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Brad Bollinger: Architects help Town of Windsor explore its future

Occasionally, a community is handed a gift, and the Town of Windsor received a gem with last week’s visit by a team of sustainable urban design experts assembled by the American Institute of Architects.

Under the title “Old Red’s Going Green,” referring to Old Redwood Highway that dissects the city, Windsor is one of just 10 cities in the U.S. chosen to participate in the AIA’s volunteer program. One official noted that if Windsor had assembled the six-member team on its own, instead of being essentially free, it would have cost $500,000.

Some are rightly skeptical about such visits being mostly talk. And, yes, other cities have squandered the opportunity to turn valuable AIA advice into change. Windsor’s challenge, as with every city that has received an AIA team visit, will be to turn ideas into action. And there is no lack of ideas.

In its three-day whirlwind examination of Sonoma County’s youngest city, the Sustainable Design Assessment Team from across the U.S. found much to like, such as the family atmosphere, hiking trails, proximity to the Charles M. Schulz-Sonoma County Airport and the Town Green for which Windsor is perhaps best known.

But like any city, Windsor has room for improvement.

One expert urged the city to “skinny” up its wide boulevards. Streets are public spaces, he said, and should reflect community values such as pedestrian friendliness and bicycling.

Town leaders were encouraged to press for changes to the hulking Old Redwood Highway-101 interchange and to look for opportunities for “linear” parks along thoroughfares. Another urged the city to explore building an “energy farm” to demonstrate community commitment to renewable resources.

On the economy, the city was told it is “bleeding” sales tax revenues to other municipalities and is sending too many of its residents to other communities to work.

To bolster the economy, the city could consider attracting a corporate headquarters because of its proximity to the airport. With its family-oriented atmosphere, Windsor would be an ideal location for the North Bay Children’s Museum that is currently looking for space, one team expert said.

As design team leader and architect Dennis Andrejko from Buffalo, N.Y. said, it is possible to “teach Old Red new tricks.”

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Brad Bollinger is editor in chief and associate publisher of the Business Journal. He can be reached at bbollinger@northbay

businessjournal.com or 707-521-4251.