The awards committee for the Texas chapter of the American Planning Association selected the City of El Paso’s Plan El Paso Comprehensive Plan as the recipient of the Chapter’s 2012 Comprehensive Planning Award. The award recognizes individuals, organizations and communities for outstanding contributions to planning in Texas.

“For a long time now, the planning profession in El Paso has often looked to other Texas cities for the best examples on how to do planning and development,” Deputy Director for the City of El Paso’s Planning Division, Carlos Gallinar, said. “With this recognition, other cities – Dallas, San Antonio, Houston – are now looking to El Paso for how to build, design and plan for the 21st Century.”

Gallinar believes the recognition really belongs to the City Council, the building and development community, the rest of the city departments, lead consultants Dover Kohl & Partners, and the thousands of citizen planners that helped shape the plan. Plan El Paso’s aim is to make the linkage between the region’s future prosperity and the need to build great neighborhoods, increase transportation options, preserve open space amenities, and redevelop Downtown El Paso.