Prepared by: Gianfranco J. Pietrantoni Jeffery Kuhn Matthew Barkus James Oconnor
Alfred State College – Proposed Master Plan
Alfred State College-Hornell Master Plan
Urban Design Analysis and Proposed Plan
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Table of Contents Hornell Resources…………………………………………………….3
Highlights Employment Distribution Population Analysis Funding for the Community
Design Constraints……………………………………………………6
No Defined Datum Points Disconnection Between Main Street and Surrounding Streets Vacancies
Design Objectives…………………………………………………….7
Main Ideas for Change o Slow Down the Town o Create an Environment that is Alive o Allow Pedestrians to Get Lost within the Town
Concepts of Design Design Development
Final Design…………………………………………………………..
North Seneca Street – James Oconnor South Seneca Street / West Main Street – Jeffery Kuhn East Main Street – Gianfranco J. Pietrantoni Connor Street Parking Arena – Matthew Barkus
Alfred State College – Proposed Master Plan
Goals of Design………………………………………………………..8
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Hornell Resources……………………………………………………… Highlights When driving or walking around Hornell, it is evident that there is a rich and varied architectural history in the city. So much in fact that at least ten distinct architectural styles can be viewed on any given street in Hornell. Such architectural character is important to keep in a city such as Hornell to enrich the culture and educate others in the ever changing history of city. Some styles are even on opposite ends of the architectural spectrum ranging from the Hornell Town Hall and the YMCA, which acts as evidence of Hornell’s evolution. However, many of these great buildings are being underutilized with many vacancies occupying most of Main Street and some of Broadway. Without proper care these buildings will begin to deteriorate and lose their architectural value. It is important to maintain and expose people to the rich architectural heritage of Hornell to celebrate its culture and history.
Employment Distribution The employment distribution within Hornell is mainly focused on larger surrounding companies. The intent is to be able to bring back the character of the town through a revitalization of historic Hornell. What we hope to accomplish is to reinvigorate the downtown streetscape in such a way that would attract more local artisans and small business back into Hornell. Currently the main employers of Hornell include;
Wegmans Walmart The Gunlocke Company
Alfred State
Alfred State Alstom Transportation Alfred University
Saint James Mercy Health
Alstom Transportation Alfred University Hornell City School Lowe's
Hornell City School
NYS Department of Lowe's Transportation
NYS Department of Transportation Saint James Mercy Health The Gunlocke Company Walmart Wegmans
Alfred State College – Proposed Master Plan
1. The Gunlock Company-700 employees 2. St. James Mercy Health-671 employees 3. Alfred State College-550 employees
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Population Analysis
Funding for the Community There are many programs that are developed to help fund community based projects. These programs are meant to give back to the communities and also help to create a more beautiful living environment. This can come in a variety of forms and could fund some of the revitalization of downtown Hornell. Some of the programs are as follows but are not limited to; 1. Wegmans Community Giving Foundation- Being one of the larger employers in the area Wegmans could give back to the community. Through the community enrichment program Wegmans helps to enrich store neighbor hoods. Although Wegmans is not directly located in downtown Hornell the revitalization could help to bring in more potential customers and create a centrally located memorial park for soldiers within Main Street.
Alfred State College – Proposed Master Plan
The general population of Hornell has been decreasing year after year. The population in 2013 was 8,473 while the population in 2010 was 8,563. With the population declining it is our goal to bring more people back to Hornell to celebrate its rich culture and by appealing to the younger populace of Hornell a younger generation could be drawn to Hornell and experience all it has to offer.
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2. Walmart Community Giving Foundations- The Walmart giveback foundation has many opportunities for small towns to apply for grants to help enrich the community giving anywhere from 2500 to 250,000.
3. Department of Transportation-Bicycle and Pedestrian Program- The Federal Highway Administration’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Program promotes bicycle and pedestrian transportation use, safety, and accessibility. The Program is responsible for implementing Federal transportation legislation and policy related to bicycling and walking.
5. Department of Transportation-The Transportation, Community, and System Preservation Program- TCSP is a comprehensive initiative of research and grants to integrate transportation, community, and system preservation plans and practices that improve the efficiency of the transportation system of the United States; reduce environmental impacts of transportation; reduce the need for costly future public infrastructure investments; ensure efficient access to jobs, services, and centers of trade; and examine community development patterns and identify strategies to encourage private sector development patterns and investments that support these goals.
