On Wednesday evening more than 150 people gathered in the program room of the Simsbury Public Library to watch the closing presentation of the charrette to see how the team fused the ideas presented at the hands-on session into an illustrative plan for the town center. Lee Einsweiler presented a summary of the weeks events, which included an economic overview, transportation recommendations, illustrative drawings and “before” and “after” computer visualizations. After the presentation, participants were encouraged to review and offer further suggestions or input on the draft concepts, which were displayed throughout the room.For a copy of the presentation click here.
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I appreciate the amount of time, energy and expertise that has gone into the six day Charrette. I also think the Charrette was an excellent way to involve the citizens of Simsbury and get their input. I agree with the goals as initially set out, and mostly agree on how they were implemented in this first phase of the design process.
ReplyDeleteMy main concern, however, is the amount of open land dedicated to the automobile at the expense of pedestrian areas. This is certainly due to parking access and parking requirements determined by commercial and housing density. For example, all of the housing courtyards are covered in either surface parking or parking decks. I would propose that the amount of open parking be replaced by additional structured parking, either under buildings or covered by pedestrian plazas. Considering the grade difference between Hopmeadow Street and Iron Horse Boulevard, it seems as though more parking could be tucked under buildings and court yards. If this is not economically feasible, then the density of development should be reduced to achieve a more desirable balance between areas paved for the car and areas dedicated to people.
Geoffrey Palmer, Architect