2015 National Award for Smart Growth Achievement Booklet
Featured Resource
From 2002 to 2015, EPA presented the National Award for Smart Growth Achievement. This award recognized and supported communities that used innovative policies and strategies to strengthen their economies, provide housing and transportation choices, develop in ways that bring benefits to a wide range of residents, and protect the environment.
Awards were given in the following categories in 2015:
- Corridor or Neighborhood Revitalization: Jackson Walk in Jackson, Tennessee
- Built Projects: City of Hamilton and Historic Developers, LLC, Public-Private Partnership in Hamilton, Ohio
- Plazas, Parks and Public Spaces: Riverfront Park in Newark, New Jersey
Corridor or Neighborhood Revitalization: Jackson Walk in Jackson, Tennessee
This Smart Growth Award recognized the rebuilding and revitalization of Jackson Walk in Jackson, Tennessee. After devastating tornadoes destroyed the downtown, the city rebuilt and revived this 20-acre redevelopment district, which sparked economic development in surrounding areas and transformed downtown Jackson into a vibrant, mixed-use neighborhood with a strong health and wellness focus.
Built Projects: City of Hamilton and Historic Developers, LLC, Public-Private Partnership in Hamilton, Ohio
This Smart Growth Award recognized three mixed-use projects that catalyzed investment in Hamilton’s downtown. Thanks to a public-private between the city and Historic Developers, LLC, this project created new amenities, jobs and housing options that reinvigorated the city’s central business district and set the stage for new economic development. The partnership led to an ongoing, innovative collaboration among several entities to promote and finance redevelopment in Hamilton.
Plazas, Parks and Public Places: Riverfront Park in Newark, New Jersey
This Smart Growth Award recognized Riverfront Park in Newark, New Jersey. Community input was integral to the design of this park, which was built on a formerly contaminated site. The park reconnected Newark to its river for the first time in decades and attracted economic development in the adjacent downtown.
The Riverfront Park gave a working-class neighborhood a beautiful and much-needed place to play and relax and preserved open space along the river that can protect neighborhoods from flooding.