Small Town Design Initiative
Through the MSU Small Town Design Initiative (STDI) the City of
Hillsdale has been selected to receive design assistance to plan
for the physical revitalization of the community.
Working with students from the MSU L
andscape Architecture Program over a
several month period, community members and organizations were
given the opportunity to provide input about what they
would like the community to look and feel like in ten years.
The completed process will result in approximately 100 digitized
photos of strategic areas of the community showing the "before" and
"after" possibilities which will assist the City in the creation of
a long term visual "master plan" for the community.
Approximately 60 other communities in Michigan have leveraged
the results of the STDI process to undertake small and large scale
community improvement projects ranging from simple community-wide
clean up days to completion of complex infrastructure improvement
projects.
For more information about the STDI, visit the program on the web or contact
Christine Bowman, Economic Development Director at (517) 437-6479
or via email at econdev@cityofhillsdale.org
Design Concepts:
In mid-December, City and community representatives traveled to
MSU in East Lansing where the students presented their initial
design concepts. Large scale, color reproductions of the
designs were made available for public viewing and comment
at City Hall, Hillsdale Community Library, and on the
City website.
Following a public comment period and a community-wide
feedback session in January 2010, the public shared
their likes and dislikes of the design concepts with the STDI
staff and students; this was a joint meeting with the Village
of Jonesville.
The "before" and "after images will be unveiled on
April 29, 2010, 7 PM at the Hillsdale Community
Library. These images will be used as a springboard for
the revitalization of these areas and to provide a framework from
which local assets, both public and private, can be leveraged with
other organizations and /or funding sources, to undertake such
projects.