Moore Planning Group Wins ASLA Merit Award

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Patrick C. Moore, (318) 445-2825
Date: March 16, 2009

MPG Wins Merit Award at Louisiana Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects Annual Meeting

A new city center, improved parks and a tenfold increase in green space are among the elements in Moore Planning Group’s master plan for the city of Ridgeland, which was awarded a Merit Award by the Louisiana Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects at their annual meeting and awards banquet Saturday, March 14 at the LSU Museum of Art in Baton Rouge.

MPG’s sweeping revitalization strategy for Ridgeland, Mississippi, known as the Ridgeland Area Master Plan (RAMP), brings eco-friendly strategies to the city at large, while concentrating on major redesigns of eight high-impact neighborhoods.

The plan has received attention for elements like a new retail-rich city center, green “cluster housing” for declining neighborhoods and an enhanced relationship between schools and the natural environment surrounding them. RAMP also elevates green space to the same land use level as commercial space, a bold move that increases open lands by tenfold. The strategy accomplishes two important objectives. It prevents development in flood-prone areas, and it creates the opportunity for a community trail system.

MPG’s Ridgeland Area Master Plan, or RAMP, was developed over two years with substantial civic input, including web-based participation and public meetings. It was adopted by the city’s aldermen in March 2008.

“We were at a cross roads as a community,” said Ridgeland Community Development Director Alan Hart, ASLA. “The plan has been an incredible exercise in bringing the community together, attracting new investment and creating an exciting design that brings out the best in Ridgeland."

MPG founder and Principal Patrick C. Moore added that the Ridgeland plan reflects his firm’s commitment to Smart Growth and green planning principles.

“This plan starts with the land and ensures that whatever we build contributes to the long term sustainability of Ridgeland and to the safety and health of its residents,” he said.

In its 27-year tenure, the award-winning Moore Planning Group, based in Alexandria and Baton Rouge, has created designs and community master plans for dozens of private clients, cities, towns and expansive rural areas. Just since 2003, MPG has designed plans for Alexandria, Pineville, Lake Charles, Crowley, Central, Plaquemine, Avoyelles Parish, Iberville Parish and others and has helped clients land more than $40 million in funds for implementation.

Accompanying renderings, graphs, charts and photos can be provided by Moore Planning Group.
For more information, please call (318) 445-2825.