Dr. Hemalata Dandekar highlights the studio projects from both BSCRP and MCRP programs during the 2014-15 academic year. Fundamental in the learn-by-doing service-learning pedagogy embraced by the department, the studios help shape students into professionals that are fully with their communities

Dandekar, Hemalata C.

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DigitalCommons@CalPoly

Learning from California: Highlights of CRP Studios 2014/2015 AYHemalata DandekarPhD; Professor and Department Head, City and Regional Planning, Cal PolyDr. Hemalata Dandekar highlights the studio projects from both BSCRP and MCRP programs during the 2014-15 academic year. Fundamental in the learn-by-doing service-learning pedagogy embraced by the department, the studios help shape students into professionals that are fully with their communities.  FOCUS  12SpotlightThe CRP department takes pride in the fact that our stu-dents, through core course work, serve California com-munities while they learn skills that make them invaluable as they enter the planning profession.  We seek out opportuni-ties for our students to work in contexts, and in communities, that otherwise might not have access to the planning analy-sis and visioning that our students can oer. The studio work completed in the past academic year (2014-15) represents some of the work this year, and is available for detailed review on the Cal Poly digital commons. First and foremost, in these “hands-on” eorts is our responsibility to our students, to pedagogic clarity, and the detail of incremental, aggregated accumulation of knowledge and capabilities. Student learn-ing in always at the core of our concern and commitment. We are fortunate to have a very talented group of studio faculty who consistently demonstrate that with good direction and mentoring students deliver creative projects that meet the needs of multiple constituencies.The California communities who hosted our studios were di-verse and spread throughout California. Most upper division undergraduate and graduate masters studios received nan-cial support from the host client-communities. This support is essential in subverting student travel and expenses but also exerting greater accountability and responsibility on super-vising faculty. In the 2014-15 academic year CRP students en-gaged in the following projects in their various studios:Undergraduate Studios: Basic Graphic Skills CRP 201 (Fall 2014), Urban Design Studio 1 CRP 202 (Winter 2015). Professors Umut Toker and Woody Combrink.A series of applied in-studio and out-of-studio assignments in-troduced students to basic graphic communication methods and urban design concepts in CRP 201. Freehand sketching, orthographic drawing, and layouts using traditional drafting techniques, as well as basic computer-based graphic tech-niques were used to explore a site at the west end of the down-town core in San Luis Obispo adjacent to San Luis Creek.Skills acquired in CRP 201 were applied to a small urban design project in CRP 202, in which students articulate the rationale behind their design decisions as they relate to a specic cli-ent program, environmental concerns, regulations and ordi-nances, economic factors, site opportunities and constraints, circulation, and creating a pedestrian friendly environment. This year the work was sited on a full city block at the east end of the downtown core where the major entries of Highway 1 (Santa Rosa Street) and Monterey Streets intersect forming an important gateway to the downtown.Figure 1: Mixed-use block with bus terminal at Santa Rosa and Monterey, San Luis Obispo; CRP 202. By Julia Cannata, Maribel Covarruvias and Tanya Ramirez.■  FOCUS  12 92  ■ SpotlightUndergraduate Studios: Urban Design Studio 2 CRP 203 (Spring 2014). Professors Vicente del Rio and Woody Combrink.Mixed-use development, Avila Beach.Designing a large mixed-use inll project in Avila Beach, a small beach community and popular tourist destination was the task addressed by both sections of CRP 203, taught by Professors Vicente del Rio and Woody Combrink. Located in the heart of town, the site is currently used as a major public parking lot. The students were challenged to assess the problem, study the existing Specic Plan, and propose feasible solutions that accommodate the needs of the local community with those of tourism, while satisfying parking and circulation requirements. Walkability, livable public spaces, complementary land uses, a variety of architectural typologies, strong economic anchors, and linkages to the beachfront were some of the design issues dealt with by the students’ creative solutions.Undergraduate Studio: Urban Design Studio III CRP 341 (Fall 2014). Professor Vicente del Rio; Student Assistant Evan Evange-lopoulos.Highway 46 Corridor Urban Design Plan, Wasco.Through a contract with the City of Wasco’s Planning Depart-ment, this studio of 28 undergraduate BSCRP students en-gaged in an intense ten-week process leading to several for-ward-looking urban design ideas to help guide the city’s future development along the Highway 46 corridor. Traversing Wasco from East to West, Highway 46 is  a major connector between the Central Coast and the Central Valley, but  acts as a divider between the north and the south parts of town. It also suers from a limited two-lane capacity and irregular geometry; lack of sidewalks and bike lanes; limited signalization and danger-ous intersections; the hodgepodge of big-boxes and car-ori-ented land uses; old and unattractive buildings, vacant or un-der-developed parcels;  weak connectivity to the downtown; and very poor identity and character. The studio re-envisioned the Highway 46 Corridor to serve the region and the City of Wasco’s community simultaneously. Taking advantage of the Figure 2: Mixed-use development in Avila Beach; CRP 203. By Nima Kabirinassad and Bryan Cochran.Figure 3 : Highway 46 Corridor Urban Design Plan, Wasco; CRP 341. Class project for the City of Wasco, showing major proposed redevelopment sites and the redesigned highway.thousands of drivers that use the corridor everyday and will-ing to complement Wasco’s downtown uses, the strategic plan proposed by the class will help Wasco’s economy and provide residents and visitors with a livable, walkable, more attractive, and well connected environment. Undergraduate Studios: Community Planning Laboratory I and II CRP 410/411 (Fall 2013 and Winter 2014). Professors Kelly Main and Adrienne Greve.  