6. Department of Transportation-Surface Transportation Program-The Surface Transportation Program is one of the main sources of flexible funding available for transit or highway purposes. STP provides the greatest flexibility in the use of funds. These funds may be used (as capital funding) for public transportation capital improvements, car and vanpool projects, fringe and corridor parking facilities, bicycle and pedestrian facilities, and intercity bus terminals and bus facilities. As funding for planning, these funds can be used for surface transportation planning activities, wetland mitigation, transit research and development, and environmental analysis
Alfred State College – Proposed Master Plan
4. Department of Transportation- Transportation Enhancement Activities- offers funding opportunities to expand transportation choices and enhance the transportation experience through 12 eligible TE activities related to surface transportation, including pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure and safety programs, scenic and historic highway programs, landscaping and scenic beautification, historic preservation, and environmental mitigation. TE projects must relate to surface transportation and must qualify under one or more of the 12 eligible categories.
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Design Constraints……………………………………………………6 Why Plans Fail Master plans fail when; They are unrealistic and unachievable They aren’t supported by business When they can’t adapt to changing times When a poorly managed process lead to ‘planning paralysis’ unnecessarily delaying need action
Design Problems During the early schematic design phases of the project the objectives were to conduct an analysis of the town of Hornell and help to identify key missing features that seem to be apparent throughout the town. Being not native to the area some of the design constraints were very apparent to our group. The three main constraints that we focused on addressing were as follows;
No Centralized Datum Points When passing through Hornell it is evident that there is no defined center. The center of a town or city typically acts as a reference point to which others can be pointed to other monuments are buildings in the surrounding area. Without a distinct center there can be no sense of hierarchy to help guide people through the area and inspire them to want to drive around and explore the town or city. Most centers can also act as a community gathering space for a variety of activities such as fairs, holiday celebrations and performances. While the community involvement in Hornell is already quite high, creating a distinct center of town or a community gathering space can only increase community involvement. A Disconnect Between Main Street and The Surrounding Roadways Main Street Hornell was once the main area for commerce in Hornell. Today many people do not notice Main Street and it has lost much of its significance. Instead of being the center of downtown Hornell it has become just another way to get around. This can be attributed to some of the larger businesses such as Walmart and Wegmans which have taken away from the smaller mom and pop stores. The main street of Hornell should consist of many thriving business and should have a clear divide between its boundaries and the surrounding streets. The main goal for Main Street will to restore the significance of Main Street to create a new center of town. The Vacancies Throughout the Town We noticed many vacancies on our visit which can be seen in a positive and negative light. What it means is that Hornell is ready to expand and meet the needs of a growing city. But what needs to happen is a plan of action to attract more local business into downtown Hornell.
Alfred State College – Proposed Master Plan
1. No Centralized Datum Points or Points of Reference 2. A Disconnect Between Main Street and The Surrounding Roadways 3. The Vacancies throughout the town
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Design Objectives……………………………………………………….. Our group decided to create design parameter to solve the aforementioned issues. The “rules” can be broken down into three major groups. Each group member had to design there area by these rules in order to solve the problems that had been recognized.
Slow Down the Town The idea to slow the pace of the town came up many times. The reason the group feels the need to slow down the town is to attract more people towards main street and allow them to notice more shops and small business. We decided to slow down Main Street by introducing roundabouts into the town, and adding traffic lights for pedestrian crossing. The idea would be an architectural solution, the idea of creating a main street where passersby are drawn into town and can take in the rich culture of Hornell inspired all of our design ideas.
Create an Environment that is Alive This idea arose when our group had taken a trip into downtown Hornell. All the building had a rich character to them yet we felt like the town itself was stagnant. Our idea was to bring life into the town by introducing more green spaces that counteract the hardness and uniformity of all the building. Creating a livable environment is essential to attracting more people into a common area. The simplest way of doing this would be by adding trees and vegetation throughout the town.
Alfred State College – Proposed Master Plan
Allow Pedestrians to Get Lost within the Town What is meant by get lost in the town is not creating a maze of roads that would be impossible to navigate, but to create an environment that make you want to deviate from your path. The idea is to allow more people to explore Hornell and spark curiosity of the town by creating some different visual ques.
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Goals of Design………………………………………………………… Concepts of Design Using our main design objectives and know what we saw as design constraints we tried to apply some proportional concepts to how we would go about revitalizing the city. One of the idea was to utilize the golden triangle to section off portions of the town and create special areas at each intersection:
Application The two problems that we wanted to address by using proportions were; the sporadic layout of the city and the lack of focal points.
The use of both on the site had given two focal points on Main Street and two key areas both on opposite sides of the street. The focal points are side of a golden proportioned square. Both of these points fell on intersections which made the proportions even more relevant. The key areas were found in the areas of the triangle that was formed from these proportions, making Seneca street and the parking lot across from the YMCA. We believe that by using this concept Main Street will be set up better in order to both improve business and pedestrian flow.
Alfred State College – Proposed Master Plan
Both can be solved by the implementation of the golden triangle and golden proportions. The golden triangle is the triangle that can be made by putting the three points in corners of the golden proportions. A golden proportional shape is one that all shapes can be made by the smallest of all the shapes.
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