dilapidated buildings in close proximity to the railroad , to get to their new homes in their new subdivision .
But where there were challenges , the City and Ayres saw opportunities .
“ We said ‘ We ’ ve got to look at all benefits of The Villages and figure out how to turn those into some positive things in downtown . How could that complement our community redevelopment area ?’ ” McHugh said .
Working closely with the City ’ s staff , its residents , and stakeholders , the Ayres team created a future land-use map , evaluated the transportation system , and examined multi-modal connections . They also identified key improvements to public spaces , focusing on the railroad corridor and adjacent land uses , examining and suggesting improvements to parking availability , and identifying key sites that could be pivotal for long-term downtown redevelopment .
“ We have to think of all of this in an integrated way so we ’ re all aligned ,” Panicker explained , referring to the multiple disciplines involved in the project ’ s development – transportation , planning , and landscape architecture among them . “ We ’ ve all got to speak to each other so whatever configuration with the street needs to happen is designed in context with all of these other things . How does it fit in the larger context and meet the client ’ s objectives and aspirations ?”
McHugh said the City is now focusing on three offshoot projects that are moving forward as a result of Ayres ’ master planning work – a linear park project in the downtown , a new parking garage , and the redevelopment of 8,000 square feet of commercial retail space .
“ All of these elements are coming together in a very uniform theme , and that ’ s thanks to the anchor of the downtown master plan based on Ayres ’ recommendations ,” he said .
An Integrated Approach
Chris Silewski , a landscape architect at Ayres , agreed , noting that , when it comes to cross-discipline roles and responsibilities “ we speak sort of the same language , but we all have different areas of focus .” Transportation engineers , for instance , focus on optimizing vehicular circulation , pedestrian safety , and multi-modal
14 | TRENDS Ingenuity , Integrity , and Intelligence .