Gettysburg Elm Street Planning and Downtown Design
Adjacent to the historic downtown and Main Street district in Gettysburg, is a residential neighborhood that is poised to embrace improvement and share its own history with residents and visitors alike. The Third Ward of Gettysburg Borough is home to the largest concentration of witness houses in the borough. The term witness house refers to homes that were inhabited during the 1863 Battle of Gettysburg.
Through the Elm Street Planning process, our team worked with residents, committee members, and various other stakeholders to develop strategies for the future of this neighborhood. Some of the strategies included:
- introducing traffic calming, street lighting, and green space within the neighborhood (a clean, safe, and green strategy)
- achieving a positive impact by adding appropriately scaled retail within the neighborhoods (a neighbors and economy strategy)
- enhancing the sense of security within the neighborhoods by increasing activity and lighting along street frontage (an image and identity strategy)
The success of the plan has been measured by approval that was received by the state of Pennsylvania but more importantly by the community members who have readily embraced the plan.