The City of Carrollton was awarded the 2009 Greater Dallas Planning Council Urban Design Dream Study Award for the Downtown Carrollton Transit Center Plan on Thursday, December 10. The Greater Dallas Planning Council (GDPC) awards program was held at the Trammell & Margaret Crow Collection of Asian Art.
The Downtown Carrollton Transit Center Plan is comprised of five studies: Renaissance Plan Update, Downtown Carrollton Station Master Plan, Infrastructure Study, Transportation and Parking Study, and the Master Drainage Study.
Carrollton’s project was honored by the award as it met the standards set forth. The project was required to illuminate aspects of the practice of urban design; Carrollton’s goal is to create a sustainable, vibrant, livable district where walking, biking, and transit are as valued as the automobile and which will shepherd new growth to make all of Carrollton a better place to live and work. It was required to represent a significant achievement in the field of urban design; Carrollton has begun transforming Downtown Carrollton using place making principles including “greening” parking lots, widening sidewalks, planting large street trees, creating a new shade park, implementing gateway projects and branding the district.
The final two award requirements sought a project that implemented codes or other regulations, and that would be an asset to the community. Carrollton has done the necessary ground work to maximize the advantages of development by streamlining the development process and actively lowering barriers to development. The City has also undertaken several studies in planning, engineering, transportation and infrastructure to entice developers to move beyond planning and into reality.
The Greater Dallas Planning Council was founded November 12, 1946 by a group of visionary Dallas civic leaders. The Issues on the early agenda of the Planning Council continue to remain the principal focus of GPDC's agenda . . . along with education, the environment, economic development, the inner city, regionalism, the Trinity River corridor, public safety and - - just as in 1946 - - "any other matter which may be deemed to affect the welfare of the metropolitan area."
For more information, please contact Peter Braster at 972-466-3042 or for information directly from the GDPC, please call 214.673.4406 or visit gdpc.org.
