Project Spotlight – Town Center Creative Placemaking

Project Spotlight - Town Center Creative Placemaking

Discover the transformative project that brought creative placemaking to the bustling Town Center community in Cobb County, Georgia.

The Town Center community is a vibrant and bustling area located in Cobb County, Georgia, known for its dynamic mix of educational institutions, commercial centers, transportation infrastructure, and recreational amenities. This diverse district includes major landmarks such as Kennesaw State University, the Town Center Mall, key regional expressways and major roadways, Cobb County International Airport, and Aviation Park. In addition to these, the community is surrounded by numerous residential neighborhoods and several highly popular hiking and biking trails that contribute to the area’s active lifestyle.

Despite its dense population and wealth of assets, the Town Center area currently suffers from a notable lack of public gathering spaces that encourage social interaction and community engagement. Many residents and visitors alike are unaware of some of the area’s hidden gems, such as the Noonday Creek Trail, which offers scenic opportunities for outdoor recreation and connection with nature.

To address these challenges and leverage the community’s existing strengths, the Town Center Community Alliance engaged TSW in partnership with the Chattanooga-based placemaking firm Little Things Lab. This collaboration was tasked with developing creative, innovative recommendations aimed at enhancing the area’s major corridors. The goal was to highlight and amplify Town Center’s unique features while designing new elements to draw more visitors, encourage greater use by residents, and expand safe opportunities for community activities and social engagement.

The process spanned eight months and was comprehensive in scope, including multiple site visits, a series of public engagement activities to gather community input, a detailed existing conditions analysis, and an in-depth review of prior planning efforts. The culmination of this work resulted in well-informed, thoughtfully crafted final recommendations designed to foster a stronger sense of place, improve connectivity, and enhance the overall quality of life for all who live, work, and visit Town Center.

Project Spotlight - Town Center Creative Placemaking, Engaging the Community and Neighborhoods

The American Planning Association (APA) defines creative placemaking as a process where community members from public, private, and non-profit sectors work together to strategically shape the physical and social character of their community around art and culture to increase vibrancy, improve economic conditions and build capacity among residents to take ownership of their communities. With this goal in mind, the planning team worked with community members to define a vision for the area and then bring that vision to life through design recommendations.

The team identified five placemaking categories on which to focus:

  • Special Places
  • Roadway Underpass Enhancements
  • Trail Identification Improvements
  • Safety Through Art
  • Events and Programming
Project Spotlight - Town Center Creative Placemaking, Community Map

Special Places

The community highly desired additional public spaces for outdoor activities and events. The following spaces were proposed:
  • Noonday Creek Linear Park off Barrett Lakes Blvd.
  • Art Park off Chastain Rd.
  • Outdoor public events spaces
  • Boardwalk Park and Nature Trail off Chastain Rd.
  • Outdoor Climbing Park at George Busbee Parkway
  • Dog Park and Fitness Park at Bells Ferry Trailhead

Underpass Enhancement

Highway underpasses throughout the community were identified and recommended to be enhanced by adding native landscaping, artistic lighting and colorful mural installations to provide Town Center branding opportunities, increase a sense of safety, and beautify the area.

Trail Identification Improvements

  • Add creative wayfinding signage with native landscaping at all Noonday Creek Trail entry points.
  • Add colorful, branded crosswalks where the trail intersects the major corridors to signify trail crossings and increase visibility of pedestrian routes.
  • Add site furniture and shade structures at key trailheads to increase comfort and multi-functional use.
Walking Trail

Safety Through Art

  • Enhance crosswalks with branded, creative designs to expanded pedestrian connections and increase awareness of major pedestrian routes.
  • Improve road medians with native landscapes and artistic elements.
  • Create road-pedestrian buffers with landscaping and artistic barriers.
  • Enhance blank walls on the corridors through the additional of branded, cohesive artistic elements or murals.

Events and Programming in Public Parks and Spaces

  • Exercise classes in the Park. Bikes + Bites events that include a bike ride to a happy hour in an outdoor space in partnership with a local restaurant. Music performances along the Noonday Creek Trail to encourage trail usage.
  • Community Climb Events in partnership with local climbing gym, Stone Summit Climbing and Fitness Center.
  • Themed/focused events that highlight the local food scene, artists, and makers. Team Spirit Day in partnership with KSU.
  • Outdoor movie series
  • Guided Tours that highlight the beautiful nature along the trail and history of the area.
The final plan has been presented and received positive feedback from the community and Town Center officials. TSW is excited to see the above recommendations be implemented to make this thriving Georgia community an even more appealing place to live, work, and play.

Project Spotlight – Town Center Creative Placemaking