American Planning Association

APA interviews Rodger Lentz, AICP, Chief Planning and Development Officer for the City of Wilson, North Carolina and Will Aycock, General Manager of Wilson's Greenlight Community Broadband. They discuss the city's recent successful petition with the FCC and how the issue of municipal broadband will continue to be important for planners.

Pete Pointner, FAICP, former board member of the Historic Pullman Foundation in Chicago discusses the history of the Pullman neighborhood and its recent proclamation as a National Monument by President Barack Obama.

Tuesday, November 18, 2014 Transit-oriented development (TOD) is defined by the Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) of Northeastern Illinois as moderate to high-density, mixed-use communities generally located within a half-mile radius (10-minute walk) of a rail or bus station designed to maximize walkability and transit access. Interest in TOD is driven by its ability to reduce traffic congestion; changing demographics; and a desire to live in mixed-use, sustainable, and walkable communities accessible to transit. In this program, Heather Tabbert, AICP, and Tony Manno, both from the RTA, discuss how the Community Planning program has transformed over the years in response to the needs of communities, the results of a recent survey of TOD residents, and case studies of several diverse communities from throughout the region that have taken TOD planning from vision to reality.

Climate risks and sustainable growth are shared responsibilities — engineers, architects, planners, and developers are uniquely placed to improve the built environment. Sustainable development can both reduce emissions and cities' vulnerability to climate change and many impacts can be avoided, reduced, or delayed. Cities have the right density, economic conditions, and geographic scale for efficient public transport; recycling of water, waste, and materials; and energy production, distribution, and use. However, few cities have reached their full potential in these areas. There are major benefits with creating cities with substantial efficient use of resources, where transportation and use of infrastructure is both effective and attractive, land is used optimally, and the impacts on water and the natural environment are limited. Cooperation and synergies require more coordinated solutions, as well as new construction with better environmental performance and more energy efficient transport vehicles. In this

Private Capital, Public Good September 28, 2014 National Building Museum Washington, D.C. Featuring Guest Speaker Congressman John Delaney and a panel discussion with Ben Hecht, CEO of Living Cities, John Rahaim, Planning Director of the City and County of San Francisco, and William Anderson, FAICP, President of the American Planning Association Today's fiscal and political realities make private and philanthropic investments ever more important to building communities. New tools like social impact bonds are rapidly moving from concept to reality. In Washington, Congress is debating how to leverage private and nonprofit involvement in infrastructure and housing. The latest Burnham Forum will zero in on these issues from the perspectives of the investors and communities working with new partners.

September 23, 2014 The Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) projects a population increase of 1.96 million people and 1.24 million jobs in the Northeastern Illinois region by the year 2030. And the cumulative impact of planning decisions throughout the region will determine the degree to which the built environment will satisfy the broad objectives of (1) meeting human needs efficiently; (2) creating economically viable and sustainable communities; (3) shaping the built environment in harmony with the landscape and the natural and cultural environments that frame the context of a specific project or area; and (4) nourishing the human spirit by creating beauty, diversity, order, justice, and opportunity. In this program, Pete Pointner, FAICP, presented seven key principles to guide the future of planning practice. Drawing on his book Planning Connections, Pointner emphasized the cumulative effects of principle-based planning decisions, focusing on the important role that planners play in supportin

August 26, 2014 Until recently, climate change has correlated to polar bears and melting ice caps — heart rending, but safely distant. Yet climate-related extreme weather, combined with urban development, is starting to show its force, as realized by the severe droughts in California and the misery caused to millions of home owners and businesses as a result of urban flooding. With these impacts comes the potential for public mobilization and a renewed focus on the way we plan our towns and cities. But can we channel individual concerns over wet basements and leaky pipes into a broader public participation and advocacy movement? This July, the Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT) launched Rain Ready (rainready.org), aimed at building an alliance of individuals and communities working together to find solutions to the problems of too much or too little water. Rain Ready is inspired by the growing number of resident actions groups in the Chicago region mobilizing as a result of the impacts of flooding in

July 22, 2014 APA's Community Planning Assistance Team (CPAT) initiative provides pro-bono planning assistance to communities with a demonstrated need and a lack of planning resources and expertise. Each CPAT pairs a multidisciplinary team of expert planning professionals from around the country with community members, key stakeholders, and relevant decision makers to foster community education, engagement, and empowerment. In this program, Rich Roths, AICP, and Douglas Martin, AICP, shared insights from their respective CPAT experiences and demystifyed the process for potential participants. In September 2013, Roths led a CPAT looking at the potential future of a gateway commercial corridor located in a floodplain in Franklin, Tennessee. The previous year, Martin lent his expertise to a CPAT for Wakulla Gardens, a small-lot subdivision in otherwise rural Wakulla County, Florida. After summarizing these projects, Roths and Martin highlighted lessons learned for future CPATs.

