Renée Mikkelsen Consulting
Renée Mikkelsen Consulting
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This workshop made possible by YOUR TOWN: THE CITIZEN'S INSTITUTE For RURAL DESIGN

And These Workshop Sponsors
  • Ione Community Program

  • Ione Business Community Association

  • The City of Ione

  • Amador Community Foundation

  • Jackson Rancheria

  • Clark's Corner

  • The Ione Steakhouse and Hotel

  • 2M Associates in Berkeley

  • UC Davis

  • Garavaglia Architecture

  • Circa Historic Properties

  • Mintier Harnish

  • UrbanGreen

  • Merzlak Sign

  • Motherlode Printing
AMADOR REGIONAL DESIGN WORKSHOP
The Amador Regional Design Workshop venue included speakers and presenters, work group breakout sessions, opportunities for networking and the overall sharing of thoughts. The concepts presented during the workshop highlighted the advantages and methods of preserving community character and how to make our communities more attractive and economically viable. As a group, participants initially explored and conducted an Amador County SWOT Analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats). The SWOT Analysis and Place-Word Associations document lists responses to the SWOT Analysis exercise and word associations in relationship to various places in Amador County.

Throughout the workshop, participants:

  • Learned about what makes a community strong for its residents and attractive to businesses and tourists.
  • Explored community development and design, and various related topics.
  • Engaged in small impromptu side-line conversations where community issues were discussed.

Workshop activities and exercises explored main street/downtown design, historic preservation, and methods for identifying and capitalizing on community character and assets. Serving as models, these exercises and activities can now be replicated during the ongoing process of locally exploring various challenges and potential solutions in Amador County cities, towns, and communities.

Group Projects
Ione Community Program work group final project powerpoint presentation.
Main Street Downtown Design work group final project notes.
Design and Healthy Communities work group final project powerpoint presentation.
The region of Amador County in the Context of California work group final project notes.
Historic Preservation and Design work group final project notes.

Photographs, Handouts, and Notebook Material
Participants worked in groups and listened to a variety of presentations and discussions throughout the workshop. These pictures of the workshop capture several of the work groups, speakers, presentations and discussions.

Presentations: Workshop Key Note and Other Speakers
Ed McMahon's Dollars and Sense of Preserving Community Character workshop presentation powerpoint. Ed McMahon's DVD recordings are available at the Conservation Fund website or by calling 703-525-6300. The Conservation Fund also offers Ed's book Better Models for Development in California, which include many of Ed's photographs.
Voice recording of Ed McMahon's Dollars and Sense will soon be posted here.
Richard Hawks' Design Process workshop presentation powerpoint handout.
Voice recording of Richard Hawks' Design Process presentation will soon be posted here.
Jim Heid's Principles for Small Town Main Streets workshop presentation powerpoint handout.
Voice recording of Jim's Principles for Small Town Main Streets voice recording
Mike Garavaglia's Historic Preservation Handouts explain various aspects of Historic Preservation, provides information about preservation incentives and dispells common myths about the Secretary of Interior Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties.
Steve McNeil's Design and Context presentation discussed unique qualities of Amador County and their importance in preserving community character and design. Steve's powerpoint will soon be posted here.

Speakers and Presenters
  • Richard Hawks, Co-director of Your Town: A Citizen's Institute for Rural Design and Chair of the Department of Landscape Architecture, College of Environmental Science and Forestry (CESF), State University of New York (SUNY) in Syracuse, New York.
  • Patrick Miller, a landscape architect and partner with the planning and design firm 2M Associates, Berkeley, has developed strategic and site-specific plans for trail systems, parkways, and urban and regional parks throughout California.
  • Jane Miller, is partner and horticulturist with 2M Associates, Berkeley. She taught courses in planting design and plants in the cultural landscape at UC Davis and is currently teaching for the Landscape Architecture Certificate Program at U.C. Berkeley Extension and at Merritt College.
  • Sheila McElroy, Circa Historic Property Development, is dedicated to historic resource preservation by facilitating the revitalization and development of historic properties and districts.
  • Ed McMahon, the ULI (Urban Land Institute)/Charles Fraser Senior Resident Fellow for Sustainable Development, is a nationally renowned authority on sustainable development, land conservation and urban design, was formerly the vice president and director of land use programs at The Conservation Fund.
  • Jim Heid, Founder UrbanGreen in San Francisco.
  • Steve McNeil, Chair, Department of Environmental Design/ Landscape Architecture, UC Davis.
  • Mike Garavaglia, Historic Architect, AIA, California Preservation Foundation Board of Trustees, and Vice-President, Program, and Principal of Garavaglia Architecture.
  • David Wilkinson, Community Development Director for Mercy Housing, Sacramento and a member of the State Department of Housing’s CDBG Advisory Committee.

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