By Sharron Hannon
John Crowley, dean of the School of Environmental Design, posed a number of intriguing “what if” questions to the institutional Strategic Planning Advisory Group at their weekly briefing April 22.
 Crowley asked the group to consider such issues as how people outside campus get to and from the university, broadening the definition of “student,” the university’s role in the surrounding community, possibilities for partnerships as the physical master plan develops and how people might get around campus without cars.
Crowley started off by discussing UGA’s “role on the globe,” which he said is very much connected to Atlanta’s Hartsfield International Airport. “That’s a physical connection that will probably never go away,” he said. “We need to work for the success of the airport. It has a profound effect on this university.”
But Hartsfield is not the only airport serving Athens, Crowley reminded the group. In addition to Ben Epps, he noted the Winder airport, which he said he uses often.
Crowley then asked the group to consider how the definition of student might be expanded. “We tend to think of students as 18-year-olds,” he said. “But students can also be those coming back to campus for retraining, for service programs or after retirement. A student could be a 72-year-old who wants to participate in campus life or contribute in some way. But developers are building apartments for traditional students, not retired students.”
Crowley said the institutional strategic plan ought to consider possibilities for retirement communities on the edge of campus, such as across the Oconee River. “Some of this property is now undeveloped or underutilized,” he said. “What if it were designed as a community with a combination of students, retirees, faculty/staff and the general population?”
He continued the scenario by asking the group to imagine a bridge across the Oconee that could be used only by transit vehicles and connected to the campus transit system.
“We’re training another generation of commuters,” Crowley said, noting that vehicle-miles traveled by individuals in cars is expected to increase in the future. To break the cycle, people have to learn new behaviors, he said.
The university needs to be concerned about neighborhoods adjoining its borders, he added. “We need to think beyond the cast-iron fence. The fence can stay, but the meshing with adjoining neighborhoods is critical.”
Crowley also sees possibilities for public-private partnerships in housing, food services and other areas. “Starbucks is here now,” he said. “There could be retail pockets on campus that fit the student experience.”
Crowley praised the campus physical master plan as “one of the finest” he’s seen, but said the university must consider whether future growth should be out College Station Road or down Milledge Avenue. He views the idea of a rail line through campus as “a bad idea now,” but one that could be more feasible in the future, linking the planned downtown transportation hub to Watkinsville and even Bishop--“potential commuter communities.”
A passenger rail line will happen in the next five to eight years, he predicts. “It’s more likely to happen than ever before,” he said. “Other options are closing down. We’re not going to be allowed to build the kinds of highways we’ve built in the past.”
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