The Lower Roxbury Community Corporation under the leadership of Ralph D. Smith, between 1972 and 1980, developed housing for the elderly and low-income residents and townhouses with 570 housing units. Organized 1966, LRCC was the first neighborhood group to initiate and develop housing in the country. Ralph D. Smith was named the American Society of Planning Officials ( ASPO) Planner of the Year in 1974. The ASPO honored him 'for leading and validating a neighborhood voice, for initiating plans and implementing techniques to upgrade the inner city environment, and for making the decision process work better,' through the Lower Roxbury Community Corporation.