American Planning Association recognizes 16 communities for best practices in planning and urban design.

CHICAGO – The Community Vision Plan for the High Line Canal has received the Gold 2018 National Planning Achievement Award for Public Outreach from the American Planning Association (APA). The award recognizes the collaborative effort of High Line Canal Conservancy, Denver Water and 11 other jurisdictions along the 71-mile Canal route to identify a shared vision to preserve and enhance a beloved greenway. The Community Vision Plan for the High Line Canal is one of 16 Achievement Award recipients this year.

“It was gratifying to see the community stepping out for the Canal. I really believe that our work, with Sasaki, captured the imagination of the public,” said Harriet Crittenden LaMair, High Line Canal Conservancy Executive Director. “The public outreach was friendly with its story telling theme, yet powerful in how it helped break down entrenched beliefs about the Canal. Due to the Vision Plan, the path has been set for folks to embrace all that this little trail in their back yard can mean for the region’s citizens and environmental health.” Built in the late 1800s, the High Line Canal serves as a delivery system for irrigation water, but the earthen canal consistently loses water through evaporation or seepage and is not a sustainable way to deliver water. The Canal’s natural leaky character, however, produced its own ecosystem—a greenway that currently attracts more than 500,000 recreational users annually to the corridor’s trails. A comprehensive outreach program was implemented to engage many residents and the larger community who only viewed the Canal as a natural area behind their own homes, not part of a 71-mile historic irrigation Canal and greenway that was at an important cross-roads. Through community presentations, open houses, surveys and workshops, the planning team—led by Sasaki with Matrix Design Group and PlaceMatters—presented the planning process to local residents as a story, complete with chapters describing its history and future preservation and enhancement possibilities. The story, “The Adventure on the High Line Canal,” helped residents envision a sustainable future for the Canal and made them part of the planning process. The Canal is a valued recreational resource, and now, with community input and support, a shared vision for its future will ensure it is preserved as a natural, varied, and connected greenway for future generations.

“The team worked diligently to engage the community and share stories about the Canal,” said W. Shedrick Coleman, AIA, 2018 Awards Jury chair. “Through extensive storytelling, the team ensured the community was part of the history and connected to the future. The success of holding 70 events along the 71-miles is nothing short of impressive.”

Each year, APA recognizes outstanding efforts in planning and planning leadership through its National Planning Excellence and Achievement Awards. The two-tier awards are selected through a juried process. Excellence Award recipients are the highest honor and Achievement Awards recognize accomplishments in areas of specialization within the planning profession.

APA’s national awards program, the profession’s highest honor, is a proud tradition established more than 50 years ago to recognize outstanding community plans, planning programs and initiatives, public education efforts and individuals for their leadership on planning issues.

In addition to the Community Vision Plan for the High Line Canal, APA honors the following 2018 Achievement Award recipients:

  • Spanish Planning Committee; Los Angeles County, California
    • Best Practice – Gold
  • Planning Assistance for Thriving Communities; St. Paul, Minnesota
    • Best Practice – Silver
  • San Francisco’s Accessory Dwelling Unit and Unit Legalization Program; San Francisco, California
    • Best Practice – Silver
  • Columbus-Franklin County Local Food System Planning; Columbus, Ohio
    • Best Practice – Silver
  • A Return to Past Prosperity: The ASARCO Redevelopment Project; Adams County and Denver,
    • Colorado Economic Development – Gold
  • Collaboration: Sea-Level Marin Adaptation Response Team; San Rafael, California
    • Environmental Planning – Gold
  • Street Air; San Francisco, California
    • Grassroots Initiative – Gold
  • Jamestown Urban Design Plan; Jamestown, New York
    • Implementation – Gold
  • Innovations in Public Engagement; Newark, New Jersey
    • Public Outreach – Silver
  • City of San Jose Video Tutorial; San Jose, California
    • Public Outreach – Silver
  • National Park Service Long-Range Transportation Plan; Washington, D.C.
    • Transportation Planning – Gold
  • Grand Rapids Vital Streets Plan; Grand Rapids, Michigan
    • Transportation Planning – Silver
  • Charlotte WALKS Pedestrian Plan; Charlotte, North Carolina
    • Transportation Planning – Silver
  • Rock Chapel Marine/PORT; Chelsea, Massachusetts
    • Urban Design – Gold
  • Rockaway Boardwalk Reconstruction; Queens, New York
    • Urban Design – Gold

All of the 2018 National Planning Award recipients will be honored at a special luncheon during APA’s National Planning Conference in New Orleans on April 23, 2018. The recipients will also be featured in the April issue of Planning magazine. For a complete list and summary of all the APA 2018 National Planning Excellence and Achievement Award recipients, visit www.planning.org/awards/2018/.