As Peoria grows, city developers, designers, and other officials are presented with an opportunity to strategically incorporate green spaces and recreational amenities in underutilized landscapes near urban centers. Peoria’s Skunk Creek corridor features favorable conditions for recreational interventions to grow and adapt the area into a strengthened community asset. This project portfolio began in Fall 2019, with the Skunk Creek Activation report, which aimed to provide multiple levels of suggested amenities to implement in the area. Using this initial set of findings and recommendations, the Spring 2020 students continued the Skunk Creek portfolio by building on prior research and developing further actionable suggestions surrounding the corridor.
Public green spaces provide a myriad of benefits, as they foster community engagement, mitigate the effects of pollution, and help reduce the Urban Heat Island Effect. Furthermore, the availability of green space with recreational amenities and rest areas allows for physical activity and relaxation as well as an escape from the Arizona heat. Studies also show green spaces can contribute to a wide variety of positive sociocultural and economic outcomes in a population. The Skunk Creek corridor is one such space, which, when fully activated, has the potential to serve as an important city asset that increases sociocultural wellbeing, economic prosperity, and ecological harmony in the City of Peoria.
This project was conducted by a small group of five engineering students in the FSE 104/404: EPICS Gold course. These students represented a variety of engineering disciplines, including engineering management, civil engineering, and computer science. The students spent the semester examining existing conditions of the Skunk Creek area and developing proposals to reimagine the untapped potential of the site. Equipped with city staff insights and the results from a survey of Peoria residents, the City identified some underutilized areas of the Skunk Creek Trail and its adjacent facilities, and with this information, students developed their project scope and design plans for future construction to enhance the Skunk Creek Corridor.