Description
The Golden Valley Downtown User Experience Framework arose from a request for improved wayfinding submitted through the Hennepin County Planning Grants Program. VMWP, collaborating with Toole Design Group and Visible City developed a holistic understanding of the economic, mobility, and wayfinding needs for the Golden Valley core and worked with the client team to expand the scope. The resulting Framework included significant reconfiguration of the public realm by reconfiguring Golden Valley Road as a traditional Main Street, introducing on-street parking, raised cycletracks, a new shared Festival Street, improved connections to the Luce Line Trail, and integrates separate planning for the redevelopment of the existing civic center campus to strengthen existing places and create opportunities for new destinations and downtown branding.
As part of the project, VMWP used our Development Test Fit methodology to identify regulatory roadblocks to appropriate forms and densities of development and provided detailed recommendations for zoning and policy reform as well as a matrix of implementation actions.
Design Features
- Implement traditional Main Street design on Golden Valley Road through infrastructure improvements and zoning reform
- Position Hahá Wakpádan (Bassett Creek) as an asset for identity, recreational access, and educational programming
- Implement shared use Festival Street through city-owned property
- Create a trailhead framed by new development at the intersection of the new Festival Street and Luce Line Trail
Sustainable Features
- Reposition Downtown Golden Valley as a “park once destination” through improved mobility and shared parking
- Improve multi-modal access, pedestrian circulation, and connectivity to the Luce Line Trail
- Implement a framework for Transit Ready Development anticipating future Bus Rapid Transit on MN-55.
Project Information
- Client: City of Golden Valley Hennepin County Planning Grants
- Site Area: Approximately 111 acres
- Density: up to 90 DUA
- Completion: December 2024
VMWP’s Urban Design Projects
Van Meter Williams Pollack’s urban design work falls into three broad categories: Transit-Oriented Design; Master Planning and Specific Designs; and Design Guidelines. Using our architectural design expertise, we create development prototypes for cities that will assist them in achieving their goals to provide more intensive development in important transition areas of the community. Our design guidelines add the final level of detail to the prototypes and assist developers, property owners, and the city conceive of and design appropriate projects.
Our work always includes communication with and coordination between the City, various agencies, the development community, and community residents. It also includes an active community process where we work together with local stakeholders in workshops, charrettes, and meetings to prioritize goals and create a future vision of their place. We strive to maintain clear and open communication throughout the planning and design process to ensure an efficient process and the best possible product.