MIG

🎉 Congratulations to our partners at the County of Los Angeles Department of Parks & Recreation for securing a $15 million grant from the Land and Water Conservation Fund’s Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership Program! L.A. County is leading the way in park equity and environmental justice through the 2016 Parks Needs Assessment (PNA) and 2022 PNA Plus (PNA ), identifying communities most in need of parks. A key focus is restoring degraded lands like brownfields and landfills, particularly in low-income communities of color, where 84% of nearby residents are people of color. Puente Hills Landfill Park, formerly the nation’s second-largest landfill, brings this vision to life as it transforms into L.A. County’s first new regional park in 30 years. With this federal grant, the plan moves one step closer to reality. In partnership with nonprofit organizations, State conservancies, and L.A. County, we’re proud to support policy and funding changes to transform brownfield sites into vibrant parks, while safeguarding community health and safety. 🌲 More on Puente Hills Landfill Park: https://lnkd.in/garZbZf9 🌲 More on the PNA and its Implementation Plan: https://lnkd.in/dv_6x_58 📸 : Nature for All 📸 : LA County DPR

Laurie Matthews, MIG’s Director of Preservation Planning and Design, is this year's speaker for the Lord & Schryver Conservancy's Bobbie Dolp Lecture on Monday, November 11. In her lecture “Oregon's Cultural Landscapes: How to Better Understand and Protect These Special Places,” Laurie will share valuable insights on Oregon's cultural landscapes based on her extensive professional experiences with locations such as Crater Lake National Park, Willamette Falls, Gaiety Hollow and Camp Namanu. For more information visit, www.lordschryver.org. #lordandschryverconservancy #culturallandscapes

We are proud to announce that the "Muni Moves You" Return-to-Transit Campaign received a 2024 Davey Gold Award in the Integrated Campaign-Promotional & Branding category. When San Francisco started to reopen in 2022, MIG’s communications and media services team partnered with the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) to develop an integrated marketing campaign to bring riders back to transit. The "Muni Moves You" campaign comprised of a series of ads that reimagined Muni’s iconic red “worm” logo in new contexts—from modern art to a bowl of ramen—to encourage riders to “return to transit” for various trips post-pandemic. The campaign also highlighted the significant service improvements Muni has made during the pandemic, with proof points that give San Francisco residents even more “reason to ride.” You can check out more of the campaign's ads and video on our website: https://heyor.ca/2imkka

🎉 Congratulations to our partners at the The City of Bakersfield - Government for securing a $11.9 million grant through the Land and Water Conservation Fund’s Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership! MIG is proud to be the lead consultant and landscape architect for the MLK Park Revitalization, one of only 15 projects funded in California and the second-highest nationally. Located in southeast Bakersfield—a historically African American neighborhood now home to many Latino immigrant families—MLK Park will soon feature a new community center, pool, sports fields, enhanced play areas, a community garden, and tree-lined promenade, creating a vibrant gathering space for all. This project aligns with Bakersfield’s Recreation & Parks Master Plan, also led by MIG, to enhance park access, expand the tree canopy, and support river parkway resources. We’re thrilled to help bring this vision to life alongside City staff, residents, and community partners! Find out more at: https://lnkd.in/gdk4F5VP

Major win for #ParkEquity! 🌳 On September 25, the U.S. Department of the Interior announced the largest-ever grant from the Land and Water Conservation Fund’s Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership (ORLP) program: $254.68 million will fund 54 transformative park projects across 24 states, many creating or revitalizing green spaces in underserved communities. As Secretary Deb Haaland said, "Everyone deserves to experience the restorative power of nature." This historic investment marks a significant step towards expanding access to parks in urban and disadvantaged areas. Read more at https://heyor.ca/sp8rNA and stay tuned to learn which MIG park projects will benefit from this grant!

A big congratulations to Dr. Tiffany White-LaPierre, MIG Senior Plannner, on receiving the National Recreation and Park Ethnic Minority Society (NRPEMS) Service Award for Outstanding Leadership during the 2024 National Recreation and Park Association conference held in Atlanta, GA.

We are proud to announce that two MIG projects received 2024 ASLA Oregon Design Awards on September 27. The Chehalis Basin: The Local Actions Non-Dam (LAND) Alternative received the Honor Award in Analysis & Planning/Research, and the Green Ribbon Honor Award in Analysis & Planning/Research. We would like to thank our partner firms Stillwater Sciences, ECOnorthwest, Stowe Development & Strategies, Northwest Hydraulic Consultants and GeoEngineers Inc. for their work on this plan. The second project recognized by Oregon ASLA is Hidden Creek Park West, which received the Award of Excellence. We would like to thank the City of Hillsboro, KPFF Consulting Engineers, R&W Engineering, Structural Nexus, Morgan Holen, DCW, FFA, P&C Construction and Earthscape Play who helped take the inclusive play park from concept to reality.

The San Diego River Discovery Center at Grant Park in San Diego achieved a major milestone in recently completing almost 70% of the project construction! MIG is proud to celebrate this milestone for this long-standing project with The San Diego River Park Foundation. Rick Barrett, ASLA, LEED AP, MIG Principal and Director San Diego Operations, has been the lead site planner and designer on the project, working closely with the Grant Family and Rob Hutsel, San Diego River Parks Foundation President and CEO, for the last 20 years to bring the River Park Foundation’s vision to reality. We are excited to share more as this project progresses and these photos from the recent anniversary event held at the site on September 21. You can find out more about the project at https://lnkd.in/gYZZRV8d

On Friday, October 18, MIG's Carlos Torres de Janon, Associate Landscape Designer, Evan Lanning, Senior Visualization Specialist and Matt Hastie, Senior Project Manager, along with Arini Farrell, Transportation Project Manager at Multnomah County, will be presenting a session "Is A.I. Here to Help or Coming for Our Jobs?" at the 2024 OAPA Annual Planning Conference—Navigating the Future: Planners Initiating Change. This session will include an in-depth review of existing AI tools and their applicability to do the work that we do as community planners. Examples of visualizations created with the help of A.I. will showcase downtowns, transportation corridors and parkland. Conversations with expert panel members about these and non-visual AI tools will help us think about how to continue to advance place-based planning and faithfully reflect community objectives and values.

This week, MIG will be presenting at multiple sessions during the APA Texas 2024 State Planning conference in Allen, TX. On October 17, MIG Project Manager Marco Hinojosa will be presenting two sessions: “Geospatial Guardians: Empowering Residents with GIS” and “The Power of Vibes: Creating Cool Places Through Placemaking and Planning.” Senior Project Associate Saul Vazquez will be leading a session that day as well titled "Empowering Neighborhoods: Navigating Growth Through Compatible Development." That evening, MIG is sponsoring a President's Game Night from 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. You can register at https://heyor.ca/DOD34H Then, on October 18, Jay R. Renkens, MIG Principal, Chief Practice Officer and Director of Firmwide Planning and Design Services will be presenting "Urban Trailblazing: Making Ways With What You Have." Learn more at https://heyor.ca/PJUwFh