LA 607/608 Studio Report: North End, Metro Center and South End — Envisioning Neighborhood Investment in Springfield, MA

In Spring 2024, ten second-year students from the UMass Amherst Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning Graduate Urban Design Studio set out to envision livable neighborhoods in Springfield’s North End, Metro Center, and South End. This project aimed to explore the future landscape of Springfield, incorporating the cultural values of these areas and aligning them with the city’s physical vision. By enhancing safety, sociability, walkability, activities, and entertainment, the students examined how these improvements could impact businesses, community activities, and pedestrian interactions in the newly designed areas.

The studio collaborated with the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission (PVPC) under a contract with the City of Springfield to develop Neighborhood Investment Plans for the North End, South End, and Metro Center. The studio’s goals included assisting PVPC with public engagement events to create Springfield Neighborhood Investment Plans (SNIP), synthesizing neighborhood priorities and needs through assessments of former urban design studio reports, surveys, and public engagement, and developing highly communicative visual design typologies tailored to each neighborhood. These design typologies are intended to guide and stimulate future development and revitalization. They also created an inventory map documenting new housing projects in these neighborhoods.

WAY FINDERS, an affordable housing organization with strong connections in Springfield, facilitated the studio's community engagement workshops.  Other significant partners included Springfield’s Office of Planning and Economic Development and the UMass Amherst Design Center in Springfield. These partnerships have provided a solid foundation for the studio’s work.

The studio's final report begins with a short analysis of the overall project area that encompassed the three neighborhoods and almost three square miles. The three neighborhoods and the specific planning and design proposals are described in three chapters. 

Studio Instructor: UMass Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture, Frank Sleegers

UMass Amherst Students: Willow Caputo, Nolan Fonda, Carrie Gotwals, Mia Hammonds, Emily Mergel, Toqa Moustafa, Elise Rossell, Sneha Vithal Shinde, Latoya Smith, Swetha Hiranya Venuturupali

This final report was created and edited by Latoya Smith.