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Northern Section 2021 Awards announced

By Brynn McKiernan, AICP, April 16, 2021

The results are in. Join us in congratulating the best of Northern California planning!

Our jurors were:

Ozzy Arce, City of Walnut Creek

Florentina Craciun, City and County of San Francisco

Amalia Cunningham, AICP, Contra Costa County

Eri Suzuki, SiteLab

Aaron Welch, Aaron Welch Planning

And the winners are:

Academic Award

Award of Excellence: Alum Rock Avenue Community Assessment, San Jose State University Master of Urban Planning Program

  • Team: Graduate Students in the San Jose State University Masters of Urban Planning Program Capstone Studio: Fall 2019 and Spring 2020

Award of Merit: Access Denied? Perceptions of new Mobility Services among Disabled People in San Francisco

  • Maddy Ruvolo | UCLA Institute of Transportation Studies | UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs | San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency | Senior and Disability Action

Best Practices

Award of Excellence: Innovation in Oakland

  • Team: Darin Ranelletti, City of Oakland | MTC/ABAG, Ada Chan | Urban Planning Partners, Lynette Dias and Meredith Rupp

Award of Merit: What’s behind recent transit ridership trends in the Bay Area?

  • Team: UCLA Institute of Transportation Studies, Research team: Brian D. Taylor, FAICP; Evelyn Blumenberg, Jacob L. Wasserman, Mark Garrett, Andrew Schouten, Hannah King, Julene Paul, and Madeline Ruvolo | Metropolitan Transportation Commission, Supervisory staff: Alix Bockelman and Kenneth Folan

Comprehensive Plan – Large Jurisdiction

Award of Excellence: Tasman East Specific Plan

  • Team: City of Santa Clara | Ensemble/Rethink Development | Related California | Holland Partner Group | Summerhill Apartment Communities | St. Anton Communities | Greystar Development

Comprehensive Plan – Small Jurisdiction

Award of Merit: City of Gilroy 2040 General Plan and Program Environmental Impact Report

  • Team: Mintier Harnish: Jim Harnish and Brenton Gibbons, AICP | City of Gilroy: Stan Ketchum, Julie Wyrick, AICP, Cindy McCormick | EMC Planning Group: Teri Wissler Adam | Hexagon Transportation: Jeff Elia | Applied Development Economics: Doug Svensson

Grassroots Initiative

Award of Excellence: Rebuilding Downtown Santa Clara

  • Team: Reclaiming Our Downtown | Santa Clara Parade of Champion | Old Quad Resident Association

Hard-won Victory

Award of Excellence: Concord Hills Regional Park Land Use Plan

  • Team: East Bay Regional Park District | PlaceWorks, Inc.

Innovation in Green Community Planning

Award of Excellence: Lower Russian River Trail Feasibility Study

  • Team: Sonoma County Regional Parks | Alta Planning + Design | W-Trans | Green Valley Consulting Engineers | Miller Pacific Engineering Group | Alta Archaeological Consulting | Peter Baye | Rachel Kamman

Opportunity and Empowerment

Award of Merit: San Martin Strategic Development Plan and Urban Design Visions

  • Team: 12 Graduate and 38 Undergraduate students in CRP 553 and CRP 341 Spring 2020 San Matine studios, instructors Dr. Hemalata C. Dandekar and Dr. Vicente del Rio, City and Regional Planning, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo | Rob Eastwood, Bharat Singh, Michael Meehan,  County of Santa Clara, Planning Department

Planning for Health

Award of Merit: Lillian Commons – Morgan Hill Medical Campus

  • Team: EMC Planning Group – Michael Groves, AICP, and Elizabeth King, Principal Planner/Designer

Public Outreach

Award of Excellence: La Honda Public Access Working Group

  • Team: Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District | MIG Inc.

Transportation Planning

Award of Excellence: Redwood City Citywide Transportation Plan (RWCmoves)

  • Team: City of Redwood City | Fehr & Peers | CDM Smith | Bottomley Design & Planning | Wendy Silvani Consulting

Award of Merit: Richmond Ferry to Bridge to Greenway Complete Streets Plan

  • Team: City of Richmond | PlaceWorks, Inc. | Toole Design Group | CSW/ST2 Engineering | Bike East Bay

Urban Design

Award of Excellence: Balboa Reservoir Design Standards and Guidelines

  • Team: PYATOK architecture + urban design | Van Meter Williams Pollack, LLP, Architecture/Urban Design | GLS Landscape/Architecture

Award of Merit: Livermore Downtown Core Revitalization

  • Team: RRM Design Group | City of Livermore

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