General Plan Update, City of Sanger.Sanger is located in Fresno County, in California’s Central Valley approximately six miles east of the City of Fresno, the largest city in the county and the fth largest city in California. The Sierra Nevada Mountains, east of the city create a scenic setting for the area as does the Kings River. Highway 180 the nearest major roadway, is approximately one mile north of Sanger and runs in an east-west direction. Sanger populations was 24,270 residents in 2010 and encompassed a land area of just over 5.5 square miles.  A general plan update for the City of Sanger, completed by fourth year undergraduate CRP students, helped strengthen community. The eort was to assist the City of Sanger to develop a strategic plan and become a vibrant, unied, Future WallmartHotel/CasinoFOCUS  12  ■  ■  93community. The plan envisions that in 2035, the City of Sanger will have maintained the small-town feel that so many residents appreciate and have built a strong sense of community. The downtown area will have an economically healthy community and small, local businesses will be promoted (Figures 4 & 5).School site and parkMovie theatreAgricultural HubProfessional SchoolMuseum and PlazaStudent HousingFigures 4 & 5: Images of students working on the General Plan Update or Sanger. Above: helping highschoolers to plan their ideal city. Below: helping residents choose their favorite ideas as developed by the class, outside Sanger’s Walmart.Graduate Studio: Project Planning and Design Studio CRP 553 (Spring 2013). Professor Vicente del Rio. South El Camino Real Urban Design Vision, San Clemente.The City of San Clemente’s Planning Division hired this gradu-ate studio to explore innovative visions for future development and public investment along a one-mile stretch of the South El Camino Real (SECR) corridor that extends to the city’s southern edge. The class conduted extensive studies including eld sur-veys, an internet-based survey, and collected comments from a project website and a public workshop.  The resulting Concept Plan promotes an attractive, safe, and walkable environment; community vitality and connectivity; increased aesthetics and identity-giving features; and opportunities for public and pri-vate investment. The recommendations included: redesigned sidewalks, public art, a specially designed sound-wall (to buf-fer sound from the I-5), the redesign of the existing pedestrian bridge, new pedestrian crossings, parklets, a zoning overlay to encourage vertical mixed use, design guidelines to shape new developments, and three anchor points of concentrated retail. The project is discussed in detail in this issue of FOCUS (see Faculty and Student Work). Graduate Studio: Project Planning and Design Studio CRP 553 (Spring 2013). Professor Kelly Main.Parks and Recreation Master Plan, Woodland.The City of Woodland hired this graduate studio to study and develop a vision for the city’s parks and recreation system for the next 20 years. Developed by the graduate CRP Masters class and employing several surveying and participatory tech-niques, the plan strove to improve the parks, facilities, and pro-grams to accommodate the diverse community in Woodland and oer a variety of social, recreational, and cultural oppor-tunities. The plan emphasizes community values in the needs assessment and recommendations chapters, as well as asserts health, sustainability, public space,connectivity, and scal re-sponsibility for the parks system (Figure 6).Dandekar: Learning from California■  FOCUS  12 94  ■ SpotlightGraduate Studio: Community and Regional Planning Studios CRP 552/554 (Fall 2014 & Winter 2015). Professor Chris Clark.Campus Master Plan Update, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.  Cal Poly’s Master Plan update was the subject of a graduate studio. This work presented a rare opportunity for students to be engaged in the work of setting the University’s course for the next three decades. They were engaged by the profes-sional master planning team to sta and in some instances, or-chestrate public outreach events. Over a thousand individuals participated in these outreach events, giving students ample opportunity to meet with members of the public. The Master Plan will entail over one and a half billion dollars worth of capi-tal improvements to the campus. An additional six thousand students are programmed in the plan to live on campus. It is anticipated that Cal Poly enrollment will grow to approxi-mately 24,000 students. In a culminating eort, the graduate students were invited by President Armstrong to present their plans and policies to him and his executive sta.Graduate Studio: Community and Regional Planning Studios CRP 552/554 (Fall 2014 & Winter 2015). Professor Cornelius Nuwor-soo.Draft General Plan, Wasco.An administrative draft General Plan for the City of Wasco was the focus of Professor Cornelius Nuworsoo’s CRP 552/554 stu-dio, through a contract with the city’s Planning Department. Fourteen graduate students collaborated with residents, plan-ning sta, and city leaders to formulate a development scenar-io to accommodate projected population, jobs and housing needs by 2040. The class engaged in a thorough analysis of the community and the opportunities and constraints for develop-ment through a process that included intense public feedback. The comprehensive update of the City’s General Plan and its twelve elements (Economic Development; Land Use; Circula-tion; Conservation; Housing; Public Facilities; Safety; Health; Open Space; Noise; Community Design, and Air Quality) will help improve the quality of life for residents, provide diverse housing options, generate economic vitality, and enhance Wasco as an attraction and a center for agricultural production in the Central Valley, and service provider for truckers and tour-ists on SR 46. Three distinct alternative growth scenarios for 2040 were explored and the class combined the prefered that captured community desires: (a) for vibrant, walkable, and at-tractive neighborhoods; (b) to preserve the City’s character; (c) to provide an adequate supply of housing; and (d) to increase the number of jobs within the City (Figure 8). The map shows areas focusing on neighborhood commercial centers, on dis-trict commercial centers, and on a regional commercial center to serve residents, travelers, and neighboring communities.Figure 6:  Professor Main’s graduate class conducting a workshop with students from the Pioneer High School in Woodlands. Figure 8:  City of Wasco’s General Plan Update. Preferred Growth Scenario.Figure 7:  Professor Clark (pictured on the left) and his graduate students presenting their work on the Cal Poly’s Campus Master Plan Update to President Armstrong (forth from the right).

Learning from California: Highlights of CRP Studios 2014/2015 AY

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Learning from California: Highlights of CRP Studios 2014/2015 AY

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