Project Summary

Title: Sustaining Chipley: Proposal for planning, visioning, and housing concepts to advance economic vitality in Chipley, Florida

Partner: University of Florida, School of Architecture, Martin Gold, Ph.D.

Duration of Project: September 2007-December 2008

Project Description:  When redesigning a town, it is imperative its historic sense of place be preserved and meshed with modern development.  In the spring of 2008, our partners at the University of Florida led an Architectural Studio of 12 students to Chipley, Fla., a small historic town in Washington County.

The team initiated field research, held and documented a stakeholders meeting, and conducted precedent studies of housing typologies that might be adapted for the Chipley context. From the initial field studies, the project team developed five alternative master plan strategies that incorporated the needs and expectations expressed by Chipley’s stakeholders.  The new strategies reflect smart growth and sustainable development principles such as mixed land use, a variety of housing choices and walkable neighborhoods. 

Although the design was created for one town, it serves as an example to other rural towns experiencing the same plural-demands of population growth and the need to revitalize their downtown areas. 

Objectives: The objective of this project was to promote community and economic vitality to communities through use of smart growth principles.  Another objective is to engage stakeholders and city officials to keep their strategies consistent with their communities' objectives.

Reports and Publications:
1. Progress Report I, PDF 1.26MB
2. Progress Report II, PDF 1.06 MB
3. Gold, M. 2008. Sustaining Chipley: Planning, visioning, and housing concepts to advance economic vitality in Chipley, Florida. Final report submitted by the University of Florida, School of Architecture. PDF 5.99MB