Community by Design: Architecture students help reimagine South Bend neighborhood | News | Notre Dame News | University of Notre Dame Skip To Content Skip To Navigation Skip To Search University of Notre Dame Notre Dame News Experts ND in the News Subscribe About Us Home Contact Search Menu Home › News › Community by Design: Architecture students help reimagine South Bend neighborhood Community by Design: Architecture students help reimagine South Bend neighborhood Published: June 14, 2021 Author: Erin Blasko In collaboration with the city and other campus and community partners and stakeholders, students and faculty with the School of Architecture spent a week in January reimagining the section of William Street based on new urbanist principles. William Street in South Bend was primarily residential until about 1940, when the city decided to extend it north to Portage Avenue. Designed to establish a new commuter corridor linking downtown to the far north side, the decision would have lasting consequences. Almost immediately, traffic increased, altering the historical character of the street and hastening its decline. Homes became apartments or businesses and then parking lots, as people abandoned the area for the suburbs. Property values plummeted, until urban renewal drove the final nail into the coffin. Today, the formerly quiet, tree-lined street is a sterile corridor of vacant land and parking lots, of narrow sidewalks and substandard commercial buildings. A liminal space dividing downtown from the near west side. Void of charm and character. For developers and investors, this presents a challenge in the form of an “appraisal gap” — a negative relationship between the cost of a newly constructed home or building and its ultimate value. Currently, absent tax incentives or other public support, the return on investment in the area is negative. “The primary deficit of this part of the city is the absence of a coherent, friendly and generally attractive public realm. Because the streets are devoid of streetscapes, and the carriageways are very wide, encouraging drivers to speed, it is impossible for a visitor to say ‘This is a civilized place,’” said Stefanos Polyzoides, the newly appointed Francis and Kathleen Rooney Dean of the University of Notre Dame School of Architecture. To read the story, click here. Posted In: Colleges & Schools Home Experts ND in the News Subscribe About Us Related October 04, 2022 NIH awards $4 million grant to psychologists researching suicide prevention September 27, 2022 Alpha Phi Alpha president to be featured ‘fireside chat’ guest September 19, 2022 Notre Dame Patient Advocacy Initiative receives support from Dyne Therapeutics September 16, 2022 School of Architecture to host Notre-Dame Cathedral restoration architects September 16, 2022 Notre Dame Patient Advocacy Initiative receives founding gift from Horizon Therapeutics For the Media Contact Office of Public Affairs and Communications Notre Dame News 500 Grace Hall Notre Dame, IN 46556 USA Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube Pinterest © 2022 University of Notre Dame Search Mobile App News Events Visit Accessibility Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube LinkedIn