The City of Gadsden announced its selection for two statewide urban planning awards. Mayor Craig Ford received the Distinguished Leadership Award for an Elected Public Official, and the city’s GROW Gadsden Plan received the Outstanding Planning Award from the American Planning Association’s state chapter.

“The GROW Gadsden plan was our first priority when the new city council and I took office,” said Ford. “We spent nearly 16 months listening to over 2,000 stakeholders in dozens of meetings to determine our city’s collective vision. I want to thank the people of Gadsden for embracing our planning efforts because, as the Good Book says: ‘where there is no vision, the people perish.’ With our award-winning GROW Gadsden plan, I know our people can thrive!”

The GROW Gadsden Plan, which was adopted unanimously by the city’s planning commission and the city council earlier this year, is the city’s third comprehensive plan in its 178-year history. Previously, the city had been operating from its ‘The Gadsden Plan’, which was adopted by the city’s planning commission in 1977.

The city and Mayor Ford will accept the awards at the association’s annual Alabama- Mississippi Conference in Tuscaloosa on October 17, 2024. The city offered a special thanks to its planning consultants at Goodwyn Mills Cawood for their efforts in developing the GROW Gadsden plan, which can be viewed at www.growgadsden.com.