CULTIVATING CARROLTON

Located halfway between Louisville and Cincinnati, Carrollton is a small Kentucky river town of 3,895 people. Like many small towns in America, Carrollton is faced with environmental, social, and economical challenges. What was once a recreational hot-spot, is now a declining city defined by neglected green space, lack of community, and vacant storefronts.

Unlike other struggling small towns, Carrollton has a prime location adjacent to many unique features such as General Butler State Resort Park and the confluence of the Ohio and Kentucky Rivers. This studio project explored various data collection techniques to ultimately discover that the lack of connection to these unique features plays a vital role in Carrollton’s decline. Instead of viewing the city’s lack of connection as a restraint, improvement upon this was seen as an opportunity for the future growth of Carrollton. The proposed design improves upon these connections while also creating new nodes of activity, education, and income.

Learning Outcomes:

» Understanding design process for urban design scale

» Collaborating and dividing work

» Utilizing community input for the proposed design

» Improving skills in Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, and GIS