June 17, 2014 Many contemporary conversations about sustainable design and development emphasize walkability. But, in terms of the potential effects of walkability on carbon emissions, it's important to separate fact from fiction. While there is no argument that walking contributes to health, pedestrian-friendly districts and neighborhoods may not be enough to significantly reduce vehicle miles traveled (VMT). In this program, Lane Kendig, from Kendig Keast Collaborative, explored how the concept of walkability relates to four types of trips: commuting, shopping, recreation, and child-related. He discussed the connections between density, intensity, transit, and significant reductions in VMT. Through a series of case studies, Kendig made a case for the necessity of zoning reforms that prohibit auto-oriented urban development.

May 20, 2014 Emerging manufacturing technologies, such as 3-D printing, promise to revolutionize the way things are made. Will they also revolutionize the spatial pattern of metropolitan development? Could these technologies lead to a radical decentralization of manufacturing through the proliferation of artisan-type shops within the next decade? In this program, Howard Wial, from the University of Illinois at Chicago, uses concepts from economic geography to assess the ways in which emerging manufacturing technologies are and aren't likely to reshape the physical form of U.S. metropolitan areas and the location of manufacturers within them. He discusses how these technologies have the potential to create new opportunities for small and medium-sized manufacturers and the most likely locations for new manufacturers. Finally, Wial highlights some of the freight transportation and workforce development issues related to increased adoption of emerging manufacturing technologies.

April 22, 2014 As one of the largest single land uses in our municipal "footprints," parking deserves more attention than is typically bestowed upon it. Besides encouraging auto use, having an excessive supply of parking influences the character, form, function and flow of our communities. It makes walking and bicycling unpleasant and unsafe, it adds to flooding and pollution problems, and it makes housing more expensive. At the same time, parking is necessary to support a community's local businesses; finding the right balance between supply and demand — as an economist would — is the next step. In the Chicago area, the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) has been working with several communities through its Local Technical Assistance program to understand the unique parking challenges and identify potential solutions. In this program Lindsay Bayley, from CMAP, discussed parking management strategies and presented the findings from two very different projects: downtown suburban Hinsdale, Illin

March 18, 2014 Both theorists and practitioners see design standards as shaping the "look" of the community and built environment over the long run — with significant underlying ideology. Planning professionals may view design guidelines and review processes as useful tools to communicate local preferences and resolve issues. And, design standards and form-based codes have become powerful branding and placemaking tools for suburbs in the Chicago metropolitan area and nationwide. This program and discussion served to highlight contrasting perspectives on the benefits of design review. Drawing on observations from public architectural review commission hearings in local suburbs, Professor Robert Rotenberg, from DePaul University, considered case studies of how design standards work to shape the development decisions by stakeholders in Cook County, Illinois. Attorney and consultant John Hedrick summarized the regulatory background and recent developments in the Chicago metropolitan area regarding best practic

The Missing Metric March 4, 2014 With the multiple crises of municipal insolvency, climate change and citizen pushback against government regulation at all levels, it makes sense to consider a new "balance-sheet" approach to granting development approvals. Such an approach would screen for more compact, high-value development that would pay back government's up-front infrastructure investments on a more rapid basis. On first blush, the regulatory strategy would not seem compatible with Smart Growth and New Urbanism, both of which are strongly driven by urban design and physical form. Such models, which have gained wide acceptance among planners as preferred models for more sustainable community development, have proved difficult to implement within the regulatory structures that prevail in the United States and Canada. By incorporating the "missing metric" into development review, municipalities may be able to reduce and even eliminate many cumbersome and highly subjective development regulations, and at

