Downtown Improvement Plan – Carson City, NV

Overview

A newly constructed beltway (2005) around the city presented an opportunity to transform a state highway back into a bustling multimodal downtown core. A multi-day public design charrette was conducted to create the streetscape and zoning vision with the general public. The main deliverables were a series of 3D visualization including a “fly-through” movie and real-time model that both the economic development and planning department used for years to court and vet development proposals.

Challenge

Maintain the economic viability of the existing downtown businesses during construction and improve after the conversion of the existing four lane highway back into a “Main Street”.

Given the scale of change, it was critical to honestly engage with the public and help them to lead this effort in such a way that the final design concepts would have broad enough support to carry the preferred alternative forward until construction founds could be secured.

Outcome

This streetscape redesign and associated zoning spurred a significant amount of redevelopment and allowed Carson City to secured the necessary constriction funds (2015) to implement the community vision.