Site Inventory

The urban form indicates the built structure such as building density, infrastructure layout, and building relationships. In these maps, the remnants of the past industry are visible in the remaining structures, while the streets show the previous layout of a dense residential neighborhood.

The topography is strongly related to the design of a site. In these maps, there were a variety of factors to consider. Notice how even the street grid bends and forms around the topography. In the elevation map, the height of Troy Hill and the disconnection the slope creates becomes noticeable. While in the hillshade map, the sun provides a basic understanding of how the sun will shade the site, and in turn, illuminate parks, buildings, and streets.

This section outlines the current & permitted uses on the site. Most of the site is considered to be used commercially, but it is zoned mostly as River Industrial Mixed Use. This zoning classification is meant for previous riverfront industrial land that has the capabilities to diversify its uses.

In these transportation maps, the tendency for vehicle first design is striking. The site is surrounded by high-volume highways, with limited alternative transportation options on the site itself. However, it receives an average walkability score due to its relatively flat landscape. This indicates that it has the potential to be a very walkable neighborhood given the correct infrastructure.

Within the site, the only greenspace is the riverfront multiuse trail. There are no other dedicated public spaces in the River Avenue District. This is interesting, because a very large portion of the site is in the floodzone. This factor was undoubtfully one of the reasons for the slow decline of building density in the site, and is a major factor in any new development

After reviewing the research, these are the potential challenges & advantages that I observed to be critical. The advantages of the site were items to emphasize in my design, challenges were items to address, and potential were items to improve upon through design.