We can improve our lives by co-creating our community according to quality design.
Working together, interested citizens, business owners, and community groups can revitalize local business districts and neighborhoods. Many design issues which arise with downtown revitalization, in-fill projects, and new greening initiatives can be resolved cost-effectively by using local illustrative examples.
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Focus
To improve community appearance, I have worked extensively with towns and citizen groups to develop effective sign ordinances and Design Guidelines. In many instances, supplemental guidelines can quickly address new trends and reduce disruptive political issues. I’ve compiled and curated this online library of examples for DePaul’s Chaddick Institute to show examples where I have been personally involved as well as representative "best practices” from municipalities and consultants.
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Involvement
After working with all types of Design Guidelines and Appearance Code updates (including Form Based / Hybrid Code & Design Standards), I founded the Municipal Design Review Network (MDRN). It is an association of approximately 100 towns in the Chicago suburban area which are involved with town planning and architecture, with the goal to develop best practices for municipal planning and design review.