Enhancing the liveability of two near-campus neighborhoods in Ypsilanti, Michigan
This project was completed as part of a graduate planning studio. The overarching question was
“How can near campus neighborhoods be made sustainable, unique, vibrant, stable, and safe?”
Students specifically applied this question to two near-campus neighborhoods in Ypsilanti: the midtown and riverside neighborhoods.
They deconstructed the above primary question in the following ways:
- How can neighborhoods evolve as the site for University Community Engagement?
- How can planners preserve, enhance and expand a neighborhood’s residential environment?
- How can student rental housing be better integrated into neighborhoods so as to contribute to the neighborhood being a cohesive unit?
- How can neighborhoods serve as sites for the production of social capital?
- How do you specifically plan for social interactions in neighborhoods that are constantly in flux?
- How can neighborhoods be better planned to enhance inter and intra neighborhood connectivity?
- How can planners enhance the uniqueness and diversity of neighborhoods while at the same time ensuring that the neighborhood unit functions well within the city as a whole?
- How can we “sustain” neighborhoods over the long-term?
- How can planners encourage local, neighborhood centered economic development?