The Planning Patrol

Micheal Schaller: Equity

Equity is one of the best elements for a neighborhood because it increases the value of the land, prevents crime, and this makes citizens happy. Equity could also reach a point by attracting people with spending money that could help improve multiple other aspects and ultimately improve the quality of the neighborhood.  Adding parks and recreation will improve activeness in the neighborhood and can also bring the community together. Extra spending money acquired from restaurants and other shops could go towards improving the the parks and other roads. Nice roads and recreations will also be a good element in attracting new members to the community

Timothy Cowans: Environment

The natural environment plays a major role in urban planning and development.  The environment of the land will determine how the city is set up and the architect of buildings.  If a city is near large bodies of water the city needs to plan around managing the water levels to prevent flooding.  Or if the town is a small town in the mountains the roads and houses will have to be set up differently than say a flat plains environment.  The environment also plays a role in modern cities because there is now a focus on incorporating the natural environment in the cities.  Green spaces and parks are playing a larger role in developing cities to make the city more lively and beautiful. The environment plays an integral role in city planning.

Trent Tackett: Design

In terms of city planning, I believe that design is very important and essential to creating a livable city. With the growth of urbanization, design lets city planners maximize the efficiency of a city, suburban  and rural areas. The design of a certain area should correlate with the quality of life, while being aesthetically pleasing. Many cities do not fully prioritize the look and design of the city. What they do not know is that a city that looks visually appealing can attract a more innovative workforce and more investors that could benefit the future of the city. Design directly correlates with economy because if the city does not have a lot of finances then the city planners cannot afford to make design changes to benefit the city.

Our ideal Neighborhood

Our ideal neighborhood is very much inspired by a typical American suburb.  This suburb we designed would most likely be found in a wealthier part of the state, like Dublin or New Albany or any equivalent of those.  So the economy is an element that certainly plays a role in our design of our neighborhood.  Our neighborhood features a pretty simple oval design with houses along the perimeter and also houses in the cul de sac.  The cul de sac design is inspired by the early neighborhood designs of the balloon neighborhood.  Our neighborhood also features stores in the front both for people in the neighborhood and people driving by.  Also included in our design is public parking for the stores and also for the park.  We have different levels of housing for people with different financial situations.  In our deisgn we decided to have nicer houses in the back of the neighborhood and cheaper single family homes in the middle, and an apartment complex at the front of the neighborhood near the stores.  We also include a stream and a few ponds to help deal with draining water in the neighborhood, which is both an environmental element and a design element.  One of the biggest features of our neighborhood is the park in the middle of the neighborhood, which uses the design of open spaces and public parks that have become prevalent in city development.  Building on that we also include a community garden where people could plant fresh vegetables. We would also encourage alternate forms of transportation by having bike paths and side walks along the road.  We also use technology in our design by featuring automatic street lights that will sense light and turn on when the light level is low enough.