News
Plan-Off 2022: Wilder School master of urban and regional studies and planning students envision the future of communities
More than a hundred students, faculty, planning professionals and friends and family came together for the 2022 Plan-Off annual competition for master of urban and regional planning students. The event represented the first in-person gathering since 2019. The effort was coordinated by Associate Professor Meghan Gough and Assistant Professor Ben Teresa. Acting Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs and Professor William Pelfrey, Professor and Urban and Regional Studies and Planning Program Chair Jimmy Chen, and Associate Professor Damian Pitt gave remarks and helped facilitate the event.
Competition finalists
Gabrielle Dean won the competition with her presentation, “Revitalizion Strategies for Downtown Elkton, Virginia. Dean, who orginally hails from Elkton, focused her presentation on analyzing existing conditions in the town. She also performed a SWOT analysis which highlighted the need to mitigate business vacancies, adjusting zoning codes to increase walkability and using placemaking strategies to create unique “sense of place”.
Other finalists included Charlie Wilson ("Growing Small: Design Overlay District Planning for Highland County and the Town of Monterey, VA"), Neal Friedman (“Bowling Green Main Street Revitalization Plan”) and Annie Weidhaas (“Northern Neck Economic Development Plan: Improving Regional Connectivity Within the Food Industry”) who received the Overall Best Plan Award.
Judges’ panel
The event’s winners were selected in progressive presentation rounds by the following volunteer judges panel, some of Richmond’s eminent urban and regional planning professionals:
- Veronica Fleming, Founder, Veronica Fleming Consulting
- Ann Kildahl, Director of Sustainability, VCU Facilities Management Department
- Janit Llewellyn, Parks and Recreation Planning Manager, Chesterfield County
- Shekinah Mitchell, Director of Piedmont Community Land Trust, Piedmont Housing Alliance
- Chet Parsons, AICP, CTP, Director of Transportation, PlanRVA
- Mario Wells, Real Estate Development Manager, Better Housing Coalition
Additional presentations
Special thanks are due to all of our student presenters:
- Maria Dougherty, “Mobile Immersive Planning and Community-led Design of Green Spaces in Richmond, VA”
- LaToya Gray-Sparks, “Reconstructing Randolph Project”
- Amy Guzulatis, “Bowling Green Main Street Revitalization Plan”
- Noah Holmes Foster, “Food Systems Financing Action Plan”
- Molly Mallow, “Spatial Disparities Analysis of the City of Richmond’s Neighborhood Park Amenities”
- Brendan McDowell, “Richmond Community Composting Initiative”
- Robert Tate, “North Church Street Corridor Improvement Plan”
- Rachael Thayer, “Williamsburg Road Commercial Revitalization Plan”
- Justin Williams, “Shenandoah Valley Economic Development Plan: Growing and Enhancing the Food and Beverage Manufacturing Cluster”
Event sponsors
Thank you to our generous event sponsors:
- HDAdvisors
- Partnership for Housing Affordability
- Richmond Association of REALTORS
- Kim Chen
- Lory Markham
Make your gift to support the urban and regional planning studies program