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Oshkosh City Council set out to renovate its historic downtown and attract viable businesses; To that end, he thought about designing and carrying out a visually surprising urban remodeling plan. The City hired award-winning urban planning and economic development firm Houseal Lavigne Associates to “Imagine Oshkosh,” the city's core investment strategy for historic downtown Oshkosh and surrounding areas. Houseal Lavigne D model for urban planning The urban project that Houseal Lavigne developed for the historic downtown plan of Oshkosh was a success; The attractive visuals garnered community support and helped secure the Oshkosh Corporation headquarters and the home of the Milwaukee Bucks. The constitution of the commercial company and the franchise is an enormous benefit for the city , because it promotes economic growth, job creation, civic pride and a sense of community. Nik Davis AICP, Principal, and Devin Lavigne FAICP, Principal and.
Co-Founder of Houseal Lavigne, spearheaded the remodeling plan and walked us through the design process. Houseal Lavigne prioritized the coastline Houseal Lavigne prioritized the waterfront to bring the community and jobs closer to this attraction. What was your inspiration for the historic downtown Oshkosh plan? Early in the process, it was difficult to imagine how a lively stadium and bustling Kazakhstan Phone Number List commercial area would replace the deteriorating site. The industrial waterfront had wasted land and many abandoned buildings from a former furniture production center. Over time, automation and local changes decreased production and the area became obsolete. We knew we wanted to prioritize the waterfront to bring the community and jobs closer to this attraction. Our team created a plan to organize the space into different functional areas, with a unique character, design guidelines, development priorities and a strategy for each district. What was the plan to attract the Milwaukee Bucks? We wanted to show the Milwaukee Bucks that the wasted site was a diamond in the rough.
Our strategy was to highlight the unique character of the area and celebrate its historic architecture and industrial past. Sports arenas require a lot of square footage, and we spent five days creating space planning diagrams and site plans to show how all the buildings would complement each other. The redevelopment plan included basketball practice facilities, a larger arena and a ,-square-foot office building. Our team subsequently transitioned to SketchUp to derive vertical structures. “SketchUp allowed us to quickly iterate and bring the concept of space plan diagrams to D buildings.” One criticism of urban planning is that proposals are often forgotten in a council official's files. How do they get projects built? Encourage community acceptance! It's hard for people to envision something different for an area of the city that has always been a specific way. Our job is to help them see the possibilities without creating expectations about the exact design. If you create a design that is too specific, the community may be disappointed if it does not have the precise aesthetic or desired service. To stay in a bird's-eye view perspective, we produce models and visuals that are not too realistic or detailed. For example, we use standard parking rates for each building of an estimated size, but we do not calculate the exact number of parking spaces needed. This flexibility allows us to return to the parking lot later to add green space or a pedestrian path as the concept evolves. By avoiding details, you can push the boundaries of what's feasible without overpromising. You need to be careful. We create realistic expectations of what will happen and allow people to see a range of possibilities.
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