Movimiento del Valle por los Derechos Humanos

Read more about our Public Design Impact Initiative!

We are excited to begin working with Movimiento del Valle por los Derechos Humanos and local graphic designer Nayelli Bautista as a part of our Public Design Impact Initiative. Movimiento del Valle is a community organization that educates and organizes the community around human rights issues. 

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Movimiento del Valle is currently teaching community members about their constitutional rights and training them in strategies to combat anti-immigration attacks at the State and National levels. The Moviemento del Valle recognizes that the Rio Grande Valley is a very vulnerable geographic area that requires thoughtful and effective educational materials on rights and immigration.  The organization seeks support in creating dynamic resources that communicate information effectively through clear and accessible design and graphics.

Through a design process that engages both community stakeholders and partner organizations, Nayelli will work with Movimiento del Valle to update their educational and organizational materials, making them relevant and accessible to the audience Movimiento del Valle would like to reach. Together, we will update and refine Movimiento del Valle’s teaching tools to meet their current needs, and we will generate an online platform to make important information accessible to organization members and the public. 

The aim of our PDII program is to use local design talent to increase the impact of our peer nonprofit organizations and community groups. The 2017 PDII program selected two projects to complete in the calendar year. Read about our other project selection, Equal Voice Network.

Remembering the Fallen Officers of July 7th, 2016

Click here to read more about Little Free Libraries!

buildingcommunityWORKSHOP hosted the official opening reception of the DPD & DART Officer Memorial Little Free Libraries last Saturday, July 22nd at South Side on Lamar. 

Wisconsin resident Helen Stassen, whose late son Benjamin has been commemorated through a Little Free Library in their hometown, reached out to [bc] after July 7th to initiate this endeavor and generously funded the design and construction of the five libraries. 


“We are offering a small contribution to personal and community healing in the form of Little Free Libraries as memorials to the slain Dallas Officers. Since Benjamin’s death our family has embraced the positive experience of being stewards of a Little Free Library, used by many people, that is a memorial in Benjamin’s name. This offers us an evolving and ever changing way to nurture and care for others in our community and to keep Benjamin’s memory alive. May the families, friends and community of Officers receive some of these same benefits. We hope/pray those who see and use these libraries and hear this story be moved toward helping others and sharing in peaceful nonviolent ways.“

Over the last 12 months, the five Little Free Libraries have been designed, built, and installed across the City of Dallas to commemorate the five officers who lost their lives on July 7th, 2016. This project has been an opportunity for a meaningful collaboration between [bc], the Dallas Police Department's Office of Community Affairs, a team of dedicated volunteer designers, and our library stewards: South Side on Lamar, El Centro College, N W Harllee Early Childhood Center, Our Saviour Episcopal Church, and Vickery Meadow Community Garden. To realize the libraries, a group of 6 core volunteers offered their design services with help from dozens of other volunteer professionals and students. The design of the 5 libraries is composed of 5 shapes that were fabricated by hand. The libraries work together as a group, but are arranged in different compositions in each location to preserve  a sense of individuality for each library. 

This scheme was inspired by the police officers, who were all unique individuals who came together to work as one unit.  The unique geometric qualities of each library are meant to represent this bond. Proudly painted blue and yellow, all libraries display the fallen officers’ badge numbers, the “Read in Peace” slogan, and other personal memorial items from the Stassen family that address people affected by gun violence.

The memorial libraries are part of our Little Free Library/Libros Libres program. Little Free Libraries/Libros Libres is a literacy and community based design initiative in Dallas, Texas that uses free book exchanges to build community and promote a culture of reading. Inspired by the Little Free Library movement (www.littlefreelibrary.org), these small neighborhood book shelters operate under the guiding principle of “take a book, leave a book.” The project uses community engagement and design to makes books available in a variety of publicly accessible locations, supporting the health of the neighborhoods by fostering collaboration and relationships.

We would like to thank everyone who was involved in the creation of the libraries. Over the course of the year, we had over a dozen hands involved in the design and fabrication process. The core volunteer group was led by: 
Amruta Sakalker
Kristin Henry
Haven Hardage
Oswaldo Rivera-Ortiz
Freddie Ortiz
Sonya Shah

Additional support and in-kind donations were made by:
Richardson High School’s R Studio
Dallas Metal Inc.
SMU Deacon Innovation Lab
Little Free Libraries

Little Free Libraries in the press:
Little Free Libraries will honor fallen Dallas officers, Dallas Morning News, September 9, 2016. 
 

