Who we are:
The Rochester Regional Community Design Center is a group of design professionals, planners and citizens with a shared interest in defining, promoting and helping to implement design excellence and sustainability in the built environment. The RRCDC acts as a collaborative resource for the City of Rochester and surrounding region and offers design guidance and recommendations through participatory planning that reestablishes the relationship between buildings, sites, and sense of community.

History and Background:
The Rochester Regional Community Design Center was founded by members of the AIA Rochester Urban Design Committee (AIAUDC), and was officially chartered in May 2003. It is also registered as a 501 (c)(3) organization under the IRS code, and all contributions are tax-deductible.

The work of the RRCDC is guided by the "Charter of the Congress for the New Urbanization" and "AIA Livable Communities Doctrine." A growing movement, New Urbanism recognizes walkable, human-scaled neighborhoods as the building blocks of sustainable communities and regions. The Charter of the New Urbanism articulates the movement’s principles and defines the essential qualities of urban places from the scale of the region to the individual building.

 

Current Design Projects

Irondequoit - site design for the Titus/Cooper town center;
Williamson – development of design guidelines;
Churchville – development of design guidelines;
Maplewood Neighborhood Association - Vision Plan for Dewey Avenue Corridor; Northeast Area Development Corporation - providing technical assistance for their streetscape design as part of the Main Street Grant Program;
Susan B. Anthony Neighborhood Association - facilitating and coordinating the Susan B. Anthony Charrette;
ARTWalk - technical guidance and planning services to stakeholders in the Neighborhood of the Arts for the ARTWalk Extension Project;
Upper Monroe Coalition  - creating design guidelines for the Monroe Avenue corridor;
2007 Downtown Charrette - overseeing and coordinating work on the development of materials for strategic planning