Patty McIntosh (MCP ’85), Jeff Sauser (MCRP/March ’10), and Phil Schaeffing (MCRP ’12) were all members of firms that received 2013 National APA Awards for exemplary planning in communities across the country.

2013 HUD Secretary's Opportunity and Empowerment Award

Patty McIntosh (MCP ’85), Principal and Founder, Melaver McIntosh

Previously the Vice President for Coastal Programs at the Georgia Conservancy, Patty McIntosh established Melaver McIntosh in January 2010 with partner Martin Melaver. Together, they help communities and businesses develop sustainability strategies through organizational change, plan and program development, and market positioning. The firm served as part of the Laney Walker/Bethlehem core development team in which Patty and her team facilitated private-sector investment in the revitalization effort, conducted community and media outreach, and assisted the city with program development around smart growth principles and place-making.

The Laney Walker/Bethlehem Revitalization Initiative, involving two historic African American neighborhoods in Augusta, Georgia, aimed to reverse decades of blight and disinvestment and to regenerate nearly 1,100 acres of Augusta’s urban center. The project has been shaped by a disciplined, deliberate planning process and community involvement process resulting in: a master plan identifying seven priority development areas; market studies assessing how best to attract a broad mix of residential and commercial users; a pattern book directing development partners to mesh smart growth principles with historic architectural patterns and features; a green guide to ensure sustainable development practices; and selection of 30+ development partners to assist the City’s Housing Department with design, engineering, construction, marketing, and program development.

2013 APA National Planning Excellence Award for a Planning Firm

Goody Clancy is an interdisciplinary architecture and planning firm in Boston. The group’s eleven planners and urban designers work together on a wide variety of projects mostly in the eastern United States including comprehensive plans, neighborhood revitalization, downtown redevelopment, and campus plans. They aim to develop broad public participation strategies tailored to the individual communities, to collaborate with consultants across a variety of disciplines on responsive plans, and to develop strategies that their clients can implement.

Jeff Sauser (MCRP/MArch ’10), Urban Planner/ Designer, Goody Clancy

Jeff started at Goody Clancy in July of 2011 as a planner and urban designer. He has worked on a variety of projects from downtown master plans to transit feasibility/economic development studies. Harnessing the skills that he was first exposed to at Georgia Tech, Jeff has recently assumed increased responsibility as deputy project manager for two projects in New Orleans, one revising the city’s comprehensive zoning code and the other developing transportation and livability scenarios for the future of a 5-square mile swath of the city’s core.

Phil Schaeffing (MCRP ’12), Urban Planner/ Designer, Goody Clancy

Phil joined Goody Clancy as an urban planner and designer shortly after graduating in the spring of 2012. His responsibilities include urban design development, GIS analysis, and report writing, and he enjoys the wide-variety of projects he has had the opportunity to be a part of since joining the firm. In particular, the Choice Neighborhood projects allowed him to move from GIS analysis, to site analysis, and finally to developing a plan of action that combines housing, education, and job opportunities all within the same day.