February 25, 2014 The Calumet Region of Indiana and Illinois at the southern end of Lake Michigan has great ecological significance, cultural diversity, and economic might but is now grappling with questions of regional direction in the wake of widespread deindustrialization. The idea of designating the Calumet as a National Heritage Area grew from a 1998 feasibility study by the National Park Service.The Calumet Heritage Partnership, formed as a result of the study, has worked to keep the Heritage Area idea alive. Drs. Mark Bouman, from the Field Museum, and William Peterman, professor emeritus at Chicago State University, introduce the concept of National Heritage Areas with examples of successful NHAs in other parts of the country; discuss why NHAs should be of interest to planners; and show how the creation of a Calumet NHA would be consistent with and augment existing and evolving plans for the Calumet region.

January 28, 2014 The HUD Choice Neighborhoods Initiative employs a comprehensive approach to neighborhood transformation through the revitalization of distressed public housing and the creation of economic, social, physical, and educational initiatives. Through this initiative, planners and community groups are working to turn distressed housing and long neglected neighborhoods into viable and sustainable mixed-income communities that support positive outcomes for families. In this program, Adam Rosa, AICP, of Camiros compared and contrasted planning efforts in two different Choice Neighborhoods. He shared the strategies that are being employed in the troubled Ellis Heights neighborhood of Rockford, Illinois, to foster positive neighborhood change through the arts and online entrepreneurship (including a strategic relationship with Etsy.com). In addition, he discussed the creative techniques being used to address the distinct challenge of gentrification in the rapidly changing Rosewood community of Austin,

Authors Jon B. DeVries and D. Bradford Hunt discuss the state of planning in the Chicago region and their book Planning Chicago.

January 7, 2014 For the past three years, APA has been working in Latin America to promote urban planning. The most recent grant from the U.S. Department of State's Energy and Climate Partnership of the Americas has focused on four innovative housing and community development demonstration projects in Bolivia, Brazil, Mexico, and Peru. This presentation explains the background of the region's planning issues and showcases the progress of the four projects.

Immigration is woven into American history. But what about its future? Each year APA's professional institute, the American Institute of Certified Planners, hosts a fall symposium on a timely topic in planning. As federal legislators debate immigration reform, this fall's symposium looks at how immigrants affect the economies and cultures of the cities where they live and work. Hear regional perspectives on a dynamic group of people and their role in places across the United States. Recorded on October 29, 2013 at the National Building Museum in Washington D.C. Panelists Stacy Anne Harwood Associate Professor of Urban and Regional Planning University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana Fatima Shama Commissioner New York City Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs Leslie Wollack Program Director of Infrastructure National League of Cities Paul Farmer, FAICP, moderator CEO American Planning Association

November 12, 2013 Across the country, hundreds of communities have embraced Complete Streets policies as a way to foster safer streets that serve everyone, not just drivers. But individual projects and general policies aren't enough: transportation agencies often struggle to reform decades of rules, practice, and politics that prioritize cars. Barbara McCann, founding director of the National Complete Streets Coalition, has dug into what it takes to upend the way every transportation project is conceived, planned, and evaluated so each provides for people walking, bicycling, or taking the bus. McCann will discuss what she learned about why Complete Streets too often fail and what can be done to close that gap between policy and practice. She will share the stories of practitioners in cities and towns from Charlotte, North Carolina, to Colorado Springs, Colorado, who have made four fundamental changes in the way transportation projects are chosen, planned, and built.

November 19, 2013 A growing number of cities across the country have begun to acknowledge their waterfronts as valuable community assets through plans, capital investments, and development regulations. The Cal-Sag Channel and Little Calumet River wind through the ecologically rich, but economically challenged Calumet region in Chicago's south suburbs. The region has received attention lately through the state's Millennium Reserve initiative, a new land bank and transit-oriented development fund, and possible national park designation for the Pullman neighborhood, and it's poised to take advantage of its rich water assets. At the center of much of this activity is the City of Blue Island, Illinois, an inner-ring suburb straddling both banks of the Cal-Sag Channel. Jason Berry, from the City of Blue Island, and Abby Crisostomo, from the Metropolitan Planning Council, discussed a number of water-oriented planning activities happening in Blue Island — from neighborhood-based approaches to green infrastructure a