Realize Bradenton Receives American Planning Association Award of Excellence
The American Planning Association, Florida Chapter, has honored Realize Bradenton and the City of Bradenton with its Award of Excellence in the Best Practices Category for Creating Together: Youth Centered Planning for the Riverwalk East Master Plan.
“This award is recognition of our commitment to engage the community in positive, meaningful ways. In particular, this is in terms of attracting and retaining talented young people to help shape our city’s future,” said Carrie Price, Chair of Realize Bradenton Board of Directors.
In 2017, when the City of Bradenton announced the expansion of the Riverwalk, Realize Bradenton joined with park designers Kimley-Horn to put young people in key leadership roles during the park planning process. Funded by the Knight Donor-Advised Fund of the Manatee Community Foundation, the Creating Together Millennial team assisted in gathering ideas and feedback about what the neighbors thought important in the park design.
Park for a Day
One of the many outcomes is an event called “Park for a Day.” This is an event where the Millennial team built temporary versions of resident ideas with activities and outdoor focused on nature, music, history, and wellness. Park for a Day attracted more than 100 participants from the surrounding neighborhood to experience a glimpse of the park’s future. One retired neighbor remarked that having young people involved in the process is positive because it “ensures a vital continuation of community, public awareness, engagement, and contribution to Bradenton’s future.” In addition, Realize Bradenton published a toolkit based on the Project for Public Space’s principles of placemaking and a video with interviews of the Millennials’ experiences.
This APA Florida Chapter “Best Practices” Award follows the 2019 “Future of the Region” Award for Economic Development from the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council. Johnette Isham, Executive Director of Realize Bradenton, said, “Creating Together Bradenton is a model transferrable to other communities wishing to include the younger generation in civic planning meaningfully.”
Find the Creating Together Toolkit here.
About Realize Bradenton
Realize Bradenton is a nonprofit organization that builds community. The organization promotes economic prosperity to build a vibrant, healthy, inclusive, and fun downtown Bradenton.
Collaborating with the City of Bradenton and an array of partners, the organization promotes the ideal that “Downtown is Everyone’s Neighborhood.” By bringing people together for shared experiences, Realize Bradenton offers initiatives in Business Development, Community Placemaking, Wellness, and Nutrition, as well as the Development of Young Leaders. For more information, visit Realize Bradenton’s Facebook page.
Photos from Realize Bradenton