City holds photo scavenger hunt

This month residents can celebrate National Community Planning Month by participating in a photo scavenger hunt and winning prizes.

Weekdays now through Oct. 31, residents can visit either the city’s Facebook or Twitter pages to see the topic of the day. Then they can reply with an original photo of a site or scene in Yuma that they think represents the topic.

Example: The topic for Oct. 3, was “Great Neighborhood in Yuma.” Residents could have taken pictures of Century Heights, Palo Verde/Country Club, downtown, Mesa Heights, or their own subdivision and submitted it with a brief label.

At the end of the month, the respondent with the most individual correct answers will win four tickets to an upcoming show: Christmas With The Rat Pack, Dec. 12, at the Historic Yuma Theatre, put on by Lonely Street Productions.

In the event of a tie, the winner will be randomly drawn.

This photo scavenger hunt is one of several ways residents can learn more about Community Planning Month, the city said in a press release.

Yuma City Hall’s east lobby is being converted into a “planning nook” — a space where residents can:

• Create their own neighborhood using building blocks on the provided table.

• Plant a garden by select an illustration (provided) to color; once completed they can redeem it for actual seeds. Details are available at the Department of Community Development office on the second floor.

• Make a wish. Yuma is constantly changing, and the city would like to see citizens’ hopes and dreams for their neighborhood. They are invited to take a leaf, write their wish and attach it to the tree.

• Find their neighborhood on a satellite map.

• Read up on projects planners are working on throughout the world.

Interviews with community planners are playing on the closed-circuit television in the background for residents to learn more about the important work they do.

A series of articles on community planning topics will appear this month in the Yuma Sun newspaper.

For the first time, the public will have online access to the city’s Geographic Information System (GIS) maps at https:// coyims02.ci.yuma.az.us/ cityofyuma/.

Deputy Mayor Gary Knight read the official proclamation for National Community Planning Month at the Oct. 4 meeting of the Yuma City Council.

Established in 2006, National Community Planning Month is celebrated each October as a way to highlight the role of planners and the importance of good planning in communities. Across the country, communities celebrate planning through a variety of avenues.

Each year, a theme is identified to help a community highlight an aspect or outcome of planning. The theme can be used to organize events and activities within the community. This year, the theme is innovation in planning.

“Planning plays an important role in addressing and adapting to the challenges faced by communities in the 21st century. From using data sources and technology to address issues including inequality, access to transportation and social mobility to celebrating new approaches to creating communities of lasting value,” the city said in a statement.