• LoDo and the Central Platte Valley, Denver, Colorado

• Short North, Columbus, Ohio

• Kitsilano, Vancouver, British Columbia

• Flamingo Park, Miami Beach, Florida

• Little Portugal, Toronto, Ontario

• Eisenhower East, Alexandria, Virginia

• The Pearl District, Portland, Oregon

• Downtown and Raynolds Addition, Albuquerque, New Mexico

• Greenpoint, Brooklyn, New York

• Little Italy, San Diego, California

• Cambridgeport, Cambridge, Massachusetts

• Old Pasadena, Pasadena, California

WELL, HAVE YOU?

On a regular basis, we read Better Cities & Townsand this month in their newsletter they talk a lot about transit-oriented development, walkable cities and just plain good urban design.  The cities above were featured in a book called Made for Walking and the basis of the book is a study on the above neighborhoods and why the neighborhoods in these cities are so successful.  Well, based on the title of the book, y ou can probably guess, it’s because they are “made for walking”.

When cities, developments and neighborhoods put an effort towards connecting the different neighborhoods in a variety of walk-able ways, it almost always proves to be successful.  What constitutes a walk-able neighborhood.  Well, in our experience, it has been the following:

• People scaled streetscape elements including lamps, bike racks, architecture
  

  Downtown development in Lafayette

• The architecture is also important, it has to be unique and speak to the neighborhood
• Retail, residential, restaurants, bars, coffee shops – they all need to be there
• Minimal vehicular circulation – meaning that one lane in each direction, or even a one-way street with one to two lanes
• Parking located on the back sides of the streetscape – behind buildngs
• Minimal parking located along the actual street
• Attractive streetscape furniture and places to gather with friends, associates
• Events, you need to have events on a regular basis to keep people coming back

So, do you have a downtown or neighborhood that needs help?  We are experts at urban design and placemaking and are here for your reference.

Firma Design Group is a proud silver-level sponsor of Sonoma County BEST (Building Economic Success Together), www.sonomacountybest.org.  Throughout the past year, Michael Tarnoff has served on their Track II Committee, with the goal of creating a strong, vibrant, and supportive business climate.  This first year, the committee’s attention was focused on business retention and expansion, and created the goal of interviewing 100 businesses in 100 days.  The goal was met, and BEST continues to thrive and make an impact on the business community.  For more information on how you might get involved in helping Sonoma County grow, please contact Michael Tarnoff in our office at (707) 792-1800 or Sonoma County BEST directly at (707) 636-2842 (Carolyn Stark, Executive Director) or (707) 545-1011 (Robin Stephani, Director of Business Development).

Petaluma Ecumneical Properties (PEP Housing) has opened Acacia Lane Senior Apartments in Santa Rosa.  The project was engineered by Firma Design Group, designed by Robert W. Hayes Architects, Sausalito, and constructed by Midstate Construction Corporation, Petaluma.  Completed in June 2012, the project was developed in partnership with HUD and the Housing Authority of the City of Santa Rosa, along with Bank of Marin, the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco, Merritt Community Capital Corporation, and Silicon Valley Bank

Situated on 1.3 acres, the site now hosts two apartment buildings with 44 units ranging in size from 600 to over 700 square feet, and an 1,800 square foot community center.

Firma Design Group prides itself on creating communities in our designs, whether they be single family residences or entire neighborhoods.  We take a look at all of the contributing factors (otherwise known as a site analysis) for a site and make recommendations to our clients for making communities or neighborhoods.  An article I recently came across is “25 Tips for Making Your Neighborhood Better” and the recommendations that are made in the short article are wonderful suggestions that any neighborhood, community or family can make on existing or proposed sites.  Some favorites of ours include:

1.  Give people a place to hang out.

4.  Give people a place to sit down.

8.  Make the streets safe.

12.  Don’t forget about the needs of kids.

15.  Remember the best neighborhoods, even in big cities, feel like villages.

25.  Take the time to have fun and enjoy what’s already great about your neighborhood.

Firma Design Group designers and planners are specialists in creating neighborhoods and community spaces, please call upon us to help design your public space or neighborhood development!

With a keen eye towards detail, we have been specializing in custom home design for the 12 plus years we’ve been in business.  From as far south as Carmel, all the way up to Healdsburg, we’ve been sought after for straight forward projects and challenging ones.  Our vast experience with custom homes means we know what questions to ask to better get your project approved, on time and at or under budget.  We have worked most extensively in Marin County, both in the unincorporated areas and every city within the county.  Call or email us today to ask how we can help on your home.

Firma Design Group is proud to be a certified Small Business Enterprise (SBE) in the City of San Francisco, providing Civil Engineering and Landscape Architecture services.  Our company is in the City’s Agency-Certified Business Directory, and we are active in several projects in San Francisco at this time.  If you need an SBE on your project, or a multi-disciplined firm with civil engineering and landscape architecture, please contact us.  Firma Design Group is also a certified SBE for the State of California.

SBE Certificate

The basic site improvements and foundation have been completed, and now the vertical steel is being installed at 999 Grant Avenue in Novato.  Once complete, this two-story commercial building at the southeast corner of Redwood Blvd. and Grant Avenue will improve upon a much maligned corner building that stood vacant for years.  Firma Design Group performed the civil engineering design, including a detention pipe for landscaping that eliminated the need for an irrigation meter from the water district.  Crome Architecture is the architect, and Devcon Construction the general contractor.  Circle Bank is the builder.

Vertical Construction at 999 GrantVertical Construction at 999 Grant