The Oxford Trail receives MAP Excellence Award 

The Oxford Trail project – a $9 million investment in the City’s first ward—received the 2025 Planning Excellence Award for Advancing Diversity and Social Change in Honor of Paul Davidoff from the Michigan Association of Planning (MAP) for promoting equity and community engagement in urban planning. 

MAP officials presented the award to Oxford Trail project partners – The City of Grand Rapids, Downtown Grand Rapids, Inc. (DGR) and Progressive Companies – in late October.

A jury of planning professionals from the Texas Chapter of the American Planning Association selected the Oxford Trail project for the award. 

The Oxford Trail Improvement Project engagement included a robust, community- driven planning process led by the City of Grand Rapids Parks and Recreation Department in partnership with DGRI, which gathered input from residents of the Roosevelt Park and Black Hills neighborhoods to shape a vision for the trail. It helped scope the revitalization of over 2.5 miles of trail into a vibrant, inclusive, and sustainable public space that fosters neighborhood connectivity, celebrates local culture through public art and gathering spaces, enhances environmental stewardship with native plantings and preserved trees, and promotes health and accessibility through improved pedestrian and biking infrastructure.

This new non-motorized trail will connect the Roosevelt Park and Black Hills neighborhoods to downtown Grand Rapids.

Funding for the project comes from the American Rescue Plan Act through the City’s Parks and Recreation Department, along with a grant from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources to Downtown Grand Rapids Inc.

The project supports goals outlined in community plans like GR Forward and River For All, which aim to strengthen neighborhood ties and improve access to the riverfront. 

To learn more about the Oxford Trail project visit grparks.info/oxfordtrail.

The Michigan Association of Planning is a nonprofit group. Learn more at planningmi.org.

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