu
Phone: 517/353-7880
Fax: 517/353-0006
Web site: http://www.ssc.msu.edu/~la/smalltowns/index.html
Source: Based on materials on the STDI Web site, related documents, input from W. Rauhe, and author's experiences. "STDI Story" written by Catherine Gibson, Contributing Writer/Editor, University Outreach and Engagement.
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