PORTLAND STREETCAR RECEIVES PRESTIGIOUS AWARD THURSDAY
$50,000 Prize Money Donated to Community Small Starts effort to Assist Streetcar Projects around the County
[1] (Portland, OR) The Bruner Foundation announced the 2005 Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence Gold Medal Award Winner as the Portland Streetcar Project. Simeon Bruner presented the award to Mayor Tom Potter, former Portland Mayor Vera Katz and John Carroll, Portland Streetcar Board, Inc. chair in a ceremony Thursday, June 16, 9am at the Governor Hotel in Portland. (From left to right in the photo: Former Mayor Katz, John Carroll, Mayor Potter, and Sam.)
In addition to the gold medal award for the Portland Streetcar project, several individual awards were presented for their work on the project. John Carroll, Portland Streetcar, Inc., Congressman Earl Blumenauer, former City Commissioner Charlie Hales, the Portland Office of Transportation, and Shiels Obltez Johnsen were recognized for their work on the project.
The Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence (RBA) is the first award program to discover and celebrate excellence in urban placemaking. The RBA promotes fresh and innovative thinking about cities and encourages the public to demand and build projects that contribute to the livability and vitality of American cities. Award winners are distinguished by quality design, and by their social, economic and contextual contributions to the urban environment.
The award states: "Linking five districts in the downtown, the Portland Streetcar Project has stimulated $1.4 billion in private and institutional investment, contributing to a high quality, livable urban environment, reducing auto trips and delivering safe, clean, public transit service." With the help of a six person Selection Committee that includes the mayor of a major metropolitan area, and other urban experts around the country, the RBA recognizes one Gold Medal Winner ($50,00 award) and four Silver Medal Winners ($10,000 awards). Given every two years, 2005 marks the tenth time the award has been given. Each award attracts over 100 submissions from over 32 states.
Joining the Gold Medal Streetcar project, the Silver Medalists are the Paducah Artist Relocation Program (Paducah, Kentucky); Heidelberg Project (Detroit, Michigan); Fruitvale Village (Oakland, California); and Downtown Silver Spring and Discovery Communications World Headquarters (Silver Spring, Maryland).