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Good Urban Design/Urban planning firm in NY

nonarchitect

Does anyone know of one ? Sadly in such a cosmopolitan city, I have yet to find one... They are either stuck in the 70s or is of the James Corner variety...I am looking for something a little more along the Dutch school line..

 
Feb 22, 07 10:56 am
treekiller

move to flanders...

Feb 22, 07 11:39 am  · 
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Philarct

how would you define good?

Feb 22, 07 11:47 am  · 
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nonarchitect

Good urban design firm= think of urban design/planning as part of a larger urban system. Solve problems strategically. (not cosmetically ) Does not spend too much time on renderings,(esp. the water color variety ). Must have at least 40% of employees under the age of 35 !

Feb 22, 07 12:00 pm  · 
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vi_d

check out this firm -

nadc

they are developers and real estate consultants not urban designers but you might get some pointers

the only problem - they just re-launched the website and it does not work well yet

Feb 22, 07 1:18 pm  · 
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mm

you should consider working for the City itself. There are a number of smart, dedicated, and creative young individuals now working for the Department of City Planning and the Economic Development Corporation.

Feb 22, 07 2:06 pm  · 
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nonarchitect

thanks ! i didn't know de lijn has a new york branch !

Feb 22, 07 3:34 pm  · 
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From what I have experienced so far, urban design firms basically take a template of best practices and just take basic statistics and data from the specific community they are consulting for and then do what the public tells them through the work shops. It feels a little bit of a rip off to be honest, because ultimately the best urban planners facilitate what the public tells them into guidelines, and sends it over to the municipalities. I've come to realize that schemes of graduer in revitalizing downtowns, or waterfronts, or whatever are all seeded by the public and then tossed into an urban designer formula which they present pretty pictures and expect municipalities to impliment.

The implimentation process is the difficult part. I just thought I'd voice my opinion on the matter out of turn. Sorry.

Feb 23, 07 2:11 pm  · 
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I don't know much about this firm, but might be worth checking out:

http://www.alexgarvin.net/

Feb 26, 07 1:53 pm  · 
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snooker

fox and fowler

Feb 26, 07 2:38 pm  · 
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