ABAG presented the Second Annual Growing Smarter Together Awards during its Spring 2008 General Assembly on Thursday, April 24, 2008, in San Francisco. “These regional Growing Smarter Together awards are significant because they recognize innovative approaches and significant achievements of local governments, regional agencies, and residents collaborating to build complete communities to improve the quality of life in the Bay Area. They directly address the Bay Area’s regional challenges, showcase solutions, highlight outstanding individual leadership, and spotlight best practices that can be emulated regionwide,” Rose Jacobs Gibson, ABAG President and San Mateo County Supervisor, said during the General Assembly awards ceremony.
Gwen Regalia, Mayor of Walnut Creek, received the Distinguished Leadership Award. Mayor Regalia was recognized for her distinguished public service career and her unsurpassed commitment to sustainable community improvement and focused smart growth on the local, regional, and state level. Regalia is a past president of ABAG.
The Start It Up Award was presented to the City of San Leandro for its Downtown Transit-Oriented Development Strategy to revitalize their downtown with a walkable, mixed-use housing and business development. Extensive public involvement and community engagement helped create San Leandro’s innovative long term vision.
The On the Ground—Getting It Done award was awarded to the City of Hercules to recognize the significant progress that the city has made in implementing its Plan and Regulating Code. The Plan for Central Hercules and its Regulating Code are significant for the high level of public involvement in planning the development, and for guiding development decisions to achieve greater density, mix of uses, walkability, public spaces, and regional transit mobility in Hercules.
The City of Dublin, Alameda County Surplus Property Authority, and Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART) jointly received the Public-Private Partnership award for their collaboration on the Dublin Transit Center. Their work and partnership creates a significant transit-oriented community in Dublin.
The Growing Smarter Together award winners were showcased in a special video produced by Comcast that premiered at the General Assembly. PG&E joined Comcast to help underwrite the awards program.
ABAG's Growing Smarter Together Awards recognize excellence in planning and development by local governments. The awards program showcases personal and program/project oriented work that demonstrates a significant commitment toward achieving regional planning goals.
2007 First Growing Smarter Together Awards Presented
The First Annual Growing Smarter Together Awards were presented in a special ceremony during the April 2007 General Assembly to the City of San Mateo, the City of Pleasant Hill, the Town of Windsor, and the County of Napa. The awards recognized the four local governments’ innovative approaches and significant achievements in implementing the Bay Area Vision and smart growth principles ABAG President and San Jose Vice Mayor Dave Cortese joined the Co-Chairs of the Growing Smarter Together Awards ABAG Vice President and San Mateo County Supervisor Rose Jacobs Gibson and former Santa Rosa Councilmember Steve Rabinowitsh presenting the awards and said, “These excellent programs, projects, policies, and plans are outstanding efforts that can be emulated by cities, towns, and counties throughout the Bay Area.”
The City of San Mateo received the Start It Up Award for the Rail Corridor Transit Oriented Development Plan, a policy document developed over five years of intensive public review that has already helped expedite and improve development infrastructure and community connection.
The City of Pleasant Hill was awarded the On the Ground - Getting It Done Award for the Villa Montanaro Apartments/Transit Oriented Development Project (TOD), an infill development project that transformed an under-utilized and deteriorated site into a well designed housing development near BART.
The County of Napa was presented the Preserving and Protecting the Environment Award for the Napa County Baseline Data Report, a pioneering approach to environmental and resource management and tool for integrating environmental benefits into an overall development plan or project.
The Town of Windsor received the Public-Private Partnership Award for the Town Green Village Project that demonstrated outstanding collaboration with business and community to revitalize their downtown with a walkable, mixed-use housing and business development.
The award winners were showcased in a special video premiered at the General Assembly that was produced by Comcast. PG&E and Comcast were corporate sponsors of the conference and underwrote the awards program.
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