The Regional/Urban Design Assistance Team (R/UDAT) is a results-driven community design program run by AIA Communities by Design. The program combines local resources with the expertise of a multi-disciplinary team of nationally recognized professionals who volunteer their time to identify ways to encourage desirable change in communities.
In May of 2013, RioVision applied for this acclaimed program, and was accepted after a rigorous selection process. From February 28 – March 3, the R/UDAT Team assembled in Rio Vista for an intensive work session that culminated in a visionary development plan for our town. Our Team included:
- Wayne Feiden, FAICP, Director of Planning and Development for the City of Northampton (MA), serving as team leader.
- Abe Farkas, Development Services Director, ECONorthwest and our economic development/pro-forma expert.
- Jason Schrieber, AICP, Principal and transportation planner, Nelson/Nygaard, and our transportation network.
- Patricia Sears, Newport VT Executive Director Newport City (VT) Renaissance and our downtown manager/main street expert.
- Robert Shibley, FAIA, AICP, Dean of Architecture and Planning, Campus Architect, and Director of Urban Design Project at the University at Buffalo, an architect with a focus on the larger canvas and urban and waterfront designer for the team.
- Kevin Wilson, Principal Mill River Graphics, is our team illustrator. Wayne has worked with him on a couple of consulting projects where he needed hand illustrations.
- Bill Eubanks, FSLA and LEED AP, is Creative Director of the Urban Edge Studio of Seamon Whiteside, located in Mount Pleasant (SC).
- Joel Mills, AIA Director of Communities by Design, who brings a wealth of experience on these projects and good governance.
- Erin Simmons, AIA Director of Design Services, who has staffed more design assistance projects than anyone on the planet and coordinates all logistics, as well as adding a historic preservation resource to the team.
Students from Consumnes River College and UC Berkeley also volunteered their time to make the program a success.
Long-term Visioning Begins
Noah Housh completes Sonoma State Implementation Course.
Noah Housh, a planner for a Sonoma County municipality, is a student in the Master’s of Public Administration program at Sonoma State University. One of the required courses is “Implementation.” Jim Nordin, DPA, City Treasurer and Board member of RioVision, is an adjunct professor at SSU and teaches Implementation. Noah took the course as an independent study under Dr. Nordin. His class project was to create the framework for an implementation plan for the Rio Vista R/UDAT. View the completed Implementation Plan.