The Springwood Avenue Heritage Walk, developed through the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority’s
Vibrant Places Program, has won a New Jersey Chapter of the American Planning Association 2024 Outstanding Community Engagement Award.
The Vibrant Places Program offers free technical assistance to counties, municipalities and community organizations in the NJTPA region for creative placemaking projects that aim to strengthen connections between people and places that enhance the social, physical, and economic fabric in communities across the region. The NJTPA funds the program and provides technical assistance in partnership with the Public Outreach and Engagement Team at the Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Center at Rutgers University.
The Springwood Avenue Heritage Walk was one of two projects completed through the program during Fiscal Year 2024. The Heritage Walk highlights the rich legacy of Springwood Avenue, once a vibrant center of Black-owned businesses, music, and community on the west side of Asbury Park. Diane Shelton of Interfaith Neighbors, proposed the heritage walk, which seeks to honor the historic neighborhood and inspire future revitalization.
The project included extensive research, including interviewing residents and businesses to create oral histories and archives. The result is a virtual tour that documents the more than 250 businesses and cultural sites that were once along Springwood Avenue. The project also provided recommendations for making a physical heritage walk, including banners, signage and potential historic designation.
The virtual tour can be viewed at
https://tinyurl.com/SpringwoodAveHeritageWalk.