Dallas Designer Social: Creating a Neighborhood Cultural Hub

Learn more about our work in Dallas!

How do you transform a shopping center into a cultural hub for it's neighborhood?

Focused on education and fostering entrepreneurship in the community, For Oak Cliff is getting its start in the Glendale Shopping Center in South Oak Cliff. Their vision is to foster a community space that inspires and energizes the residents in the area. With the goal of improving their new retail/office space to better achieve this vision, [bc] invited a group of local designers for a Designer Social event to develop concepts and schematic designs both inside For Oak Cliff's office space and around the shopping center as a whole. 

Check out these photos from the Designer Social:

Announcing Activating Vacancy Downtown Dallas Call for Proposals

buildingcommunityWORKSHOP, with Downtown Dallas Inc, is excited to announce Activating Vacancy Downtown Dallas’s call for artist proposals.  Artists are invited to submit applications for this project that asks artists to create create work that directly addresses issues identified by downtown stakeholders through a previous process called Community Audited Public Space (CAPS), as well as by a Community Advisory Committee.  

Read More

Smart Growth for Dallas at Earth Day Texas

Learn more about Smart Growth for Dallas!

Join us for one of six “Neighborhood Priorities for Parks: Smart Growth for Dallas Focus Groups” at Earth Day Texas.

Find us at booths 1910 and 2005 in the Automobile Building, where we will discuss the physical, social, environmental, and economic factors that influence the ease and barriers to access and experience of Dallas’ parks and open space. The outcomes of these focus groups will directly influence the development of the Smart Growth for Dallas “decision support” tool that will help Dallas prioritize its investments in parks based on their economic, social, and ecological benefits. Results of the program will be available to city staff, non-profit partners, and the public through an interactive website.

For more information visit smartgrowthfordallas.com

2017 State of Dallas Housing Report

Learn more about AIM for Dallas and bcANALYTICS, and read the full 2017 State of Dallas Housing Report here. 

If you missed the April 25th event, you can watch the presentation and panel discussion here.

Like many cities across America, Dallas struggles with how to provide adequate housing for low, moderate, and middle income households. The city’s history of segregation between the north and south is evident in many ways, as discussed in 2016 State of Dallas Housing. In regards to housing, a 2015 Supreme Court ruling on Fair Housing and the City’s Voluntary Compliance Agreement with The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) have put the City under pressure to address historic segregation through their policies and funding allocations. Are opportunities for housing available to all residents, in the north and south?  A holistic analysis of the city’s housing landscape is needed to help better understand current conditions and help shape housing policy to address the needs of Dallas.

The 2017 State of Dallas Housing is just that assessment of Dallas’ housing landscape - its current housing stock, the people that live in the city, activity to construct and sell new homes, and the policies that guide civic and market investments in housing.

Join [bc] for a presentation of the 2017 State of Dallas Housing report followed by a panel discussion on housing affordability in Dallas on Tuesday, April 25th, at 6:30 pm at the Dallas Black Dance Theatre.  Panelist include - 

Roy Lopez - Community Development Office, U.S. Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas
Bernadette Mitchell - Director of Housing, City of Dallas
Demetria McCain - President, Inclusive Communities Project
Scott Galbraith - Vice President, Matthews Affordable Income Development

Please RSVP here.  Light refreshments will be provided.

Executive Summary

The 2017 State of Dallas Housing documents the characteristics of Dallas’ housing landscape - the people who live in the city, the houses they live in, and activity to build or sell homes - and identifies major barriers to accessing adequate housing for many of the city’s 1.3 million residents. In a city that has seen sustained increases in housing costs following the 2008 Recession, it appears that many low- and middle-income Dallasites struggle to find housing that meets their needs, regardless of whether they are looking to rent or own. Dallas’ surprisingly low homeownership rate (43%) continues to sit well below peers across the country, but this varies greatly between northern and southern Dallas as well as between the city’s white and minority households.

