The bigger picture: Trussville native aims to ‘build on what’s special’ about city

Matt Phillips is thinking back about growing up in Trussville, about the people and the places, and no memory from downtown Trussville stands out.

Today, the 2006 Hewitt-Trussville High School graduate attends a concert or watches a game on the big screen at the Trussville Entertainment District, and he sees young people all around.

“They have no idea,” Phillips said with a laugh. “We did not have anything this cool. We hung out in the church parking lot, and these kids have this awesome space to hang out with their friends, and their families can be there to watch a game on the big screen. It’s just super cool to see.”

Phillips, a principal at Dix.Hite, a firm that designs exterior spaces, has had a hand in transforming downtown Trussville, a city he’s called home nearly all his life.

Phillips’s dad was a landscape contractor, and he grew up working alongside him. He went to Auburn to study building science, but quickly realized he didn’t want to move all over to follow his projects. He switched to horticulture with a focus in landscape design. After earning that science-based bachelor’s degree, he enrolled in the landscape architecture graduate program, which focuses on landscapes from a philosophical perspective.

That’s what it’s about: crafting places that people use. It’s for people. It’s not for cars. Just thinking about ways to design in a way that is leading us to a better place. … And it’s cool to see, especially working in a place where you grew up and you care a lot about how it develops and what it becomes.

Matt Philips

“It kind of flipped me on my head,” Phillips said.

While earning that master’s degree, Phillips learned a lot about the exterior world people use.

“That’s what it’s about: crafting places that people use,” he said. “It’s for people. It’s not for cars. Just thinking about ways to design in a way that is leading us to a better place. I didn’t really know what that next step was going to take me to, but it took me to a completely different place. I really enjoy it. And it’s cool to see, especially working in a place where you grew up and you care a lot about how it develops and what it becomes.”

Dix.Hite has led the design team in the master planning effort for generating catalytic development opportunities in downtown Trussville. The firm was tasked with the planning and design of the streetscape, pedestrian areas, park and greenway connections, as well as signage and wayfinding. The goal has been to use design elements and materials that were unique to the region and history of Trussville in order to create a cohesive aesthetic and identity for downtown.

Phillips said the work began with a streetscape project in a small part of one quadrant in downtown Trussville. As interest increased, more work was done. At about that time, Buddy Choat was elected mayor, and a new City Council was elected. Phillips said that group was instrumental in clearing any roadblocks in the way of transforming downtown.

“Everything really aligned,” he said. “It started with Buddy saying that whatever hurdles get in our way, we’re going to figure out a way to get through them or over them. That’s what it takes. It really does. It takes someone that’s going to own it, make tough decisions and find a way forward.”

Trussville’s 2040 Plan includes an active transportation network, seven points that largely focus on the downtown area:

Greenway extension from Civitan Park, connecting to downtown and along Pinchgut Creek.

Greenway extension from Civitan Park north along the Cahaba River toward Stockton.

Multiuse path connection between Roper Road and Camp Coleman Road.

Multiuse path connection along the Deerfoot corridor to an identified, large-scale, regionally significant nature park including bike trails, camping, RV park, etc.

Multiuse path connection across U.S. 11 to the future greenway extension.

Development of a park and trailhead at property adjacent to Winn-Dixie.

Planned trailhead locations that provide access to a major network throughout Trussville, designed to give access to all residents of Trussville and help shape future development.

“No site works in isolation,” Phillips said. “Understanding its context and surroundings and how it fits into the bigger picture was kind of what our role on the project was initially. That just continued to grow to look at other opportunities to grow. You need to build on what’s special about Trussville, and there are a lot of things that are special. The history of the place is something that can be pulled out into all the experiences. People come from outside of Trussville and come to Trussville and they get it. They get why it’s special, why we care about it. All of that, all that story can be told through these exterior spaces and the experience of public space.”

Phillips serves on Trussville’s Redevelopment Authority and Design Review Committee. In his Dix.Hite position, he works on a lot of places, but he admits it’s “more exciting” to work on improving exterior spaces in his hometown.

“That’s kind of where my passion is, to see a place where I grew up and I know so much about and so many people who have grown up here, to be able to work on projects that I know are going to make this place unique,” he said. “It already is, but thinking about how to build on that uniqueness of Trussville. I think what a lot of other suburbs deal with is similar. It becomes ubiquitous. You go to a place that feels unique and is special. Trussville has a lot of those things with the Cahaba Project, with the Cahaba River and the greenway and the schools and the history of the schools. It’s about taking that and leveraging it into a place that is completely unique, so that when you come to Trussville it’s unlike any other place you’ve ever been. Those are the things that you build on.”

He can’t pinpoint a favorite part of what he does. It’s not beginning a new project or completing it later. For Phillips, it’s truly about the process.

“It’s understanding that there’s a bigger picture that we’re working toward and that all of these projects and these pieces, whether I work on it or not, all contribute to that overall vision and identity and story that Trussville is trying to tell,” Phillips said. “To me, that’s what is so cool to see, all these pieces that add up to a bigger story.”