After three months of online comment and four public meetings, the City of Alpharetta, Georgia has revised and detailed a plan to reinvigorate its Downtown with the help of Urban Collage, Inc. In May, the City published a Downtown Concept for public comment. Based on community interest, the City hosted a series of public meetings and enlisted Urban Collage to facilitate the meetings and revise the plan based upon public input. The updated plan was presented on July 21, 2011 to a full house at Alpharetta City Hall. City Council has placed a $29 Million bond referendum on the November ballot to support implementation of the plan.

The Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) has formally grandfathered the recently completed Georgetown / North Shallowford Master Plan into its nationally recognized Livable Centers Initiative (LCI) program. The plan joins the Dunwoody Village Master Plan – also prepared by Urban Collage – and qualifies the City for a select pot of transportation related implementation funds. Congratulations to the City of Dunwoody and the community participants who worked so hard on the plan!

The Bluegrass Community and Technical College Newtown Pike Campus Master Plan has been awarded the Professional Merit Award by the Kentucky Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects (KYASLA). A multi-disciplinary team led by EOP Architects, including Urban Collage and M2D Design Group, explored the redevelopment of the 65-acre former Eastern State Mental Hospital. The historic nature of the site as well as its context within Downtown Lexington was considered while planning for a sustainable campus and environs.

HUD recently announced the first planning grant recipients of the groundbreaking Choice Neighborhoods Initiative, or CNI.  Out of 119 planning submissions, only 17 were awarded grant funds to conduct comprehensive and inclusive neighborhood planning around public housing and HUD-assisted communities.  Urban Collage is honored to have contributed to the success of teams in Atlanta, Georgia; Norfolk, Virginia; and Wilmington, North Carolina.

For more information on the CNI program and award specifics click here…

For the last three years, Urban Collage has assisted the Neighbors of Montclair, a historic neighborhood adjoining the University of Kentucky, in developing a “Neighborhood Design” overlay to protect its unique character.  Work included documenting each property and home in the neighborhood, facilitating community meetings and developing draft design standards that have now been formalized into the new Montclair ND-1 overlay district, adopted by Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council on January 27.