By Nicholas Foster, MICD Program Manager
August 13, 2007

In partnership with Bank of America, the Mayors’ Institute on City Design (MICD) sponsored its 39th National Session in Providence (RI) July 9-11. Hosted by Providence Mayor David Cicilline and the city, the event was attended by Lansing (MI) Mayor Virg Bernero; Santa Rosa (CA) Mayor Bob Blanchard; Altoona (PA) Mayor Wayne Hippo; Chattanooga (TN) Mayor Ron Littlefield; Richmond (CA) Mayor Gayle McLaughlin; Stratford (CT) Mayor James Miron; Little Rock (AR) Mayor Mark Stodola; and Lawrence (MA) Mayor Michael Sullivan. Experts in architecture, urban planning and development joined the mayors in a discussion, offering advice on how best to capitalize on redevelopment opportunities in the various cities.

The session is the fourth MICD national session sponsored by Bank of America. The bank has a sustained commitment to America’s communities – pledging $750 billion in loans and investments for community development over the next ten years. Among its priorities are affordable housing, economic development, and urban redevelopment projects.

The 39th National Session commenced with a walking tour of downtown Providence, led by Cicilline, showcasing many of the city’s recent redevelopment projects. Following the tour, a reception and dinner were held at the Peerless Lofts in downtown Providence – an adaptive reuse project that exemplifies the best of downtown living. Paul Brophy, founder of Brophy & Reilly LLC, gave the keynote lecture for the evening. Discussing national demographic trends and the need for cities to respond, Brophy stressed that mayors are ultimately responsible for positioning their cities as healthy, livable cities – particularly by means of good planning and design.

Bernero opened the working meetings of the session by discussing the current redevelopment trends throughout downtown Lansing and the vision to capitalize on additional redevelopment opportunities, which could bring even more activity to the state’s capital city. Focusing on two city-owned parcels, Bernero and the resource team explored opportunities for best utilizing the sites and methods for integrating the projects into the surrounding built environment.

Like many satellite cities across the US, Lawrence has experienced an influx of residents from surrounding communities, and as a result is converting much of its former infrastructure – primarily former mill buildings – into middle and upper-class housing. Sullivan presented a proposal to redevelop Essex Street, a principal thoroughfare located in the heart of the downtown grid, as a means to both connecting the new housing stock with the existing city grid in addition to rejuvenating the local economy.

McLaughlin briefed the participants on her city’s attempt to redevelop a major arterial with the intent to make it both safer and more user-friendly for local residents while bolstering residential and retail uses along the corridor. The resource team identified many design and planning obstacles that plague Cutting Boulevard and offered creative solutions for overcoming those hurdles.

Little Rock has witnessed the success of the River Market area of its downtown and now it looks to build upon that success and use it as a catalyst for redeveloping the adjacent sections of downtown area. Stodola engaged the participants in a discussion about the best methods for working with single owners along two of the city’s underutilized corridors in an attempt to capture residual activity along the River Market area and evenly disperse it throughout the city.

Blanchard opened the second day of the session by presenting the plans to create a downtown Civic Center Complex in addition to locating a new site for a larger, modernized city hall. The mayor engaged in a discussion with the resource team that identified various financing strategies for the Civic Center Complex in addition to brainstorming potential reuse scenarios for the existing city hall.

Under the leadership of Hippo, Altoona has developed a targeted reinvestment strategy, in an attempt to revitalize its downtown. In his presentation to the resource team, the mayor acknowledged that the fundamental component to building a strong community was through the inclusion of modern, mixed-use urban living centers. Resource team members complemented the concerted efforts of the mayor and his role in working with the Altoona Visioning Committee for identifying the need to densify the downtown core.

Miron presented a proposal to redevelop a large under-utilized site that could bring jobs, housing and greenspace to Stratford. Due to the monumental scale of the land area involved, numerous resource team members suggested that the mayor carefully guide the creation of a master plan for the site in a manner that would allow multiple stakeholders to solicit a breadth of proposals, as to realize the sites full potential.

Chattanooga is seeking to continue its success at drawing visitors who wish to experience the city’s newly-established museum row and adjacent waterfront. As Littlefield outlined in his briefings, the city is hoping to capture lost opportunities across from downtown, in and around the Moccasin Bend National Park by enhancing the connectivity between downtown Chattanooga and the park. Resource team members applauded the mayor for his visionary planning and leadership.

Joining the mayors at this national session were resource team members: Dena Belzer, President of Strategic Economics; Paul Brophy, Founder of Brophy & Reilly LLC; Rick Chellman, Founder of TND Engineering; David Dixon, principal-in-charge of planning and urban design at Goody Clancy & Associates; Jim Grauley, Real Estate Executive at Bank of America’s Community Development Corporation; Ted Landsmark, President of the Boston Architectural College; Jeff Lubell, Executive Director of the Center for Housing Policy; Anne Tate, Professor of Architecture and Director of City'state, the Urban Design Lab at the Rhode Island School of Design; Nadir Tehrani, Principal at Office dA; and Barbara Wilks, Founder of W Architecture and Landscape Architecture.

The Mayors’ Institute on City Design, a partnership program of the National Endowment for the Arts, the American Architectural Foundation, and the United States Conference of Mayors, celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2006. To date, the program has assisted 737 mayors in transforming their communities through good urban design.