Murchison Choice Neighborhood Plan in the News
The Murchison Choice Neighborhood Plan is a collaboration of the city, the Fayetteville Metropolitan Housing Authority, community stakeholders, faith-based organizations, anchor institutions and businesses via a December 2020 HUD Choice Neighborhoods Planning Grant - and the work is not going unnoticed. The city was awarded the 2023 North Carolina Marvin Collins Award in the "Advancing Equity" category from the North Carolina chapter of the American Planning Association for the Murchison Choice Neighborhood Plan.
"Receiving this award validates the plan we created with our community at the center, supporting our City Council's goals," Chris Cauley, the city's economic and community development director, said in a news release. "It was important to council that we approached planning for a majority minority community and home to a historically Black college and university with a sense of equity and respect for the diversity that makes our community great."
The award, according to the release, recognizes a project or program that involves historically underrepresented groups, positively impacts quality of life for low- or moderate-income individuals and achieves planning objectives that address structural inequities. The Choice Plan, part of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Choice Neighborhood initiative, is a guide, according to the release, for revitalization of the public housing units while also directing positive transformation along the Murchison Road corridor.