The Envision Comanche Master Plan was one of seven projects to be awarded the 2020 NOMA NAACP SEED Award for Justice Equity Diversity and Inclusion in Design! Each winning project received a $1,000 honorarium and presented their work at the NOMA National Virtual Conference on October 17, 2020. Camiros was selected as the Project Coordinator to lead this award-winning effort.
Watch the video project summary of Envision Comanche presented at the NOMA National Virtual Conference below:
Camiros worked with the City of Providence Planning Department to develop a corridor plan for the area surrounding Smith Street within the Smith Hill neighborhood between I-95 and Tyndall Avenue. Through the Plan, Camiros worked with City staff, elected officials, and community members to assess existing conditions and create a series of goals and specific strategies to help enhance the Smith Street corridor and the surrounding neighborhood.
Congratulations to Camiros Principal, Arista Strungys, for her recent induction to the 2020 Class of Fellows of the American Institute of Certified Planners!
Induction to the AICP College of Fellows is the highest honor the American Institute of Certified Planners bestows upon a member.
Fellows of AICP are nominated and selected by their peers to recognize and honor their outstanding contributions as a professional planner. The outcomes of their individual efforts left demonstrably significant and transformational improvements to the field of planning and the communities they served. All Fellows are long-time members of AICP and have achieved excellence in professional practice, teaching and mentoring, research, and community service and leadership.
The College actively encourages Fellows and others to participate in programs and initiatives in the service of communities and the planning profession, including: mentoring the next generation of planners; volunteering expertise to underserved communities; leading initiatives within APA chapters and divisions; and sharing knowledge with the planning community, allied professionals, and the wider public.
HUNTSVILLE, AL – HUD notified the City of Huntsville and the Huntsville Housing Authority on Sept. 19th 2019 that their application for a Choice Neighborhood Planning Grant had been selected for an award, which was one of only four such awards nationally.
Camiros will serve as Planning Coordinator to formulate a comprehensive Transformation Plan for the “Mill Creek Neighborhood”, which is an area immediately east of downtown Huntsville that includes the Butler Terrace Apartments public housing site and the surrounding neighborhood.
This award will be Camiros’ ninth Choice Neighborhoods project. We are currently serving as the Planning Coordinator for the Fairfield Innovation Plan in Huntington, WV and the Downtown/East Side Choice Neighborhoods Plan for Chicago Heights, IL.
We would like to congratulate the Huntsville Housing Authority and the City of Huntsville for this momentous award and incredible opportunity for your community. We are excited to work together to help bring positive change to the Mill Creek neighborhood and the Butler Terrace Apartments.
Envision Comanche, led by Camiros, is a Master Plan project
to transform Comanche Park, a Housing Authority of the City of Tulsa (THA)
property, into a mixed-use, mixed-income community while ensuring a strict
one-for-one replacement of all existing apartments. Envision Comanche is not
just a plan but a guide for community growth, action and empowerment. The plan
not only seeks to provide better housing, but to also create additional
education, health and training opportunities and ensure improved transportation
and park spaces to the residents of Comanche Park, and its neighbors.
The Envision Comanche planning team participated in the
annual summer block party to receive direct feedback from residents regarding
three draft site plan diagrams of what a transformed Comanche Park could look
like. The various elements of the site diagrams which include a range of
housing types and age-separated parks for example were informed by community
feedback received at previous planning meetings, discussions, and events. Residents
were also given the opportunity to create their own site plan using monopoly
pieces to represent different building types.
