Community Design

Currently many of our communities are struggling to manage the status quo, never mind the resurgence of another development rush. Those caught in the wave of development five years ago are now stuck in an undercurrent of failed real estate ventures and drained town budgets. Others are working hard to keep alive the pulse of the town. In addition, unique to the Shore, our communities are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and an unhealthy Bay. From first blush, this hardly seems an environment where dreams are born.

In response, we will begin community-led processes to design responses to towns’ most critical physical, environmental, economic and social challenges. These design processes will be built on strong partnerships and innovative university-based design studios, built to best support each town with which we work. Our methodologies are rooted in giving voice to diverse communities and recognizing that the social capital brought to the table by residents is as valuable as the creative capital professional planners and designers bring. These innovative processes not only empower residents, they bring communities together to identify and start resolving deep issues. They also empower average residents to tackle new and more complex issues as a cohesive community as we have learned through our pilot Place Work[s]hop project in East New Market and the early stages of our project in Marydel.