A Vision for Buchanan

Community: City of Buchanan
Population: 2,500-9,999

The vision illustrated in the following pages is the result of an intense collaborative process initiated by the Buchanan City Commission. A broad diversity of voices have been part of this process.

A steering committee appointed by the City and led by Mayor Sean Denison worked with the Andrews University School of Architecture & Interior Design to reimagine redevelopment opportunities in Buchanan. The process challenged stakeholders to think in ways that highlight Buchanan’s unique strengths while remaining true to its community identity. Central themes include placemaking, pedestrian-oriented design, family friendliness,
historic preservation, and inclusive economic development.

Given the semester-based availability of the Andrews University team, the decision was made to focus the work on Downtown, the heart of Buchanan, and the Northside neighborhood – a proud, historically black neighborhood that has been neglected too often. The process was intended to build consensus, identify community priorities, and shape a collective vision by intentionally engaging a broad diversity of citizens, property and
business owners.

The ultimate goal of the project is to provide a roadmap for the next wave of redevelopment and revitalization in Buchanan. It is also a celebration of the future of the city and a tool for city leaders to facilitate implementation in the marketplace.

Link to A Vision for Buchanan Final Report:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/1stv2hnvx8pagw2/AAD1KUJXdrYaF2-yolaLzqF2a?dl=0

Link to Project Website:
https://nicestplacetowalk.wixsite.com/buchanan

Replicability:

Our process to engage a broad perspective of viewpoints in order to forge a collective Vision for Buchanan is captured in detail in our final report and can serve as a consensus building tool for other communities across the state and across the nation.

Creativity and Originality:

We are proud of our creative and original approach to incorporate a "One, Two Punch" into the forging of our collective vision in Buchanan. First we concentrated on our Historic Downtown in order to make the heart of our community stronger and to take further action on "what is working already" downtown. Secondly, we looked at compelling opportunities that perhaps have been overlooked or neglected in our Northside neighborhood, making the realization as a community that we are only as good as our most vulnerable neighborhood.

Community Impact:

I believe one of the greatest things to come out of this project may not even be the finished product. But rather, the numerous conversations, meetings, and discussions that happened during the project. The amount of people who were interested in participating was staggering. The discussions were deep, meaningful conversations that showed just how much our citizens care about our community, and how committed they are to making it even better. If we can harness that commitment and apply it to the ideas provided to us by the Andrews University Design Studio, the City of Buchanan will have a very bright future  -Mayor Sean Denison

Back to Main Entry Page>

 

Share this page!

 

Project Multimedia:

Project PowerPoint