News
For Immediate Release
January 14, 2013
Contact: Bryan Stevens, Department of Planning and Development
Tel: (206) 684-5045
Seattle Wins Two National Planning Awards
Neighborhood Planning and Waterfront Seattle receive national recognition
SEATTLE – The City’s Neighborhood Planning and Waterfront Seattle teams received recognition from the American Planning Association (APA), a national organization. The awards were selected by a jury for outstanding planning practice; 11 other cities were also recognized for Achievement Awards and 18 other cities were recognized for Excellence Awards.
Seattle’s Neighborhood Planning team received APA’s 2013 National Planning Achievement Award for a Best Practice, in recognition of its Healthy Living Assessment (HLA) tool to consider public health issues and outcomes as part of the planning process. The tool features an overall health-based planning framework, 16 health indicators that identify linkages between health and the physical environment, and inclusive engagement tools. The team developed the tool during the Rainier Beach, and the Broadview-Bitter Lake-Haller Lake neighborhood plan updates. The tool led to specific actions that support: strong communities and organizations; healthy people and families; and great places that support our community. The focus on strong communities led to increased coordination among community groups and a number of successful grant applications for community projects. The focus on great places initiated work to revise development regulations to create a walkable neighborhood business district in Bitter Lake.
The Waterfront Seattle Concept Design and Framework Plan received APA’s 2013 National Planning Achievement Award for Urban Design. Developed through extensive public engagement over the past two years, this plan establishes the City’s vision for creating more than 26 city blocks of new public space with the removal of the Alaskan Way Viaduct, reconnecting central Seattle to Elliott Bay. Waterfront Seattle is a civic partnership between the City of Seattle and the entire community. Thousands of people have participated in this unprecedented opportunity to create a new waterfront that is a place for everyone – a waterfront that the Puget Sound region can enjoy for generations.
More information on the awards: www.planning.org/awards/2013/achievement.htm
Waterfront Seattle project page: www.waterfrontseattle.org
Neighborhood Planning project page: www.seattle.gov/dpd/planning/neighborhood_planning
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