Dallas’ North-South divide permeates the report. Differences between households, housing, and market activity represent serious issues facing the city’s population. The city’s minority population is highly concentrated in southern Dallas and live in housing that is older and more affordable, although of varying quality, and those that live in northern Dallas are overwhelmingly renters. Opportunities to find affordable housing are limited in the north, often by economic constraints facing more than a third of the city’s households. Despite this, the local housing market operates at the high end of the income bracket, where homes are built and sold that far exceed the financial realities of most households in the city.

The findings in this report highlight the need for adjustments in public policy and reveal inefficiencies in the current marketplace. The recommendations of this report speak to those adjustments and inefficiencies, providing a pathway to building a more equitable city:

Key Findings

  • 68,000 households in Dallas need housing that costs less than $400 per month;
  • Homeownership for Dallas’ minority households falls behind rates of white households: 56% of white households are owner-occupied, compared to 31% for black households, 43% for Hispanic households, and 38% for Asian households;
  • The median sale price of recently constructed homes rose from $145,00 in 2011 to $522,000 in 2016;
  • 32% of homes in southern Dallas are valued less than $50,000, which represents just 6% of northern Dallas houses.

Recommendations

  • The City of Dallas should undertake a thorough review of its Land Bank program;
  • Innovative programs that promote housing affordability should be adopted by the City;
  • Public/Private partnerships to expand market-rate affordable housing for middle-income homebuyers are needed across the City;
  • Local homebuilders should explore opportunities for infill development of housing products that address the needs of low- and middle-income households identified in the report;
  • The City should seek to further Fair Housing through all funding allocations, including HUD funding for single family ownership.

Rural Placemaking Participant Selection

See more posts about Activating Vacancy and our work in D.C. 

[bc] and the Housing Assistance Council (HAC) are pleased to announce the selection of two organizations for our Rural Placemaking Program, supported by a Knowledge Building Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). The smART Kinston City Project Foundation in Kinston, North Carolina and Woodlands Development Group in Elkins, West Virginia will be implementing rural creative placemaking initiatives during summer 2017 as a part of this program.

The smART Kinston City Project Foundation has been working to foster the development of an arts-driven and asset-based economy by cultivating an Arts and Cultural District in Downtown Kinston for the last two years.  smART Kinston focuses their initiatives on connecting individuals and communities, using art as a tool to address local infrastructure and regional economic challenges.   Their pilot project will partner artists with local stakeholders to develop a creative placemaking project that addresses racial tensions and economic inequity in this city of 21,000.

Woodlands Development Group is a certified Community Housing Development Organization that has been working in Elkins, West Virginia and the surrounding area since 1995.  For this initiative, Woodlands will partner with ArtSpring to implement a creative placemaking initiative in Thomas, West Virginia - a town with a population of 600.  ArtSpring, a nonprofit that nurtures the arts community, has worked since 2011 to engage the public and promote Tucker county as an arts destination by presenting an annual arts festival.   Woodlands and ArtSpring will use community input to develop public art and wayfinding installations that reflect the artistic assets of the region and highlight the quickly developing cultural identity of Thomas.

Over the next six months, smART Kinston and Woodlands Development Group will work in partnership with residents and artists to develop a creative, arts-based initiative in their communities.  With the support of [bc] and HAC, both organizations will kickoff their creative placemaking pilot projects in June.  

The project is funded in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA).  To find out more about how the National Endowment for the Arts grants impact individuals and communities visit www.arts.gov.  

PDII 2017 Project Selections

Learn more about the Public Design Impact Initiative!

In January 2017, as part of a collaborative effort to extend equity in design to rural, colonia areas, a Request For Proposals was released to invite Rio Grande Valley nonprofit organizations and groups to submit project proposals to be matched with pro bono design services. From this RFP, we received many excellent proposals, and in March, a jury of nonprofit, community and design leaders convened to review the proposals and provide their recommendations for this year's selections.

[bc] is excited to announce that the following two projects have been selected for 2017:

Movimiento del Valle por los Derechos Humanos
Movimiento del Valle is currently educating and training community members about their constitutional rights as a strategy against anti-immigration attacks at the State and National levels. Recognizing that the RGV is a very vulnerable geographical area, they seek support in creating more educational resources for the community that help them communicate information more effectively through clear and accessible design and graphics. Through PDII Movimiento wants to start a graphic campaign and an online platform in which RGV residents have access to information and messages from the group. Their proposal includes the production of designs and educational resources to better equip the community on how to defend themselves against anti-immigration laws and a state of militarization and heavy policing at the border.

