Sunday, February 23, 2020
 
Grow Stronger Demonstration Projects Centers and Corridors

Concepts for Creating Great Places and Growing More Efficiently

Centers and Corridors

West Town Community Center
West Town Community Center
The centerpiece of the West Town Community Center proposal is a rethinking of the form of the mall itself. While still a retail center, the reconfigured building also invites new, multi-use development. In this new form, the mall becomes the heart of a vibrant community center with regional and local transit lines near the heart of the walkable, mixed-use district with parking handled through new structures and on-street parking along new blocks.
Downtown Regional Center
Downtown Regional Center
In locations where city streets pass under significant roadways, it is difficult to maintain a sense of connection. Underpass buildings can provide a continuous street frontage that carries the urban fabric to the other side of the underpass. Such buildings can be created along Jackson Avenue to reach under Hall of Fame Drive toward Magnolia Avenue. They could also be used along Broadway, Gay Street and Central Avenue to pass under I-40 and connect with the neighborhoods of North Knoxville.
Pellissippi Regional Center
Pellissippi Regional Center
An opportunity exists in the southeast quadrant of the Pellissippi Parkway/I-40/75 interchange to create a new regional center at this strategic crossroads between Oak Ridge, Knoxville and Maryville. It will be developed on a new grid street pattern, with mixed uses, enhanced regional and local transit service, and an abundance of green space within and around the new center. The Central Esplanade (below) provides a focal point for new development.
Bearden Neighborhood Center
Bearden Neighborhood Center
This proposal creates a cohesive, walkable, and bikable neighborhood center, while also proactively addressing the floodway along Fourth Creek. A reconfigured Kingston Pike/Northshore Drive intersection, a bus rapid transit stop, enhanced commercial and residential development, and more green space bordering Fourth Creek are the major focal points.
Burlington Neighborhood Center
Burlington Neighborhood Center
A “pocket neighborhood” is a group of single- or multi-family units clustered around a shared open space, such as a garden courtyard, pedestrian street, or series of joined backyards, all of which have a clear sense of territory and shared stewardship. Because of the orientation of the houses in a pocket neighborhood, the courtyard becomes shared public space enhancing the community quality.
 
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PROJECT NAME:

Knoxville 2040:
Centers and Corridors

DEMONSTRATION PROJECT PARTNER:

University of Tennessee, Knoxville,
College of Architecture and Design

About this Project

This project is built around the premise that future jobs and population growth need not be the typical sprawl that has characterized regional growth. A University of Tennessee urban design team looked to places in Knoxville that will dramatically change over the next 30 years, and created a vision for new housing and work places while protecting the region’s rural and natural landscapes. Increased development in Bearden, Burlington, East Town, West Town, Pellissippi/I-40/75 and Downtown is explored in this project. As proposed, these new centers for growth could be significant in stemming suburban sprawl. More than 21,000 people could be housed and 34,000 new jobs could be located in these centers. In addition, the character of these places – quality housing, offices and shopping within an easy walk, ample public space, and enhanced public transit – will result in attractive locations to live, work and play.

Available Resources

Low Impact Development

Knoxville 2040: Centers and Corridors

Explore the future of quality placemaking in this examination of ways in which key corridors and centers in the Knoxville area could be transformed into places where people can live, work and play.

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Concepts for Creating Great Places and Growing More Efficiently
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