Community Resilience: Investing in Walkability

Abstract

Currently, Main Avenue is lacking character and connection to the rest of Fargo, North Dakota. Most of Main Avenue is zoned commercial, and it appears to be highly industrialized because of full scale billboards, concrete buildings and lack of visual aesthetic toward the roadway, greenspace and sidewalks.

This thesis investigates how balancing pedestrian and vehicular traffic could positively impact Main Avenue by increasing economic development and safety. The thesis further investigates how the integration of environmentally conscious and sustainable initiatives can contribute to the socio-economic resilience of the streetscape.