Their skate park cleared its final bureaucratic hurdle last month. And now City Heights youth are winning an award for their efforts.
The San Diego chapter of the American Planning Association has given the Mid-City CAN Youth Council its award for best grassroots initiative.
The youth campaigned for a skate park in their community. Their efforts included lobbying their elected officials, reaching out to skeptical neighbors and even helping with the design.
APA board member Nick Ferracone, who volunteered his expertise to the youth group, said the teens handled the slow and complicated city planning process with more grace than most adults.
"They had ups and downs. They found some barriers," said Ferracone, who was not a judge for the APA awards. "They believed in the process, they believed in the project and they prevailed."
Terry Stanley, 20, said the award is a change of pace for the skaters.
"They're not being judged and being criticized," Stanley said. "They're being thanked for the work that they've done."
The APA brings together professionals involved with the city planning process.
Many of the youth working on the skate park campaign say they now want to become planners themselves.
The city is scheduled to break ground on the City Heights skate park late this year and complete the project in 2017.
