Three US agencies join to help West Virginia town

How does a gritty West Virginia town with dilapidated former manufacturing sites revitalize itself into a thriving, mixed-use, walkable community in a down economy? In September 2011, about 30 top planning, engineering, and development professionals came to the northeast part of West Virginia to help Ranson figure that out.

The week-long charrette — courtesy of the Partnership for Sustainable Communities of the US Department of Transportation (DOT), the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD, and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) — created plans to revamp an arterial road into a “complete street,” reform zoning codes, redevelop former industrial sites, and improve commuter transit.

Unlike most communities that have benefited from federal “livability” grants, Ranson, which has about 3,900 residents, received assistance from multiple coordinated programs:

• A HUD Community Challenge Planning grant is paying for the firm Placemakers to write a new zoning overlay district for downtown as well as undeveloped, outlying areas of the cities.

• A DOT TIGER challenge grant is paying for Hall Planning & Engineering to redesign the Fairfax Boulevard-George Street Corridor into a “complete street” with green infrastructure; to promote a better transportation route for

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