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Hammond Downtown Plan

Hammond, IN, USA

2023 Merit Award, Congress for New Urbanism

The arrival of a new train station (at right) has created an opportunity to reinvigorate a struggling downtown with new housing, civic spaces, and more walkable streets.

Client

City of Hammond

Collaborators

Stantec Urban Places, City of Hammond

Timeline

2019

Category

Downtowns

Budget

N/A

Scale

200 acres

Status

Under construction

Reference

Anne Anderson, Director of Economic Development, andersona@gohammond.com

“I saw firsthand a shift in people’s perception of what our downtown could be. And now that the plan is being set in motion, we are seeing brand new, vibrant development after years of stagnation.” 

— Anne Anderson, Director of Economic Development, Hammond, IN

Once one of the busiest downtowns in Indiana, the heart of Hammond—the inspiration of the film A Christmas Story—has seen almost complete disinvestment since the 1960s. Fortunately, bold leadership recently secured for the city a new rail stop offering convenient commuter service to the Chicago loop.


To make the most of this opportunity, the City hired the firm to create, through a public charrette process, a plan that would shape regional housing demand into an urban framework to attract investment. The resulting plan reconfigured the street network, restriped most downtown streets, created a new main square and transit square, designated new housing sites, and transformed Hohman Avenue, the city’s main street, from a surface highway into a drivable linear plaza, now built.


In an early win, the plan managed to move the train station a full block closer to the heart of downtown. This award-winning project is the centerpiece of the PBS documentary Walkable USA.

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