• By Stephen Staudigl
• March 31, 2023

Pennsylvania Avenue Initiative Wins Momentum Award

On March 29 the DowntownDC Business Improvement District (BID) awarded the Pennsylvania Avenue Initiative its 2022 Public Sector Person, Project, or Program of the Year Momentum Award at a ceremony held at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center. The award honored the initiative’s community outreach and engagement work. The BID’s annual Momentum Awards recognize outstanding individual and organizational achievements and contributions made to downtown that make it an amazing place to live, work, and visit.

Representing the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) at the awards ceremony were Chair Teri Hawks Goodmann, Executive Director Marcel Acosta, Physical Planning Division Director Elizabeth Miller, and Urban Planners Karin Schierhold and Jeff Jamawat.

“An inherent part of good planning is to take ideas out to the public and find out what they think. No plan can be successful without the input of the very people it will impact,” said NCPC Executive Director Marcel Acosta. “We want to thank the DowntownDC BID for the recognition. NCPC will continue to engage with the public as we move forward in our efforts to make Pennsylvania Avenue a place all Americans can be proud of.”

The Pennsylvania Avenue Initiative is a multi-federal and District agency effort spearheaded by NCPC to reimagine the 1.2 mile stretch of the Avenue between the White House and the U.S. Capitol. While one of the country’s most iconic locations, it has been in decline for several decades. In 2022 NCPC released three potential concepts to reimagine the Avenue transformed into America's Stage, an inclusive and inviting public space that prioritizes people. An extensive public outreach effort sought stakeholder and community feedback and to build a constituency of supporters for revitalization.

“During extensive outreach efforts we conducted more than 70 stakeholder briefings, participated in eight public events, held three virtual meetings, and received more than 450 comments,” said NCPC Physical Planning Division Director Elizabeth Miller. “We learned that people are motivated, inspired, and excited about Pennsylvania Avenue’s new future. Some of the key findings were that people want to see it as a vibrant multimodal street that’s also a place to gather and celebrate, and that it is important to integrate green space with sustainable design strategies.”

The input will help create a new Pennsylvania Avenue Plan, including a public space plan that looks at infrastructure, the physical street, and surrounding public spaces. It will also include an implementation program offering recommendations for operations, maintenance, and administration. Once consultant teams are on board, stakeholder and public input will be sought as the plan is developed, which should begin in early 2024. A utility survey is underway to inform concept and design development. Initiative partners are looking at near-term programming opportunities to stimulate economic opportunities, highlight the Avenue’s potential, and better understand infrastructure and public space needs.

More information about the awards, including the other winners, is available online.

Additional information about the Pennsylvania Avenue Initiative is available online.