Case Study:Two Connecticut Towns and the Benefits of Master Planning

Main Street has traditionally been considered the center of town activity, and this continued up through the early to mid 1900’s when stores, apartments, and offices faced all along the green.

Gas Station Site Redevelopment

Sidewalks

Signage

Sitting Areas

Other Amenities

Outdoor Dining Decorative

Street Signs and Lighting

Decorative Street Clock

Farmers Market Town Green

improvements

Bed & Breakfasts

Visitors Center

New Development

Marketing

Master Planning Activities

Visual Preference Survey (2000-2001) Community Vision Workshops (2001) UMass Landscape Architecture Class

(2002) Adoption of TCVD Regulation and

Design Review Board (2003-2004) Streetscape Efforts (2003-2008) Parking Analysis (2007-2008)

What is VPS?

A survey tool that uses a combination of images and words.

A means to convey concepts that are not as clear with just words.

A means to discern differences in public opinion on development when shown images rather than responding to words alone.

A means by which we can start a dialogue about what development lo

By measuring their reactionwe can determine acceptability.

Everyone reacts to places all the time…

The Visual Preference Survey is based on the premise that:

Responses to the images were based on:

“How appropriate or inappropriate is an image, both now and in the future, for ….. Rural, Suburban and Urban areas in the

Hartford Region?”

-10 to +10

+8.1

+7.8 +7.8

+8.0

Rural

UrbanUrban

Urban

-4.4 -2.7

-2.5 -2.1

Rural

UrbanRural

Urban

Suffield, a rural /agricultural town zoned for

suburban growth.

Suffield, a rural /agricultural town zoned for

suburban growth.11Recommendations for Rural Areas

Workshop Introduction• There will be two mapping exercises in the workshop. The first tasks in this workshop

will use the existing base map of the entire town. The second portion of the workshop will focus on the town center.

• These maps will include the following data:

Existing roads, streets, and highways

Existing Zoning

Topography

Environmental constraints

Water

Wetlands

Steep slopes/rock out cropping

Some existing building footprints and land uses

• There are several tasks to be completed by the group. Each task is related to a series of rated images from the survey.

Applying the Results

Fill this in with trees

The hope and dreams of Suffield!

+4.3 (sd 5.2) +4.5 (sd 5.0)

+4.8 (sd 5.0) +4.2 (sd 5.0)

Not

allowed

Town Center Design Options – Existing Conditions

Town Center Design Options – Scheme 1/4

UMass Study

Landscape Architecture Program

Class project with Professor Supervision

Community Workshop Models and Power Point

Presentations

Town Center Village District Village District Legislation Village District has design

standards Encourage mixed use Relax set-backs Shared parking

Design Review Board

Streetscape Efforts

$1.1 million dollar project Multi-year Goals

New traffic signal Safer crosswalks Complete pedestrian network Traffic calming More attractive landscaping On-street parking

Streetscape Efforts

Streetscape Challenges

$$$ Consensus DOT issues Appropriate

Oversight/Inspection Keeping the businesses afloat

Parking Analysis

Wesley Marshall, P.E., UConn Base mapping Site tour/photo log Review of Suffield Zoning Regs Comparison to traditional and

contemporary business areas Recommendations for Suffield

Suffield Town Center Village

Avg. Usage

Managed & Organized Parking

Traditional Sites

Contemporary Sites

Vs.

> 55% Shared Municipal Parking

> 95% Privately Owned Parking

Parking Used, Provided, & Required

TraditionalSites

ContemporarySites

Suffield

Next Steps

What We’ve Learned

Importance of photo documentation

Marketing efforts Staffing On-going source of funds Implementation framework Buy-in from Officials Continuous process