Sustainable Olmsted

Vandergrift, PA was a company town designed by Frederick Law Olmsted in 1895. Today, the town is looking back to Olmsted's original plan to improve the town's sustainability.

1 minute read

December 23, 2009, 10:00 AM PST

By Tim Halbur


"The town still uses Olmsted's original layout, which some believe is reason enough to visit Vandergrift. '[Olmsted] designed Vandergrift, 35 miles northeast of Pittsburgh, with no right angles, instead following the curves of the river. He also used curving paths to blur movement among pedestrians and hedges to buffer commercialism. Street corners and the buildings on them were rounded. Parks dotted the hilly landscape, and the town was walkable.'"

Tuesday, December 22, 2009 in ASLA's The Dirt blog

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