The purpose of this studio project was to discover how the physical infrastructure of the city might be used to help accomplish the economic, social, and aesthetic goals of the “Tomorrow’s Neighborhoods Today” (TNT) planning sector.  More specifically, the intent was to use design methods as vehicles for helping citizens envision, organize, and sort ideas that may become the community-planning concepts that are shared, championed, and eventually funded.

The Southwest Urban Design Study began with a City Design Workshop to solicit ideas from citizens and community officials for graduate student design teams to incorporate into their work.  The results of the workshop and other preliminary analyses determined where the physical catalysts were located and how they might be manipulated to energize adjacent properties and blocks.  The studio discovered that despite its surface appearance at present, the Southwest Community has a great deal of potential in terms of its physical infrastructure and its generosity of human spirit.

Among its tangible results, the study helped to catalyze the inception of the Onondaga Arboretum and Botanical Garden project.  Several agencies including the College of Environmental Science and Forestry, the United States Forest Service, Cornell’s Cooperative Extension, the Syracuse City School District, Jubilee Homes of Syracuse, Inc., the Southwest Community Center, the Centers for Nature Education, and the Onondaga Park Association began working together to envision a regional center for the study of ecology, botany, and horticulture as well as for general civic recreation.