2005 - A Framework for Accessibility: Developing the Business Environment and Walkability of the Rhode Island Metro Neighborhoods

In 2001, District of Columbia (DC) Mayor Anthony Williams convened a Task Force on Transit-Oriented Development (TOD). The Task force identified the Rhode Island Metro Station as one of six transit centers with potential for high-quality development. The DC Office of Planning met with Professor Alex Chen to discuss the possibility of a URSP Studio to identify development issues, concerns and strategies. In Spring, 2005, the studio class toured and met with the community residents and identified "accessibility" as a central concern. The studio team performed a pedestrian audit and business inventory, facilitated community focus groups, conducted a socioeconomic and market analysis of the area, and ordered businesses into threshold groups. Based on the results, the studio team developed recommendations to create a more supportive business environment as well as strategies to create clean, safe, and attractive pedestrian access among residences, businesses and amenities.

Studio Team Members

• Ethan Bindernagel
• Erik Fisher
• Shannon Burnett
• Ben Gribbon
• Otto Clemente
• Julie Mirvis
• Margaret Clune
• Carrie Sanders
• Kenya Edwards
• Jason K. Sartori

Images/Documents

Final Studio Report5.pdf