The City of Tacoma has received top honors from two urban planning groups for its work to manage the future development of an area of downtown Tacoma.

The Planning Association of Washington and the Washington Chapter of the American Planning Association have chosen the City of Tacoma to receive the top award for comprehensive planning among large cities and counties for its work to create the South Downtown Subarea Plan & Environmental Impact Statement, which aims to address future development of an area south of downtown Tacoma that covers approximately 600 acres and includes the University of Washington Tacoma campus, Museum District, Foss Waterway, Brewery District, Hillside District, and Dome District.

The annual awards program, now in its 28th year, aims to recognize public and private sector planning efforts, as well as student projects in university planning programs. The awards were announced on Fri., Oct. 17, during the annual American Planning Association Washington Planning Conference in Spokane, Wash.

The Planning Association of Washington aims to serve the needs of planning commissioners, elected officials, tribes, special purpose districts, private sector firms, state agencies, students, and interested citizens by providing an inclusive forum for sharing problems and solutions, as well as developing land use planning knowledge. The Washington Chapter of the American Planning Association is an organization of people with an interest in land use, housing, transportation, environmental, economic, and social planning. Members include citizen planners, planning commissioners, planning officials, and professional planners within the State of Washington and elsewhere.

In May, the City of Tacoma received the 2014 Governor’s Smart Communities Award for its work to create the South Downtown Subarea Plan & Environmental Impact Statement.

More information about the South Downtown Subarea Plan & Environmental Impact Statement is available online here.