Plan Viva Laredo, the City’s long-term comprehensive plan for growth, economic development, and health will receive a Congress for New Urbanism (CNU) Merit Award for excellence in urban design, place making, and community building at the CNU’s 19th Annual Charter Awards on June 14, 2019 at the Ali Center in Louisville, Kentucky.
Plan Viva Laredo was developed with the support of Laredo residents, public officials, and City staff through workshops and events led by Able City.
“When we were working on the comprehensive plan we knew it was something special because of the public engagement and how much people wanted to tell us what they valued and needed out of the city,” said Able City architect and partner Viviana L. Frank-Franco. Mario A. Peña, Frank Rotnofsky, and Diana Peña are also partners and principals of Able City.
Viviana L. Frank-Franco
Mario Peña
Frank Rotnofsky
Diana Peña
Plan Viva Laredo frames a vision of practicality to create diverse, mixed-income, mixed-use, and pedestrian-oriented neighborhoods and building development in Laredo. Though it is a long-term plan, Plan Viva Laredo began to take shape prior to its unanimous adoption by City Council a year from its introduction. Quality of life advocates took an immediate interest in the plan’s new urbanist principles, and new bike lanes emerged from their enthusiasm.
“Plan Viva Laredo has transformed the city as I knew it from when I first entered City Council three years ago. In the post-Plan Viva Laredo era there is now a public mandate to have both council and staff openly educate and communicate with the citizens that we service,” said District VII City Councilman George Altgelt.
“How a place is designed fundamentally shapes people’s lives,” said Lynn Richards, President and CEO of CNU. “That’s a profound responsibility, and Charter Award-winning designers take it seriously. Seeing how quickly the public embraced Plan Viva Laredo, and how enthusiastically the city is enacting its reforms, reinforces how important New Urbanist principles are, providing the seemingly simple building blocks for people in a community: options for home, work, and shopping; green spaces; connections to transit; and streets and sidewalks that are safe to walk and bike on.”
The CNU Charter Awards identify exemplary work by CNU members who design places people care for. They recognize architecture, planning, development, and landscape designs that offer accessible housing and diverse use spaces in distinct settings. Able City’s Award, along with winners from other U.S. sates, Puerto Rico, Hong Kong, China, England, and Mexico, will be announced at the Louisville Congress, which will bring together more than 1,400 participants to hear speakers, participate in workshops, collaborate on projects, and learn new strategies.
Able City is based in the heart of both downtown Laredo and San Antonio. The company’s goal is to empower and inform citizens through architecture, urban planning, and civic engagement that inspires them to become city makers.
(Learn more about Able City at www.able.city.)
