e-imagining
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e-Imagining Shelburne Road was a project based on a two-miles stretch along route 7 in Shelburne, VT. It was a town planning project that posed the question as to how the town can get more tourists to visit it and actually stay. The town has three attractions that brought revenue and tourists into it but after their short visit they would leave and take their money elsewhere. Lodging was at a minimum and what was there was small and unattractive. The Planning Commission personally requested our suggestions to fix this issue.
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our Districts, a play off “For Our Districts,” was the solution undertaken for this project. Originally called “Amusing Shelburne” the project focused on theme parks and amusement parks. How do these places attract and order their facilities in order to obtain tourists/guests? How do they attract all age groups? These were some of the questions I asked myself.
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fter an analysis of multiple theme/amusement parks a consensus was brought forth. Most of the parks had a basic idea of orienting their features from gentle rides, to the thrill rides, to the roller coaster rides somewhere in the middle. In order to achieve this I broke up the two mile strip into four separate districts. Each one supporting an aspect of the amusement park study.
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rom either the North or South entrance residents/guests would venture into a “gentle” district; these districts were the Housing and Gathering districts, respectively. After it would progress into the “thrill” districts; these were the Recreational district and the tail of the Shopping district, where it was essentially a spot for farmers markets and/or a recreational park area. Finally, the occupants would reach the “roller coaster” district; this was the shopping district which would by far be the busiest and most involved.
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he house district featured affordable housing for lower income families. Each house carried three apartment units for a total of sixty-three families. This area also features the “theme” part of a theme park.
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he recreational district featured hotels, restaurant, tennis courts, a pool, a gym, and beautiful scenery. It also had a trail that led across the railroad to a lovely view of Lake Champlain.
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he shopping district featured businesses, small and big, more restaurants, a park/farmers market area and an homage to Church Street, a shopping street in the adjacent town of Burlington, which has a church at the end of the street.
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he gathering district was a massive park area for community meetings, celebrations, and concerts. It also featured a building for indoor meetings and a stone bridge.
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Fourth Year Fall 2010
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