Equal Voice Network
The Equal Voice Network wants to develop a demonstration project of attractive and accessible social media messages of public interest and benefit. Through PDII the nonprofit wants to create a smart-phone friendly video series (via Facebook) that targets adults who have had limited opportunity for formal education. The first product of the series will break down the very complicated education reform bill passed in 2013 by the Texas State Legislature (Foundation High School Program) to give parents an immediate sense of what they need to be aware of for their middle and high school aged children. The other subjects of the series could cover a wide range of issues that affect the residents of  colonias like health care (Zika prevention), housing (“Is your home address on the 9-1-1 list?”), education (“Will  your child graduate high school eligible for university?”).

Downtown Dallas Community Audited Public Space (CAPS)

Join [bc] and Downtown Dallas, Inc. for a Community Audited Public Space (CAPS) exercise. Use your knowledge and skills to gather vital information on the quality of sidewalks and streetscapes which will help inform planning efforts in downtown. 

On the morning and afternoon of Saturday, March 25th, volunteers will work alongside [bc] to explore the heart of downtown Dallas through a series of data gathering activities. On Saturday, April 1st, [bc] will lead designers, engineers, and planners to audit some of the most complex spaces in downtown, focusing on the areas that bridge between the inside and outside of the downtown “loop”. During these events, we will record the physical condition of downtown’s public realm focusing on the sidewalks, their width, materiality, amenities and their interaction with the street.  

Public knowledge is indispensable in understanding the experience of place within the city. CAPS will reinforce the community led advocacy already taking place in downtown and will also help develop tools and strategies for documenting and addressing issues in downtown's public spaces and sidewalks. The results will aid in neighborhood efforts to 

  • Advocate for high quality public spaces
  • Enhance public safety through street and sidewalk treatments
  • Enhance the public realm through the addition of active public spaces
  • Provide community driven, qualitative analysis to supplement quantitative measurements of downtown 
  • Increase collaboration between community members

During each of these audits, participants will start by running through a CAPS training followed by small groups assignments to complete the audits. Facilitators will lead each small group through several blocks, gathering opinions and data on the sidewalks and streetscapes of the area. With the facilitator's guidance, auditors will record the physical condition of downtown's public realm focusing on the sidewalks, their width, materiality, amenities and their interaction with the street.  

We are calling all volunteers to join us in auditing the city on March 25th and April 1st. Additionally, we are looking for facilitators to lead the auditing groups on March 25th. Three trainings will be held before the community event for those interested in acting as a facilitator for small groups of volunteers. If you are interested in being a facilitator, please sign up for one of these dates: February 25th, March 2nd, and March 4th. 

This initiative is supported in part by Downtown Dallas Inc. (DDI) and an award from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). To find out more about the National Endowment for the Arts visit www.arts.gov.  To find out more about Downtown Dallas Inc., visit www.downtowndallas.com.

Building Equity in the Lower Rio Grande Valley

See more posts about LUCHA and our work in the Rio Grande Valley. 

Building equity in the Lower Rio Grande Valley is a critical part of many of our projects. Together with our partners we are working to increase housing opportunities for low-income residents and to build adequate drainage infrastructure for new and existing neighborhoods, civic engagement, and capacity through design. We invite you to learn more about four of our specific projects: sustainABLEhouse, Drainage Equity, LUCHA, and Public Design Impact Initiative, all of which are working hard to achieve these goals. 

Priority Setting Meeting for 1208 Tenth Street

Learn more about POP Dallas and Tenth Street! 

[bc] is soon to begin rehabilitation on a small house in the Tenth Street Historic District in Dallas, one of the few remaining intact Freedmen’s Town in the country. [bc] has long relationship with the neighborhood, having worked together with the Tenth Street Historic District on Neighborhood Stories and Activating Vacancy: Tenth Street, as well as being involved with the local crime watch, Operation Tenth Street. The house, which will be remodeled according to the historic district guidelines, will be turned into a Neighborhood Resource Center, a hub of activity, information, and programming for the community.


