Working through a two week charrette process, UrbanAdvisors assisted Dover, Kohl & Partners and Hall Planning & Engineering with planning to guide the next 20 years of growth in Fayetteville. UrbanAdvisors researched employment, future demographics and current and past land use densities and patterns to help create an innovative plan that will create a series of new neighborhoods and prevent sprawl. We provided analysis of development scenarios under alternative policies, and were able to graphically and numerically demonstrate the costs and required land for conventional sprawl versus traditional neighborhood patterns. Besides being more cost effective and land efficient the Smart Growth policy recommendations laid the foundation for extending the scale of the existing, historic neighborhoods and commercial districts. The new plan forms a legal framework for the use of form based code citywide. The plan won an award from the Arkansas APA for comprehensive planning, and a 2007 Charter Award from the Congress of the New Urbanism.

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The Heart of Peoria Vision Plan, created in 2002 by internationally known Duany Plater Zyberk began a process of revitalization for Peoria Illinois. To implement the vision Urban Advisors and Code Studio worked on a team led by Ferrell Madden Associates to create detailed designs of selected study areas of the city with matching form-based code and implementation strategies. Like many American cities, the downtown had been losing population and was physically divided by wide highways. Peoria is one of the few cities where manufacturing employment is on the rise. But the jobs at Caterpillar are mostly in engineering- and a different lifestyle segment than traditional skilled laborers. By examining trends and projections in employment and demographic segments, we discovered a pent-up demand and potential market for urban residential products that were largely unavailable. Providing the neighborhood amenities and products preferred by the unserved market required design and road improvements and code amendments. We were able to develop a revitalization strategy that addressed the underlying causes of past decline and built on existing opportunities in conjunction with a new legal framework. This project received the 2010 Dreihaus Award from the Form Based Codes Institute.

The Broad Avenue charrette was undertaken to provide a test case of the use of form based code within the newly revised Memphis city-county code prepared by Duncan Planning. Working with Lee Einsweiler of Duncan Planning, Ferrell Madden Associates and Rick Hall Transportation Planning, Urban Advisors identified economic strategies for the redevelopment of the corridor and revitalization of the surrounding low income neighborhoods. Through a community-based effort in talks with the community, local developers, CDC’s, the local churches and businesses, Urban Advisors formulated step-by-step action plans, goals and financing strategies for two, five and ten years. Recommendations included strategies for the creation of affordable housing, housing rehabilitation, code enforcement, and creation of space at a cost to allow for new business and minority entrepreneurs. Most importantly to the community, we were able to demonstrate unexpected market support for neighborhood serving retail which generated interest from a local grocery chain.