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Downtown ReGeneration ​

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My current position at the ​University of Kentucky is funded through a 3 year Downtown Revitalization Grant funded by the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC). The most innovative part of this grant is the inclusion of design and planning to downtown revitalization. In essence, if a downtown doesn't look like the current residents don't care about it, then why would an outside company come in to invest in it themselves? 

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One of the quotes that guides my work is that "the public realm is the physical expression of that community's values." Understanding the financial realities of many rural communities, I've structured my work to be as accessible as possible. The diagram above is the Investment Recommendations Map from the Downtown Plan for Manchester. Following the extensive analysis of their downtown, the green area shown above is where the character of downtown is the strongest and is where any investments in downtown have the highest likelihood of supporting downtown revitalization. The yellow areas are secondary and orange are the tertiary areas where investments would support economic development. Creation of this map seeks to focus investments and provide a guide for them. 

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