City of Cedar Rapids Receives APA Planning Award
November 5, 2009 – Last week, the City of Cedar Rapids received the “2009 Planning Achievement Award for a Hard Won Victory” from the Iowa Chapter of the American Planning Association for the River Corridor Redevelopment Plan and Neighborhood Planning Process. This new APA award honors communities that engage the public in successful planning initiatives in the face of adverse circumstances.
“This award is a testament to the commitment of the citizens of Cedar Rapids to not only recover from the Flood of 2008, but become a greater community. The community developed plans that will benefit our kids and our kids’ kids,” said Christine Butterfield, community development director for the City. “We also share this recognition with the 200 City staff members from across all City departments that worked with citizens to develop these high quality plans.”
With input from 2,600 citizens between July and November 2008, the River Corridor Redevelopment Plan was developed to provide a permanent flood management strategy and riverfront park along the Cedar River. That plan is currently under review by the Army Corps of Engineers.
More than 1,400 citizens participated in eight Neighborhood Planning Process meetings between January and May 2009. Through this community-wide planning process, a comprehensive reinvestment plan was developed for the ten neighborhoods impacted by the Flood of 2008. Those plans are currently being implemented in Cedar Rapids.
The City received this recognition at an awards ceremony on Thursday, October 29, as part of the Iowa APA Chapter’s Fall Conference in Des Moines. For more information about the 2009 Iowa Planning awards, visit www.iowa-apa.org.
In September 2009, the City received the International Downtown Association’s Downtown Achievement Award of Distinction for the same planning processes.
