In 2017, the City of Memphis embarked on its first comprehensive plan in nearly 40 years. Alta assisted with two elements of this plan: the first, as the mobility, active transportation, and local knowledge consultant for the Opticos Design project team, and second, assisting follow-up tasks for Complete Streets design guidelines, small area plans, and engineering standards for streets design.

The Memphis 3.0 comprehensive plan is an anchors-based plan, where anchors such as neighborhood centers or centers of activity were identified and assigned to categories such as “accelerate, nurture, or sustain” based on need, location, and public input.

Alta assisted with the public workshops and compiled GIS mapping data of street types. This data was matched with future land use types generated from the public engagement process, and informed many elements of the plan, including the connectivity element that Alta created.

This project received the APA Outstanding Plan Award by the Tennessee APA chapter, and was also recognized with the 2020 Daniel Burnham Award for a Comprehensive Plan.