AARP and the National Association of Home Builders honor the Madison Area Community Land Trust with Livable Communities Award for Troy Gardens
Video of Livable Communities Award for Troy Gardens
Presentation on Troy Gardens Given at NAHB in Washington, DC on 12/11/07
All Livable Communities Award Winners
Madison, Wisconsin (December 2007) – AARP and the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) today announced that the Madison Area Community Land Trust will receive the groups’ 2007 Livable Communities Award for forward thinking in the field of home and community design with its Troy Gardens project.
The Livable Communities Award honors builders, developers and remodelers that create attractive, well-designed homes and communities which are comfortable, safe and accessible for people of all ages and abilities.
According to Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz, “When I think of projects in Madison that I am most proud of and deserve recognition on a national scale, I think first of Troy Gardens.”
“The Madison area Community Land Trust has done outstanding work that reflects a commitment to designing housing to be livable for people of all incomes, ages and abilities,” said AARP Wisconsin State Director D’Anna Bowman. “This award is a great way to credit the creativity and commitment of the Madison Area Community Land Trust to building inclusive neighborhoods.”
“The key to Troy Gardens has been the profound spirit of cooperation between the neighborhood and all the community partners we have been working with on this project over the past 12 years,” said Greg Rosenberg, Executive Director of the Madison Area Community Land Trust. “While we are quite proud to receive this award, it is important to realize that this project reflects the contributions of many people and organizations.”
This is the first year for the Livable Communities Award which was announced by the AARP and the NAHB at the International Builders Show in February. The awards will be presented annually to three professional groups – builders, remodelers and developers – for projects that incorporate such aspects as:
- design elements that accommodate the needs of all residents with all levels of physical ability from children through grandparents;
- easy access to community services and features such as retail, restaurants, medical, social and cultural activities, as well as viable transportation options;
- improved energy efficiency and enhanced site design; and
- better communication with key stakeholders
Other winners of the 2007 AARP and NAHB Livable Communities awards are: John Wesley Miller Companies (for Armory Park del Sol in Tucson, AZ), Wendt Builders Inc. (for Olde Town Grason, Lot 13B in Grayson, GA), and The Integral Group (for CollegeTown at West End in Atlanta, GA).
Winners will be honored at a dinner in Washington DC, on Dec. 11 and will also be cited in AARP The Magazine – the nation’s most widely circulated magazine. There will be a local celebration of the Troy Gardens award at the Madison Area Community Land Trust’s annual meeting on Dec. 13 at Marigolds Kitchen in Madison.
Madison Area Community Land Trust is one of 200 community land trusts across the country. A community land trust provides a form of permanent stewardship of land for the benefit of the community that removes land from the speculative market and facilitates multiple uses such as affordable housing, village improvement, commercial space, agriculture, recreation and open space preservation.