Emma Curley
Architecture
Urban design
Facilitation

Wyandanch, Long Island, New York

ec entered the design competition - Wyandanch Better Burb = Better Life in the summer of 2010 as part of ec’s ongoing commitment to research and creative thinking around new ideas, new communities and new responses to challenging locations. This was a fascinating competition in a location that is recognised the world over. The process has aided in the growth of ec’s knowledge of the latest international town and neighbourhood sustainable design trends and techniques in a practical format.

Wyandanch is located on Long Island, New York, some 55km from Manhattan or 1 hour on the train to Penn Station and is located 9km, or 20 minutes cycling distance, from the beaches of the island to the south. Wyandanch needed a new identity. When first developed in the 1920’s, Wyandanch was one of the ‘first suburbs’ of New York and marketed as a “Pine Tree Valley” neighbourhood. Over the past 90 years, many problems (unemployment, poverty, crime) have beset this perceived “blighted area”. This needed to change, and ec felt that this could change by Wyandanch returning to its roots as a highly green, attractive and vibrant suburb in which to live.

Our overarching aim was to change Wyandanch into a self-sustaining ‘Burb’. This was to be implemented by introducing ‘Hard’ physical measures and ‘Soft’ measures to aid in perception change, coupled with a community led behavioural change programme in order to promote a better ‘Burb’ and better life. Over 200 competition entries have been submitted with the announcement of the winning team pending.