EcoCity Cleveland Honors NOACA Transportation for Livable Communities Initiative

EcoCity Cleveland has awarded the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency (NOACA) a 2005 GreenCityBlueLake Award in the Sustainable Transportation category. The award was presented at the Great Lakes Burning River Fest on August 13, 2005, at Voinovich Park on Cleveland’s lakefront.

The EcoCity Cleveland award honors individuals and organizations working to improve the long-term quality of life in Northeast Ohio by balancing environmental quality, social justice, and economic prosperity.

The award recognizes NOACA’s newly created Transportation for Livable Communities Initiative (TLCI), a program that provides planning grants and technical assistance to communities and public agencies for innovative transportation projects that strengthen livability. TLCI projects are intended to enhance community identity, foster compact land use and redevelopment of urban core communities, expand transportation choices, and improve the environment. In its inaugural year, 20 projects in Northeast Ohio were selected and $1 million in TLCI planning grants were awarded.

“NOACA is very honored to receive this award,” said Executive Director Howard R. Maier. “The TLCI represents a new and different approach for helping communities improve the livability of Northeast Ohio. I’m pleased that the efforts of the NOACA Governing Board, committees and staff have been recognized.” Maier and NOACA Transportation Planning Division Directors John Hosek and Ron Eckner attended the ceremony and accepted the award, a framed photo of Lake Erie by noted Ohio photographer Ian Adams.

EcoCity Cleveland is a nonprofit environmental planning organization that promotes the design of cities in balance with nature in Northeast Ohio. Additional information about the awards program and this year’s recipients may be found on the EcoCity Web site.