The Community Design Collaborative has had the opportunity to explore walkability through its work with community-based nonprofits. Here’s a sampling of how we’re is helping neighborhoods rethink their streets and sidewalks, enliven their built environments, and enhance connectivity.

Bache Martin Elementary School/Fairmount CDC
Conceptual Master Plan for Exterior Improvements
A community task force of parents, teachers, students, neighbors, and government agencies collaborated on a master plan to connect two buildings, create green school yards, and improve surrounding streets and sidewalks. A key element of the plan is a crosswalk that calms traffic and collects stormwater.
Value of Services: $35,000

Nicetown CDC
Gateways and Bridges: Conceptual Design for a Neighborhood Center
This corridor improvement plan offers design strategies for bringing vibrancy to several blocks of Germantown Avenue by connecting key landmarks and community assets including the Roosevelt Expressway Bridge underpass, Nicetown Park, Edward T. Steele Public School, and the Wayne Junction train station.
Value of Services: $26,500

Friends of Marconi Plaza/Lower Moyamensing Civic Association
Conceptual Master Plan for Park Improvements
Traffic calming is a key aspect of this conceptual plan for a large neighborhood park in South Philadelphia. Landscape improvements recommended for the park would allow park users to safely cross busy South Broad Street, which bisects the park.
Value of Services: $34,500

Park(ing) Day Philadelphia
Pallet Park
Temporary projects can be a great way to try out new ideas for walkability. This mini-park was designed by Collaborative volunteers and built from recycled pallets for Park(ing) Day, a multi-city event that encourages people to re-imagine meter parking spots as green public space.
Value of Services: $27,000

Roxborough Development Corporation
Conceptual Design for 6170 Ridge Avenue Park
A driveway between shops was redesigned as an inviting link between a public parking lot and the Ridge Avenue Commercial Corridor in Roxborough. The new connection is enlivened by a curving pedestrian path, planting beds, a sitting area, and a mural.
Value of Services: $40,000

"We want to create momentum for revitalization by engaging members of the community in the design process," says Robin Kohles, Project Associate at the Collaborative.

The Community Design Collaborative will be part of the 17th Annual Greater Philadelphia Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service on Monday, January 16 at the Girard College Armory, 2101 South College Avenue. The Day of Service event offers Philadelphians a central place to volunteer or access services on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

The Collaborative is hosting a design advice booth where businesses and residents of Fairmount, Brewerytown, and Francisville will receive one-on-one design consultations. Architects and landscape architects will on hand from 9 AM until noon on January 16 to advise neighborhood business and home owners on how to improve their storefront facades, home exteriors, or front yards. The advice booth is a partnership between the Community Design Collaborative, Fairmount CDC, Brewerytown CDC, and Francisville Neighborhood Development Corporation.

The architects and landscape architects staffing the advice booth on MLK Day are offering their design services pro bono as volunteers of the Collaborative.  “The Collaborative wants to celebrate the contributions of the design professionals to a national volunteer effort… and create momentum for revitalization by engaging members of the community in the design process,” says Robin Kohles, architect and coordinator of the MLK Design Day of Service, “We’ll be fielding questions about maintenance and renovation strategies, building and plant materials, historic preservation, waterproofing, energy efficiency, and more.”

Business and home owners located within the service areas of the three community development corporations are eligible for a consultation. Participants must bring one or more photographs of their property to the consultation. No pre-registration is required.  Each consultation will provide an action plan, sketch, and list of resources to help businesses and residents carry out improvements to their stores and homes.