Landscape Architect and Specifier News (LASN) takes an annual survey of the work Landscape Architects do. This past year, the survey revealed that 40% of landscape architecture firms were actively designing streetscapes. The importance of improved streetscape design has proven to have positive impacts for the city and community, which was reflected in a report from the New York City Department of Transportation in which they examined seven case studies of new streetscape designs and their economic impact. The results of their research revealed that these projects increased the economic activity of the surrounding businesses by approximately 48%.
https://tinyurl.com/NY-Streetscapes
For this Streetscapes issue, LASN received dozens of great submissions, and because we were only able to pick a handful of projects for full features, we decided to highlight some of the honorable mentions. You will also be able to find these projects, and all properly submitted projects, at LandscapeArchitect.com
**For submittal guidelines, go to LandscapeArchitect.com, scroll over "Resources" and click the "Submit Editorial" button.

 

Convention Center Expansion and Streetscape, Columbus, Ohio
By MKSK
The Franklin County Convention Facilities Authority (FCCFA) underwent an expansion of the Greater Columbus Convention Center in Downtown Columbus. MKSK provided the Landscape Architectural site development as part of multidisciplinary teams for the project. The Expansion Project is composed of two parts. Part 1 is the Convention Center North Expansion which included the redevelopment of the streetscape along Goodale Boulevard. Part 2 is the High Street Eastside Improvements, Arnold Plaza redevelopment, Connector Improvements (Ohio Center Way), and Greenwall, bounded by High Street and the north edge of the Hyatt Regency hotel site on the south. The project utilized and further advanced the preliminary design as part of the City of Columbus Short North Streetscape redevelopment project.
https://tinyurl.com/5n8rx3bc

Paramount Boulevard Streetscape, Paramount, California
By Studio One Eleven
This $3.6 million streetscape renovation for the City of Paramount re-envisioned the character of their downtown district to create places for people, incorporate sustainable landscaping and engineering practices, modernize the local transit system, enhance lighting and wayfinding, and improve the safety of pedestrians. he project required that the design team and the City perform a full analysis of the existing conditions, to understand the uses, engineering, and mobility requirements of cars, buses, and pedestrians in the public right of way. The team also developed a strategy of partnering with neighboring properties to encourage improvements that would support an identity for downtown Paramount and increase customer trips to the
commercial tenants.
https://tinyurl.com/4622ztv4