What did you do this weekend?
Well, 50 high school students from all over North America competed in the ULI Urban Plan National Competition. They adapted their original proposals to be responsive to COVID: accounting for more public uses, reimagining public space, creating a town square, and building more affordable housing. (Several also discussed excluding police substations in response to new demands for a new model of community safety.)
Congratulations to the team from Tam Development for taking home the top prize!
Many kudos to the brilliant teams from Honolulu, St. Paul, Bethesda, Berkeley, Toronto, Dallas-Fort Worth, San Francisco, Washington, DC, and Brunswick, NJ.
Pulling off an all-day event in five time zones with dozens of students, experts, teachers, and volunteers was no small feat so a big thank you to the ULI Urban Plan staff who made this happen: Sophie Lambert, Emily McKnight, and Ashley Robertson, AICP as well as Margit Nahra, Mara Winokur, Alexandra Rybak, and Marisita Jarvis.
And a virtual high five to all of the volunteers who joined the festivities, including: Leander T. Johnson, John Walsh, CRE, John Coe, Brooks Powell, Assoc. AIA, Michelle Beaman Chang, Eric Maribojoc, David Greensfelder, Paul Bernard, and Betsy del Monte, FAIA. (You might recognize our own Jess Zimbabwe, who served as the honorary “mayor” of the fictional Yorktown for the competition.)
