Plan Downtown Malden 2013

Plan Downtown Malden (find the full document here) is a project of the Second Semester Core Urban Planning Studio at the GSD. In February 2013, studio members met with government officials and local community and business leaders, and performed some 140 hours of direct observation of conditions in downtown Malden. The group also studied previous plans and reports dealing with downtown Malden. Studio members reached out to a variety of stakeholder groups, including seniors; Arabic-speaking, Chinese-speaking, and Haitian residents; teens; and downtown Malden business and property owners. The public outreach process also included a survey of visitors to downtown Malden, an online survey that yielded 482 responses, and a nighttime safety audit. Comments on the Plan Downtown Malden Facebook page and a number of Malden Patch articles were even taken into account. In all, more than 1,000 Maldonians spoke out through in-person surveys and at 22 public events.
The studio made recommendations in six areas of planning concern: urban design, redevelopment opportunities, housing balance, transportation, open space, and downtown activities. The Plan Downtown Malden project has a few general and overarching principles:
–        Build on downtown Malden’s history and current assets
–        Foster local businesses and economic growth
–        Improve accessibility and circulation in downtown Malden
–        Make Malden a regional destination

Second Semester Core Urban Planning Studio
Instructors: Ann Forsyth, Dan D’Oca, Kathryn Madden
TAs: Susie Chung, Tom Leighton, Catherine Lin, Holly Masek, Oscar Quintanilla

Spring 2013