McKINNEY, TEXAS  – The McKinney Town Center Study Initiative was selected as a recipient of the 2009 Celebrating Leadership in Development Excellence (CLIDE) Award. The winners were selected from a field of 35 applicants from across North Texas. The award will be accepted at a ceremony on June 12 at the North Central Texas Council of Governments’ Annual General Assembly luncheon. 

"We are proud to be honored for the hard work that has gone into the Town Center Study. The city recognizes the importance of our historic city center to the entire community, and we are working hard to preserve its foundation while fostering sustainable expansion and revitalization so the area can remain vital for years to come," said City Manager Frank Ragan. "This award validates that our community's efforts are moving in the right direction."  

In the fall of 2006, McKinney initiated the Town Center Study in an effort to address the specific needs of the McKinney Town Center. Over the last 2 years, the city has worked closely with more than 300 stakeholders, residents and property owners to establish a community-based vision for how McKinney’s Town Center should look, feel and function over the long term. The process and resulting vision was outlined in the Town Center Study Phase 1 Report, which was approved by McKinney City Council in March of 2008. 

Phase 2 of the Town Center Study Initiative is currently underway, and city staff has placed a big emphasis on creating an action plan of specific strategies and tools that will allow the vision and revitalization of the Town Center to be achieved.   

“We can’t underestimate the importance of critically evaluating all of the concepts and preferred scenarios to learn what tools will best help us make this vision a reality. That’s what Phase 2 is all about,” said Kevin Spath, Senior Planner.   

To learn more about the Town Center Study Initiative, visit the McKinney homepage at www.mckinneytexas.org and click on the link under the “I Am Looking For” tab. 

The biannual CLIDE Awards honor development and planning projects that exemplify the region’s Ten Principles of Development Excellence, which outline a vision for sustainable and livable communities in North Texas. CLIDE recipients were selected by a panel of four nationally recognized experts in the fields of architecture, sustainable development and planning.