Deueling

The site of d:SD community 3 is official: design:SD will be heading to Deuel County, SD next. We’ll plan a community design charrette in Fall 2008 or Spring 2009 (we’ll figure out the date soon).It will be tricky–our first crack at a regional approach (at least three communities at once: Gary, Clear Lake and Lake Cochran).

We had our annual summer barbecue for the d:SD team in the Beddow’s backyard on July 24 (and managed to somehow pull it off without Mrs. Beddow!) and then a meeting with a local group from Deuel County earlier this week. We’ve officially accepted the invitation from Deuel County. Now comes the hard work for both of us! We’ll keep you posted!

our agenda from the bbq--part work and part party!

Much Ado About Midstates

A handful of design:SD team members headed a little south yesterday to present at the Midstates Conference 2008 in South Sioux City, Nebraska. We shared with folks from communities in Iowa, South Dakota and Nebraska how we put together the design:SD project and launched it in Corsica last spring. We co-presented with the Iowa Architectural Foundation’s Community Design Program.

Here are some shots of Joe and Eric presenting, along with our new Iowan friend Dale. Others from d:SD who attended were Sandy Dickenson, Tom Reasoner, Lindsey Karlson and Alan Weiskamp. Rey Gonzalez is one of the event organizers.

Here’s the powerpoint we showed yesterday. Thanks to Midstates organizers for letting us play!

Douglas County Commissioners hear about design:SD

Jim Beddow and I visited about the design:SD project with the Douglas County Commissioners in Armour yesterday morning. We talked about the regional impact the project can make, and particularly about transportation routes and Corsica Lake.

We also had lunch with leaders of the Armour Horizons project at the Blue Moon, and met with Nancy Barrick at the Conservation District. Nancy provided some great watershed maps for the team, and we signed her up for a presentation during the charrette. The Horizons team has done some great work in Armour, and we invited them to take part in design:SD too.

This may be a great opportunity to point something out–design:SD Project Corsica is not just about Corsica, SD!!The team will provide an outside look at the whole region, including all of Douglas County. There are many treasures and assets in Douglas County that don’t just belong to Corsica folks, so it’s great to get the Commissioners and the Armour Horizons program into the mix.

Thanks for the hospitality, Armour!

By the way, comments are always open and welcome. Just share your thoughts or ideas by clicking on “COMMENTS.”

Joe Bartmann, The Rural Learning Center