Urban Research & Development Corporation
Grant Writing, Design and Planning
Revitalization, Planning, Design and Development
URDC has prepared plans to revitalize cities and boroughs throughout eastern and central Pennsylvania and have designed detailed streetscape improvements for many communities, including Norristown, Gettysburg, Royersford, Spring City, and Pennsburg. Our work includes designs and detailed engineering for decorative crosswalks, street trees, street furniture, urban plazas, urban walkways, and similar projects. Many of our revitalization plans include projects to link local assets, such as connecting a downtown area to a local greenway/trail in order to increase the use of both facilities.
URDC has also completed revitalization plans for areas of Harrisburg, Lock Haven, Wilkes Barre, Lancaster, Norristown, and Pottstown, among others. Our revitalization plans include both recommended designs in target areas as well as policy and funding recommendations to help our clients implement study recommendations.
STREETSCAPE IMPROVEMENTS - BATH, PA
This small Northampton County community hired URDC to design streetscape improvements and manage a streetscape facade grants program. A URDC staff member also helped administer the Borough’s Historic Preservation Board, an entity charged with enforcing exterior design guidelines within the community’s historic district.
FOUR BLOCKS INTERNATIONAL - BETHLEHEM, PA
Our staff prepared a conceptual streetscape design plan aimed at helping to restore the Four Blocks International area on Bethlehem’s historic South Side. In addition to streetscape enhancements the plan addressed off-street parking, small urban open spaces, and neighborhood security among other matters.
ELM STREET NEIGHBORHOOD STRATEGIC PLAN - LOCK HAVEN
Lock Haven is a community of approximately 10,000 persons in central Pennsylvania. The City retained URDC to complete a plan that would qualify Lock Haven for Pennsylvania Elm Street program neighborhood improvement grants. Plan topics included each of the items included in the Pennsylvania Downtown Center’s recommended Four Point Approach: Design; Promotion; Organization; and Economic Restructuring.
MONTGOMERY AND CHESTER COUNTIES
Each of these two Delaware Valley counties provided grant funds for local revitalization plans, and bricks and mortar improvements. URDC prepared plans for a total of eight boroughs in the two counties. Four of these communities then retained us to engineer and monitor construction of multi-phase streetscape improvements involving new sidewalks, curbs, crosswalks, street lights, street trees, urban open spaces and enhanced community gateways.
HISTORIC MIFFLINBURG NEIGHBORHOOD PLAN - MIFFLINBURG, PA
Mifflinburg Borough is a small historic town that dates to the early 1800's in central Pennsylvania. URDC completed an Elm Street Plan which helped preserve the history of the Borough while implementing changes to accommodate tourists. In the plan we sought out new parking schemes, pedestrian walkways, period style gardens, facade and streetscape programs.
REVITALIZATION PLAN - SOUTH ALLISON HILL, PA
URDC developed a strategy to preserve and develop South Allison Hill, a large mixed use neighborhood in downtown Harrisburg. Preparing the plan involved extensive public participation by neighbors and other community leaders concerned about how to stabilize the area’s residential areas, business blocks, and institutional locations.
SPRING CITY ADA PARKING IMPROVEMENTS
URDC provided professional consulting, design, engineering, bidding and construction observation services for the renovation of the Borough of Spring City's main municipal parking lot. This three phase project was partially funded by the County and State grants. The project itself consisted of the renovation of a steeply graded parking lot to include ADA designated spaces. Te existing grade was terraced for functional and safe parking, landscaping, and providing LED dark sky compliant lighting for safety through a new electrical service and lower plaza with ADA accessible route and informational display.