A $6,000 community development and planning grant gave Michigan State University (MSU) design students a chance to give the City of Williamston a glimpse into its future.
Using
the grant money, the students took multiple photos of Williamston.
Then they used a computer design program to make virtual improvements
to the community. Students suggested adding new park entrances, new
signage and updated store fronts to the downtown.
“The
students took an unbelievable number of pictures of the city,
buildings, the streetscape and the entry ways to the city to sort of
get an idea of what the community has, and what the community needs to
do,” says Williamston's city manager, Lisa Hitchcock.
Hitchcock says the suggestions were extremely helpful, and that the city is interested in making many of the updates.
“It
starts to give the community a direction,” Hitchcock says. “It gives
tangible visual clues so our own creative juices start to flow.”
Source: Lisa Hitchcock, City of Williamston
Ivy Hughes, development news editor, can be reached here.
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