NCC Students Have Good Ideas for Dense Development in Bethlehem

Heidi Butler has a cool piece at the NCC website on architecture students’ ideas for South Side Bethlehem:

Instead of parking lots on the south side of Third Street, Mike Fusciardi, Jonathan Herrera, Dave Hughes and Chris Lutz envision two attractive multi-use complexes where retail stores, offices, and condos hide interior parking decks that can accommodate 1500 cars.

Outside pedestrian-friendly walkways will encourage foot traffic, along streets featuring slightly elevated brick surfaces and grass medians to slow traffic down.

Michael Tauber drew on the past In conceptualizing a new look for Hay Street, incorporating iron fencing and red brick facades to remind people of the mighty steel company that played a major role in Bethlehem’s history. “Bethlehem Steel was such an important part of the Southside. We don’t want anyone to forget about it,” he says.

Right on. Hopefully John Callahan came away from this event with some good ideas for filling in Third Street’s surface parking lots with mixed-use housing, retail and denser parking options.