Residents of Tenth Street turned up in front of the house on Saturday, February 11th, for a Priority Setting Meeting to determine what goals the Neighborhood Resource Center should focus on, what kinds of programming and events should happen there, and what resources they want to access.  A few of the many suggestions included: different activities to involve kids and stay active, larger cultural events or festivals, a community gallery, and more!

Neighborhood Stories Kickoff in Elm Thicket

[bc] and the City of Dallas Planning and Urban Design Department have joined forces to bring Neighborhood Stories to the historic neighborhood, Elm Thicket, a Northwest Dallas community located near the Dallas Love Field airport. On Saturday, February 4th, residents and community leaders gathered at the K.B. Polk Recreation Center to kick off the much anticipated project. The event encouraged residents to share memorable stories, impactful historic events, and most of all, to celebrate their culture, identity, and history. Among some of the residents who shared their story was Mr. Thomas Buffin, a current resident who has lived in the neighborhood for over 75 years. Some of the events remembered included the geographical evolution of the neighborhood, the birth of local churches and businesses, the creation of the Dallas Love Field airport, and the desegregation of public schools. 

Stay connected with us as we uncover the untold story of Elm Thicket, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube!

Rural Placemaking Call for Participants

See more posts about our Activating Vacancy work. 

[bc], with HAC, is excited to announce the launch of the call for participants for Rural Placemaking, a new creative placemaking initiative that will take place in two rural communities (with populations less than 50,000) in the United States. Creative placemaking is a way of working between community developers, housing organizations, artists and local stakeholders to strengthen communities. This initiative will implement two creative actions during summer 2017 that bring people together to share food, stories, art, experiences, and histories as well as enable neighbors to talk, learn, and organize.

Two partnerships between a housing or community development organization and an artist/art organization will be selected to implement a temporary initiative from May to August 2017. [bc] and HAC encourage housing/community development organizations without an existing artist/arts organization partner to submit an application. If successful, [bc] and HAC will facilitate selection of a partner artist/organization.

Successful applicants will receive up to $7,500 to support the development of an arts and community building project in their town. They will also receive training and support from national leaders in creative placemaking and community development on the implementation of their project. Throughout the Rural Placemaking program, [bc] and HAC will provide one in person peer-to-peer training session with other participants to share experience and problem solve, technical training webinars to guide participants through [bc]'s creative placemaking process, Activating Vacancy, and an on-site visit to assist in program implementation. [bc] will provide guidance and feedback to participants on creative placemaking throughout the implementation of Rural Placemaking.  HAC will provide organizational and technical assistance in sustaining long term impact throughout the implementation of Rural Placemaking.  

Applicants should demonstrate a strong interest in social justice and desire to work collaboratively with community stakeholders to formulate proposals which unite residents from diverse economic and cultural backgrounds. Applicants are encouraged to share examples of past work that exhibit community engagement/participation and the organization’s interest in bringing creative placemaking to their community.

More information on Rural Placemaking can be found here. Interested parties should apply via an online application here. We recommend reviewing the application requirements on pages 4-6 on the call for participants to prepare your materials prior to submission. Applicants cannot save and return to their applications.

Applications are due by 11:59pm on March 10, 2017. Applicants are encouraged to submit outside of peak website traffic time, (8:00pm-11:59pm CST on March 10th, 2017).  Finalists will be notified by March 30, 2017.

This initiative is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). To find out more about how National Endowment for the Arts grants impact individuals and communities, visit www.arts.gov.

Bridging the Gap: Connecting Nonprofits and Designers

Learn more about our Public Design Impact Initiative!

"Sometimes community groups have this need and designers want to do meaningful work and they don't know how to connect with each other."  Learn how [bc] Bridges The Gap between nonprofits and designers through our Public Design Impact Initiative.

The Public Design Impact Initiative (PDII) is a program to match nonprofit & community groups with local design professional services. This program guides selected projects through a community-engaged design process and partners communities and designers to build the knowledge and experience of both to better serve others.

The PDII 2017 Request for Proposals is OPEN! Are you a nonprofit or community group in the Rio Grande Valley in need of design? Would architecture, planning, landscape architecture, or design expertise help with a project you've had in mind but not the resources to move forward? We encourage you to submit a project proposal! Proposals are due Thursday, February 2nd, 2017.

