Three Wayfinding Ideas from New Mexico’s Main Street Institute

By: Eli Bisegna, Art Director, Alta

Participants of an exploratory outdoor workshop collaborated to select and sign a route from Farmington’s downtown to a nearby river walk, plus a fun sign seen along the way.

Last week’s New Mexico Main Street Institute conference in Farmington, NM brought together 50 vaccinated/tested attendees who were passionate about their hometowns, understood the value of wayfinding, participated enthusiastically in the workshops, and asked a lot of thoughtful questions.

The conference was a quarterly meeting of New Mexico Main Street communities, which are accredited by Main Street America. Main Street America, a subsidiary of the National Trust, empowers communities to set their own destinies. Revitalization is challenging work, and the Main Street program offers a road-map for locally-owned, locally-driven prosperity. Thousands of communities across the US have used the Main Street Approach to transform their economies, leverage local leadership, and improve overall quality of life.

Alta’s Art Director, Eli Bisegna, attended the conference and hosted the session, “Wayfinding: Connecting People with Places.” A highlight for Eli was meeting the leaders of the nation’s first and (soon to be) second indigenous accredited Main Street communities: Zuni Pueblo and Laguna Pueblo, who both presented on how they are adapting the tools of Main Street to their local needs. Laguna Pueblo is working from an Alta-led 2012 Master Plan as they continue to make bicycle and pedestrian improvements.

Hear from Eli about three ideas that came out of these discussions:

1. Community leaders understand the need for wayfinding. These leaders want help articulating the benefits to their elected officials, and many attendees were thrilled to have this wayfinding brochure to take back home and share.
2. Walk your path! I co-led an exploratory outdoor workshop in which participants collaborated to select and sign a route from Farmington’s downtown to a nearby river walk. Participants noted the value of actually traversing the terrain versus working from a map — it took longer than we expected, and we encountered barriers, challenges, and opportunities that we wouldn’t have known about otherwise. All of that was valuable information and it really demonstrated the power of boots-on-the-ground knowledge.
3. Wayfinding is not enough; it needs to be considered as part of a holistic approach to downtown revitalization, including safe and pleasant facilities for walking and biking; support for local businesses and outdoor recreation assets; and considerations for vehicular traffic and parking.

Want to incorporate a wayfinding plan in your community? Reach out to Eli Bisegna to start a conversation. Learn more about Alta’s Wayfinding Service Area, and join our newsletter for monthly news updates.