The Harrodsburg, Kentucky workshop, held October 13-15, was coordinated by Dr. David Arnold of St. Catharine College, and Professors Ned Crankshaw and Allison Carl White of the University of Kentucky. Harrodsburg, population 8,014 and founded in 1774, is the oldest city in the Commonwealth and is located in the heart of Kentucky’s Bluegrass Region.

The workshop took place quite literally on Main Street; the lectures were held in the Ragged Edge Theater and The breakout design groups met in a church and in empty store fronts. The meals were provided by restaurantson Main Street. The location on Main Street created a sense of energy in the community, which resulted in many non-participants hearing and seeing the activities.

The design problems addressed included bikability, walkability, gateways, wayfinding, and historic districts. Although the design and planning ideas were clearly generated by local citizens, the final visual presentations demonstrated a level of refinement not possible without the involvement of faculty and students from the University of Kentucky Departments of Landscape Architecture and Interior Design.

A highlight of the workshop was a presentation by Tim Belcher, President of the Elkhorn City Area Heritage Council, Inc. Tim coordinated a Your Town workshop in Elkhorn City, Kentucky in 2005. Elkhorn has a population of fewer than 1,000, yet has been able to implement many of the design and planning ideas generated in the workshop.

-Excerpted from Your Town: Citizens’ Institute on Rural Design, Update, Fall, 2011

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