ULI Looking for ‘Best of the Decade’ in Smart Growth

March 1, 2010 - PRLog -- The San Diego/Tijuana district council of the Urban Land Institute is now accepting nominations for the 2010 Smart Growth Awards, an annual competition recognizing projects, plans and people that emulate smart growth principals. Visit http://www.ulisd.org/events/213 for criteria information and to submit a nomination online. Deadline is 5 p.m. March 19.

Unlike past competitions, this year’s event will encompass the “Best of the Decade,” welcoming nominations from projects that were entitled, built or significantly remodeled between 2000 and 2010. Leaders, policies, events, plans, programs and initiatives from the past 10 years also may be nominated. Past Smart Growth Award winners and nominees also may resubmit.

Nomination forms are online at: http://www.ulisd.org/smartgrowth2010.php. The process is easy, free and open to anyone and any qualifying project. Projects, plans, policies, leaders, events and initiatives in the field of Smart Growth and Sustainability are evaluated for their response to ULI’s Smart Growth Principles. Nominees for the award may be submitted if they represent smart growth ideals, as described online. The Smart Growth Awards jury will select three to six winners.

According to ULI’s Call for Nominations: “In the past decade we have come a long way in dispelling the long held belief that ‘the right thing to do’ is too expensive and not consistent with the pragmatics of the development industry. Today leading edge planning, design and development projects are built around principles of sustainability. Increasingly smart decisions are made about where and how development occurs that lead to the building of community, the growth of culture and the realization of a healthy environment.

“In focusing on these principles the ‘smart thing to do’ has grown synonymous with ‘the right thing to do.’ This year ULI seeks to recognize those projects that have, over the past 10 years, sought the right thing to do and have thus reflected the growth of a vision for a sustainable urban future for our region.”

Submit a free, easy, online nomination at http://www.ulisd.org

Deadline for online entry: March 19, 2010 by 5 p.m.

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