Riley Mayor's Design Fellowship

As part of the MRUD program, I participated in the Riley Mayors’ Design Fellowship. Students were partnered with towns across the state to research, visit, and provide design suggestions to meet the citizens needs. My group of 3 worked with the municipalities of Mount Pleasant, SC and Lake City, SC. We visited the towns to consult with the mayors and city staff as well as tour the towns. The intention was to keep the design graphics general and inviting to be able to present to the public and encourage development. We compiled our research and designs into 2 Story Maps, and in March 2024 a forum was held to present our Story Maps to the mayors as well as a resource committee.

Mount Pleasant is a suburb of Charleston with a population of 90,000. To be able to focus, we only proposed changes to a central hub. The hub had a lot of amenities, but it was not pedestrian friendly. We thought the addition of a third space at a gas station that was no longer being used could help. We also proposed to turn some of the shopping areas into mixed use space with housing on top and retail below.

The municipality of Lake City has a population of about 6,000. Some of their main concerns included updating the welcome signs and creating more community space. We proposed that their welcome signs could include a water feature as an homage to the lake of Lake City. A neighborhood park we saw on our tour was underutilized and becoming a place for negative activity. By restoring the baseball field and adding a splash pad and other facilities, negative activity could be discouraged as well as creating a community space for families to enjoy.