As they have every year, northern California planning programs and projects have again been recognized for their excellence. Here’s a rundown of who won state and national awards in 2021.
CALIFORNIA
Award of Excellence
Transportation Planning Award – Richmond Ferry to Bridge to Greenway Complete Streets Plan, City of Richmond
Academic Award – Community Priorities for the Alum Rock Avenue Corridor, Department of Urban & Regional Planning, San Jose State University
Award of Merit
Grassroots Initiative Award – Rebuilding our Downtown, a Community Led Initiative to Rebuild Santa Clara Downtown, Reclaiming Our Downtown
Public Outreach Award – La Honda Public Access Working Group – Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District, Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District
Urban Design Award – The Balboa Reservoir Design Standards and Guidelines, Van Meter Williams Pollack Architecture | Urban Design
Hard-Won Victories Award – City of Half Moon Bay Local Coastal Land Use Plan Update, City of Half Moon Bay
NATIONAL
From Planning magazine
“The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency won APA National’s award for Advancing Diversity and Social Change in Honor of Paul Davidoff for [its] dedication to reaching underrepresented communities through the Bayview Community Based Transportation Plan (Bayview CBTP).
“To ensure that trusted community partners were not tokenized during the process, planners worked directly with staff from each organization at every step of public outreach. Their input led to recommendations [such as] offering interpreters, full meals, and childcare at all stand-alone workshops. Innovative engagement techniques also included a Youth Transportation Summit, a documentary film developed by Bayview youth, and community recalibration of a GIS-based Equity Index tool.
“ ‘The value of planning,’ said project planner and engineer Ariel Ward, ‘is building relationships with people. It is serving people. …The heart of any good planning effort should be people.’ ”