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Taos Smart Growth Implementation Assistance: Concepts for the Paseo del Pueblo Sur Corridor

The town of Taos, New Mexico, requested EPA Smart Growth Implementation Assistance to help make development along State Highway 68, the Paseo del Pueblo Sur commercial corridor, economically stronger and more attractive. Through meetings with residents, town staff and officials, property owners, and others, a vision for the corridor emerged. Residents were particularly concerned about preserving Taos' distinctive character and making it easier to get around town. 

Taos Smart Growth Implementation Assistance: Concepts for the Paseo del Pueblo Sur Corridor (2006) describes the project and the options the EPA team developed, based on the community's goals, that could help the town transform both the feel and the function of the corridor. Possible actions included:

  • Managing traffic better through a combination of strategies, including a connected street network; better pedestrian, bicycle, and transit facilities, and more efficient parking and transportation management.
  • Establishing a distinct character for sections of the Paseo through street design that also makes the road safer and more pleasant for drivers, pedestrians, and bicyclists.
  • Making the Paseo a community center by creating nodes of activity, mixing land uses along the corridor, and using building and site design that reinforces Taos' sense of place.

The town planned to use the team's report to work with the New Mexico Department of Transportation on its scheduled redesign of part of the Paseo, formalize neighborhood associations, develop a green infrastructure plan, and complete its Land Use Master Plan. The town also uses the report to educate the community about growth and development issues.

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