Community Projects

The Process

The project team canvassed neighborhoods in the Gateway Cities and formed steering committees of local residents, who then led every phase of the design process including selection of project sites, project planning, and project construction.

Canvassing

Canvassing involved students going door-to-door in the neighborhood to engage in discussions and share information with community members. Canvassing was used to identify steering committee members and begin a dialogue with residents about their neighborhood’s public spaces.

Building a Steering Committee

Community members who sought leadership roles volunteered to be on steering committees. The steering committee members met with students regularly, led project efforts, organized community meetings, set agendas, and made final decisions.

Community Meetings

Students and steering committee members organized community meetings with neighborhood residents to discuss priorities, ideas, and design proposals. Community meeting activities included breakout group discussions, voting exercises such as “dotmocracy”, and small group charrettes.

Community Walks and Neighborhood Inventory

Community members walked their neighborhoods, engaging in mapping exercises to observe neighborhood conditions and identify issues and concerns related to choosing potential project sites.

Selecting Project Sites

The community identified several potential projects sites. Key sites were then selected and prioritized for immediate community build projects or long-term planning and design projects.

Design Workshops

The community used charrettes to identify priorities and develop design alternatives. The students and steering committee members conducted brief educational sessions to teach design principles to community members, preparing tetragrams and drawings.

The community then evaluated the design alternatives and selected one design for an immediate build project, and subsequent designs for longer-term implementation. For the build project, the community selected materials, colors, plants, and other significant details.

Community Build Days

The extensive design workshops resulted in community projects that could be immediately constructed. The build days were led by community members, with student assistance to ensure that all members could get involved in different tasks.

In many cases, members had high levels of expertise with tools, materials, technique, and know-how that contributed to the success of the projects.

A New Community Space

By leading the build process, residents were physically and emotionally invested—increasing the long-term sustainability of each project.

Planning For the Future

Designs that were not feasible for immediate build were developed into long-term implementation projects. These were projects with larger scopes, longer timelines, and significant budgets. To ensure future implementation of long-term projects, neighbors developed associations, and sought partnerships with local non-profits.