Design Matters in Tannersville, New York

On this blog we have covered towns like Braddock, PA which is going through a new “urban-pioneering” movement under the leadership of Mayor John Fetterman. We have also covered the unconventional design sense of Portland design enthusiast Re: Place in PDX. When we came across this segment on NBC’s Today Show, it made perfect sense to link the two topics together:

Tannersville, a small farm town in New York that hasn’t seen an economic boom since its tanning business collapsed in the mid-19^th century, served as a sleepy little hole in the wall for commuters traveling from New York to further upstate.  But artist and graphic designer Elena Patterson believed that design could not only make the downtrodden exterior finishes look better, but also improve the economy by bringing in tourist dollars. After she painted her house in extraordinary colors, the rest of the town followed her lead and began painting businesses and older buildings in the same manner. Now under her leadership with the not-for-profit Hunter Foundation, the town is experiencing a sharp increase in tourism with the aptly named Paint Program.

Visitors passing through Tannersville are treated to a bevy of old shops, homes, and other structures painted in multicolored pastels with cartoonish illustrations that look like they were ripped out of Super Mario World adorning fixtures. People from New York and other large population centers are stopping to visit in order to admire the sights they cannot experience in the massive glass and steel metropolises of New England and the Mid-Atlantic (unless they are viewing a Lichtenstein or Andy Warhol exhibit inside of an art gallery).

While some people think that cities, towns, and villages need massive support from government grants, private funds, and corporations in order to improve design, it’s not always the case. Design is ultimately about creating interest and increasing enjoyment, and this relatively cheap and simple design was the perfect solution for the town’s problem.

Tannersville works as an example of excellent design because humans have needs and wants beyond sameness and survival; we crave and seek interest, creativity, and difference. The spectacle of change attracts humans and is the same reason we have so many different restaurants, genres of music, and admire the trees in autumn.

While some of Tannersville’s residents do not personally enjoy the Technicolor palette the town has received, others took a chance, tried something different, and achieved a result that transformed them from just another plain old city into a small sight-seeing destination. If Tannersville can use simple design methods to bring people in, just imagine what struggling urban areas could do with the same philosophy. 

Tannersville General Store (before)

Tannersville General Store (after)