Urbsworks, Inc is a Portland-based urban design firm specializing in the design and implementation of community plans. Founded in 1995, the firm’s portfolio consists of master plans, infill and redevelopment strategies, community visions, town plans, zoning and design codes, and the integration of transit and transportation facilities into communities. Urbsworks is committed to projects that emphasize pedestrian and transit-oriented development patterns that meet the economic, social, and cultural needs of each community in which it works. Urbsworks’ projects support sustainable development practices that balance the seemingly conflicting demands for habitat and natural resource protection with the vibrancy of urban living, and demonstrate that there are viable alternatives to the outward expansion of cities and suburbs.
Eugene City Commission endorses design plans
"The Eugene Planning Commission unanimously endorsed proposals Monday from University students and consultants to continue working on designs to turn Franklin Boulevard into a multiway boulevard."
"The project's two consultants, David Evans and Associates, Inc. and Urbsworks, Inc., proposed the multiway boulevard as a way to lead to Franklin Boulevard's rejuvenation by encouraging mixed-use development and making the area more friendly to pedestrians and bicyclists."
Read the full article in the Oregon Daily Emerald.
Four more awards for the Lloyd Crossing Sustainable Urban Design Plan:
In addition, on November 8th, 2004, the Lloyd Crossing Sustainable Urban Design Plan was awarded one of two Commendation awards in the AIA Honor Awards. The jury said:
"We admire the environmentalist vision here, and the range and diversity of the research ambition of this study - an unusual and hopeful direction that comprehensively addresses local development considerations and their global impact."
To see or download the Lloyd Crossing Sustainable Urban Design Plan document, go to: http://www.pdc.us/pubs/inv_detail.asp?id=332&ty=17
Urbsworks, Inc. recently completed the mixed-use, mixed income housing master plan, main street and school siting study for Portland’s Housing Authority. New Columbia, the Hope VI (HUD) redevelopment of Portland’s Columbia Villa.
For more information about the extensive healthy, resource-wise housing and site design visit http://www.hapdx.org/newcolumbia/sustainability.html
See why New Columbia is shaping up to be what some call "the ultimate green streets development."
The vast majority of street design engineers rely on state and national design guides that often prevent the creation of walkable streets. What is being done to change the national standards so they better address the issues of context-based thoroughfare design?
Now the the first-ever engineer-endorsed design guidelines for major urban thoroughfares begins to answer this question. The joint CNU/ITE document: "Context Sensitive Solutions in Designing Major Urban Thoroughfares for Walkable Communities," represents 2 years of partnership between the Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU) and Institute of Engineers (ITE). Released as a draft "recommended practice" from ITE, it also represents just one of the initiatives realized by the CNU Project for Transportation Reform, a task force co-chaired by Marcy McInelly, AIA and Dr. Norman Garrick.
The 255-page manual can be downloaded from ITE at http://ite.org/bookstore/RP036.pdf or purchased at a member discount from CNU http://cnu.org/store
On June 2nd, 2006, Marcy McInelly moderated a session at the 14th annual Congress for the New Urbanism to hear from developers and engineers about how the new manual will transform their practice. Called "ITE Urban Thoroughfares Project: Practitioners’ Perspective," panelists included John Anderson, VP of Planning and Design, New Urban Builders, Inc; Lucy Gibson, Vice President of Smart Mobility, and Norman Garrick, Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Connecticut Transportation Institute, University of Connecticut.