Downtown Largo Placemaking, Branding, and Wayfinding Strategy

What Can Placemaking Accomplish for Downtown Largo? VISUAL AND URBAN DESIGN STRATEGIES Placemaking, along with the related branding and wayfinding strategies in Sections 4 and 5 of this report can help reinforce the design goals of the 2013 Largo Town Center Sector Plan

The 2013 Sector Plan establishes broad goals for the public realm, such as “walkable urbanism” and “environmentally and security conscious design.” The plan also provides a general diagram of future street and open space networks, and outlines general design criteria for street types, open space types, corner buildings and parking garages. It also identifies five locations in the Downtown Largo area for special design treatment. Placemaking can bring these sector plan recommendations to fruition in many ways. • Placemaking elements can help create a sense of human scale and walkability, contribute to the visual cues that help people navigate through downtown, and create a feeling of activity that makes it interesting to explore Downtown Largo. • Special features at key locations can provide a sense of arrival and orientation, help differentiate distinct locations in Downtown Largo , and create memorable landmarks for Largo. • General design standards, such as materials for landscapes, hardscapes, streetscapes and other civic features, can create a sense of continuity and connectivity and convey Downtown Largo’s identity and brand. • Special treatments for the upper levels of parking garages can expand the existing goal to “relegate parking (surface or structured) behind buildings, masking it from the public realm.”

Public art installation, Upper Marlboro, MD Credit: M-NCPPC

AUTHENTICITY, IDENTITY AND MEANING Placemaking can convey stories about Largo’s past and inspire stories about it’s future, tapping into authentic meaning.

Placemaking projects can explore a variety of themes specific to Largo: • Historical and cultural narratives • Ecological and watershed characteristics • Economic factors such as health care, global education, government and professional sports

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Maggie L. Walker Memorial Plaza. Richmond VA; 2021 Source: wikicommons; WomenArtistUpdates

Downtown Largo Placemaking, Branding, and Wayfinding Strategy

Prince George’s County Planning Department

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Downtown Largo Placemaking, Branding, and Wayfinding Strategy

Published on Aug 1, 2023

The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission

Downtown Largo is a vibrant and diverse area poised to become a regional downtown with unique destinations, and a range of transportation modes available to residents and visitors. This Placemaking, Branding, and Wayfinding Strategy seeks to capture the momentum of the transitioning nature of Largo Town Center into a walkable urban core. There are many existing and planned residential, commercial, and industrial branding efforts within and adjacent to the study area, and this strategy can help tie these disparate identities together. The strategy makes recommendations for locations in Downtown Largo to be activated through various means of placemaking. Further, through community engagement, the strategy proposes a ‘brand’ for Largo and explores wayfinding options to improve walkability and increase a sense of place in Downtown Largo.