Carlsbad Wins Award for Livable Streets

The following is a release from the City of Carlsbad

The San Diego Section of the American Planning Association has honored the City of Carlsbad with a “Complete Streets Award for Plans and Programs,” for the city’s development of a Livable Streets Assessment. 

The association gave the award to the City of Carlsbad Transportation Division and its transportation consultant Fehr & Peers at a ceremony April 30 at University of California San Diego. The award recognizes exemplary progress toward the implementation of complete streets, also called livable streets, in the San Diego region. 

“This is a great honor to be recognized by our peers for what we’re doing in developing more livable streets here in Carlsbad,” said Carlsbad Transportation Deputy Director Bryan Jones. The city’s 76-page Livable Streets Assessment addresses issues and devises methods for city officials to follow in making Carlsbad’s streets more livable for the people who live, work and recreate in the city. “The livable streets focus is on moving people, and not just people in cars,” said Jones. “We still want to move people in cars, but we want to make it easier for the mom pushing her stroller, the bicyclist pedaling to the beach and the person in a wheelchair to get around as well.”

 Watch a video on livable streets here.

In January 2012 the Carlsbad City Council identified Complete and Livable Streets as a top strategic focus area for the city. One of the purposes of the Livable Streets Assessment is to study how other communities have implemented their programs, and adapt those practices to Carlsbad’s unique environment.

 “The assessment is a great catalyst for bringing together all the city departments, looking at what livable streets are, and looking what we have to do to make them a reality,” Jones said. “It really helped us change the language and conversations, and that helped change our transportation culture to deliver projects and services that align with the council’s strategic focus area, our strategic plan and Carlsbad’s community values.” 

The City of Carlsbad Transportation Division was also honored in December 2012 as the region’s Agency of the Year by the San Diego Chapter of the Institute of Transportation Engineers.