Master Planning Underway for Early LEED-ND Project

30 May 2009 - 11:00am

A 212-acre urban infill project in Yakima, Washington will be one of the first communities to be planned according to developing LEED-ND (Neighborhood Development) principles.

"The plan integrates multiple uses in a non-zoning-based strategy that encourages diversity and capitalizes on the social equity of adjacent neighborhoods.

The team’s vision also maintains that pedestrians, bicyclists and automobiles must be able to use the site simultaneously; the site’s circulation scheme doesn’t serve one mode at the expense of the others. As a distinctive neighborhood centered on the historic flow of water through the site, the Mill Pond District will accommodate public amenities that draw visitors to downtown Yakima and contribute to the health of hotels, restaurants, small businesses and other private enterprises such as the historic Capitol Theatre."

Source: Seattle Daily Journal Of Commerce, May 28, 2009
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But what can planners do to support the kind of connections between people I just described? One idea is promoting mixed-use places where there are simply more opportunities for people to run into each other and connect.