 

ACD 40 Call for Sessions

The Association for Community Design has launched their Call for Sessions for their 40th Annual Conference.
Deadline for proposal submission has passed.

[bc] has been selected to host the 40th Annual Conference of the Association for Community Design in Dallas, Texas to be held June 23rd - 24th,  2017. You are invited to submit proposals to present at the conference. Proposals are due at 5pm on March 3, 2017. Selected proposals will receive free registration to the ACD Conference.  

“40 years ago, the field of Community Design grew out of the civil rights movement of the 1960’s with the intention of redistributing design resources to support under-invested neighborhoods. Looking forward another 40 years, ACD would like to invite the growing field to actively participate in the equitable development of neighborhoods and intentionally push our practice towards justice in our collective everyday lives.” - Theresa Hwang, ACD President

CommUNITY: Exchange. Explore. Envision.

As ACD turns 40, it is time to reflect back on the why ACD was formed and how it is serving its members today. This year’s conference will be hosting sessions that are centered around the many models of practice that inform how community-based design centers and practitioners operate. The conference will seek to advance the practice of Community Design by connecting and sharing this collective experience.

TRACKS

Exchange: What technical skills are essential to practicing community-based design? Proposals should teach these skills to attendees of all experience levels. From budgets, fundraising, and contracts to project delivery and design tools that are essential to practice, what can you teach others looking to enter or advance their community practices further?

Explore: What are key examples of best practices in the Community Design field? Proposals should go beyond case studies, clearly explaining the lessons learned and how an example project further refined the model of practice for that individual or firm. Example projects that push the boundaries of community design and do not fit traditional models of work are encouraged.

Envision: What will the next 40 years of the Community Design field look like? Proposals should present ambitious visions of the future for community-based design practice, the role of ACD and its members in that vision, and/or methodologies to create and achieve a future vision.

SESSION FORMATS

90 minute sessions: In-depth sessions that teach a key skill to the attendees, presents a lesson learned by experience in the Community Design field, or that engages the audience in a visioning process. These sessions must include an interactive component that engages the audience in the proposed session.

30 minute sessions: Short presentations or hands-on workshops for a small group of attendees that fits one of the three tracks described above.

5 minute sessions: Very brief presentations that tell a story that fits one of the three tracks described above.

Additional opportunities include the Pre-Conference Workshop on Racial Justice in the practice of Community Design and hosting a public event, exhibit, or tour during the conference. 

To submit a proposal and for more information, visit www.communitydesign.org!

Disaster Recovery Round 2

See more posts about Disaster Recovery Round 2 here!

Disaster Recovery Round 2 has nearly come to an end, over 240 homes have been built to date across 6 neighborhoods throughout the city of Houston. In August the program was extended with an additional 44 homes. [bc] has met with 33 of those homeowners to select their new homes, 21 home designs have been submitted for permit to date. 

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10th Street: Construction Set To Begin

Learn more about People Organizing Place (POP)!

The 10th Street house is a small-scale rehabilitation project on an existing house in the historic 10th Street District, one of the few remaining freedmen's towns left in Dallas. The rehabilitation efforts to the existing house will be minimal and true to the original structure, honoring the history of the neighborhood, and original aesthetic of the home. Construction is set to begin at the beginning of 2017. Once complete the home will be a community design hub for the neighborhood.

Macon Starks: The First Unit

Learn more about Macon Starks!

Macon Starks is a housing development which provides rental units for seniors in the ideal neighborhood. The project consists of new single family houses, duplexes, and the renovation of an existing single family home. The first unit under construction will be complete in January 2017.

 

South Boulevard Update

Learn more about South Boulevard! 

South Boulevard, the four new town homes located in the Jeffries-Meyers neighborhood of South Dallas are currently for sale. The project has been permitted and construction will be underway early 2017. 

Casitas Los Olmos Nearing Completion

Learn more about Casitas Los Olmos! 

Casitas Los Olmos is an 80-unit multifamily development currently under construction in Raymondville, TX, built in partnership with Community Development Corporation of Brownsville (CDCB). The design of the project incorporates Low Impact Development (LID) strategies, including vegetated swales and permeable driveways to manage stormwater, single family units, and shaded community amenity buildings. Casitas Los Olmos is scheduled to be completed in Spring 2017.