12.15.10 | New York, NY | Parsons Brinckerhoff (PB) was one of the winners of The Long Island Index’s “Build a Better Burb” contest for retrofitting Long Island’s downtowns.

The competition was intended to attract bold new ideas to address some of the most significant problems facing the region, including housing affordability and the movement of younger people away from the region. The competition drew 212 submissions from more than 30 countries, and showcased designs for retrofitting Long Island’s 156 downtowns and train-adjacent areas. A distinguished panel of jurors selected 23 finalists and then six winners from entries submitted by architects, urban designers, planners, visionaries and students. A seventh winner, of the “People’s Choice Award,” was selected by the public.

The PB team’s entry, titled AgIsland, envisions a new paradigm for economic, environmental and social development, combining Long Island’s historic relationship to farming with new open space, decreased automobile dependence, alternative energy, a new economy and connection to the land and to each other. The team selected Farmingdale, along Route 110, to re-imagine. A former farm town replaced by millions of square feet of office parks, massive malls, strip malls and a few isolated residential developments, Farmingdale is emblematic of Long Island sprawl development.

Under the plan, office parks in Farmingdale are relocated to a transit-oriented community, served by the Long Island Rail Road and improved transit on Route 110. The plan also replaces office parks with organic farms, fed by AgTrain, an automated rail system conveying products from local growers to processing and distribution facilities, and then to local consumers and regional commercial centers. AgTrain also conveys waste-to-soil mixing sites and a waste-to-energy plant, providing organic soils to farms and alternative energy to communities. Retail, education, entertainment and residential opportunities are mixed to significantly reduce automobile reliance. The result is an environmentally productive, socially diverse, economically industrious, livable, walkable community.

“The concepts represented in the winning projects reflect progressive design thinking for suburban centers and regions being explored in the fields of architecture and landscape architecture,” said June Williamson, Associate Professor of Architecture, City College of New York/CUNY, a consultant for the competition. “This competition has been a tremendous opportunity to present these ideas to the public and to help citizens envision how their communities might be redesigned.”

About Parsons Brinkerhoff:

Parsons Brinckerhoff (PB) is a leader in developing and operating infrastructure around the world, with 14,000 employees dedicated to meeting the needs of clients and communities in the Americas, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Australia-Pacific regions. PB offers skills and resources in strategic consulting, planning, engineering, program/construction management, and operations for all modes of infrastructure, including transportation, power, community development, water and the environment. Parsons Brinckerhoff is part of Balfour Beatty plc, the international infrastructure Group operating in professional services, construction services, support services and infrastructure investments (www.pbworld.com).