Smart Growth’ awards presented

Yesterday the EPA announced their annual National Awards for Smart Growth Achievement. The winners were:

Overall Excellence in Smart Growth: Highlands’ Garden Village, Denver Urban Renewal Authority, Denver, CO – a new front-porch TND neighborhood in the inner suburbs.

Built Projects: Belmar, City of Lakewood and Lakewood Reinvestment Authority, Lakewood, CO – A regional mall turned upscale town center.

Policies and Regulations: Central District Specific Plan, City of Pasadena Planning and Development Department, Pasadena, CA – Encourages downtown rather than sprawl development, including 2500 new transit-oriented homes.

Small Communities: Gilbert & Bennett Wire Mill Redevelopment, Town of Redding, Redding, CT – A rural town TND.

Military Base Redevelopment: Baldwin Park, City of Orlando, Orlando, FL – A much larger, family-oriented TND.

…which is nice and all, but not really targeting the market represented by the readers of this website, other than Pasadena’s plan (more on that later.) Hmm, maybe we do need some CoolTown awards to recognize projects like perhaps this and that.

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neilkt