American Planning Association

Rodney Harrell, a planner and AARP Public Policy Institute's vice president of Family, Home and Community, thinks the biggest policy problem we face is the siloing of planning issues — separating housing from transportation from economic development from health. This disjointedness negatively affects people across the lifespan, but these impacts will become even more pronounced as our nation gets older. In fact, by 2035, the U.S. will have more people over the age of 65 than under the age of 18 for the first time ever. Thankfully, Rodney recognizes, planners are in a unique position to help solve many of these issues. He and APA's editor in chief Meghan Stromberg discuss where we go from here.

You've probably heard the term "multigenerational," but what about "intergenerational"? Matthew Kaplan, professor of Intergenerational Programs and Aging at Penn State University, outlines what that means for APA's editor in chief Meghan Stromberg, and the two discuss some of the fascinating case studies in intergenerational programming from around the world. Matt also describes how the pandemic has forced intergenerational planners and other professionals to come up with solutions for people who must stay physically distant — a challenging hurdle for a discipline rooted in interaction.

As a watershed year comes to a close, Tamika Butler, Esq., founder and principal of Tamika L. Butler Consulting, joins host Courtney Kashima, AICP, on this episode of the People Behind the Plans podcast series. The result is a stirring, uplifting, and funny conversation on the issues facing everyone who works to undo society’s inequities. Tamika’s practice focuses on the built environment, equity, antiracism, diversity and inclusion, organizational behavior, and change management. A transportation planner, lawyer, and nonprofit executive director in previous roles, she explains why she struck out on her own after the pandemic started. She and Courtney discuss the positives and negatives of working for yourself, as well as why it’s important for urban planning firms and other agencies to collaborate with each other. Both planners express their hopes for equity work going forward — that agencies and organizations understand that these endeavors cannot be done once and forgotten about. That engagement should be

When social justice planner Monique López, AICP, MCRP, MA, talks about her anti-racist, values-driven participatory planning and design firm called Pueblo Planning, she describes its work in no uncertain terms: “I still very much see this as an experiment in love … an experiment in justice. … And coming in with that particular mindset allows me to be flexible, allows me to be open-minded and open-hearted when I am held accountable by community members, when I am held accountable by, by social-justice movements that maybe say, You know, that planning process that we engaged in? It should have been done this way.” Pueblo Planning has done work with people who are unhoused, earn lower incomes, do not claim English as their first language, are senior, and are part of the LGBTQ community. Monique tells host Courtney Kashima, AICP, stories from some of Pueblo’s projects, merging anecdotes with the wisdom they brought her to create poignant takeaways for listeners. From divulging her planning “origin story” (in her

The fiscal impacts of COVID-19 are forcing cities to significantly rethink their budgets and spending decisions. But when projected revenue shortfalls put most of the City of El Paso's scheduled capital improvement projects on hold, planners in this Texas border city saw an opportunity to rethink the capital improvement planning (CIP) and budgeting process and reprioritize projects using an equity-focused approach. To understand how they did this, Ann Dillemuth, AICP, senior research and professional practice associate at APA, speaks with Alex Hoffman, AICP, director of the Capital Planning Division of the city's Capital Improvement Department. Alex provides planners with practical advice on how to reenvision their own communities' capital improvements planning processes, and he underscores how identifying priorities and aligning plans can make a city more resilient in the future, if and when another disruptive event like the coronavirus pandemic happens.

When the coronavirus pandemic dramatically halted normal economic activity in March, many knew small business owners and their employees would not come away unscathed. But small businesses are critical to our communities, making up 44 percent of all economic activity in the United States. Thankfully, community planners are stepping up in big ways to find relief for these businesses — the lifeblood of their localities. In this episode of the podcast, APA public affairs manager Emily Pasi talks with Angela Cleveland, AICP, director of community and economic development for the City of Amesbury, Massachusetts, and Matthew Coogan, AICP, chief of staff for the City of Newburyport, Massachusetts. Amesbury and Newburyport — the former boasting a thriving restaurant scene, the latter an engine largely fueled by tourism — were each awarded $400,000 in emergency Community Development Block Grant funding via the CARES Act. Angela and Matt outline the serious need they saw in their communities’ small businesses before th

What do natural disasters and the coronavirus pandemic have in common? Quite a bit, in fact. Medical anthropologist Dr. Monica Schoch-Spana joins host Jim Schwab, FAICP, on this episode of Resilience Roundtable series to talk about the commonalities between these two types of events. Dr. Schoch-Spana is a senior scholar with The Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, as well as a senior scientist in the Department of Environmental Health & Engineering at The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

New York City's response to COVID-19 required unprecedented creativity and collaboration among its city agencies. Bob Tuttle, director of the New York City Department of City Planning’s Capital Planning Division, comes on the podcast to describe to Ann Dillemuth, AICP, senior research and professional practice associate, how the division was asked to use its datasets and knowledge of city facilities in the early days of the response to identify possible locations for surge hospitals. The conversation also delves into the capital planning team's work in general, which aims to integrate planning perspectives and data-driven planning analytics into the city’s capital budget planning and decision-making process. Bob describes a few of the resources the division offers, including the Facilities Explorer, a combination of more than 50 public datasets, and he points to department success stories, such as how one planner realized a police department intake site in the East New York neighborhood had the potential for

COVID-19 has underscored yet another reality that planners already knew: Broadband access — or reliable, high-speed internet access — is a necessity, not a luxury. APA's Sagar Shah talks with Anna Read, an officer for the broadband research initiative at The Pew Charitable Trusts, about the basics of the issue. Read clears up some common misconceptions about the digital divide and describes the work that several communities across the country are doing to close the broadband gap. The two also discuss how planners can get involved in local broadband processes and help shape requirements for access.

As cities around the world address COVID-19 challenges, they're reimagining how they use policy tools to meet the needs of their residents. In Portland, Oregon, the City Council recently adopted a resolution that highlights the connections between equity, climate, and COVID-19 recovery. APA's Jo Peña sits down with Andrea Durbin, the director of Portland’s Bureau of Planning and Sustainability, and Dr. Markisha Smith, director of Portland’s Office of Equity and Human Rights, to discuss the connection between the newly-adopted resolution and planning practice.

As a second-generation Australian and a globetrotter who's studied and worked in New York and Chicago, Samantha Choudhury understands how critical social bonds are to building communities that thrive. She and host Courtney Kashima, AICP, start off their conversation by examining how her parents' immigration to Australia from Bangladesh shaped how she plans for communities. The associate director at Brickfields Consulting and Mainstreet Australia boardmember offers up her observations of planning in the U.S. and Australia, especially the differences between each community's drive to get involved in the planning process. The two planners delve into the realms of placemaking and economic development, discussing how business-improvement districts need focused management to succeed — which, Sam notes, seems especially true now that both countries have been thrown into economic recessions brought about by coronavirus lockdowns. The Melbourne-based planner leaves listeners on a hopeful note, sharing the names of pla

The COVID-19 pandemic is challenging planners around the country to rethink how they work with various shelter-in-place and social distancing guidelines. One particular hurdle is how to continue with planning commission and other board meetings to keep communities moving forward. Emily Mack directs the Department of Metropolitan Development for the City of Indianapolis, Indiana. She chats with APA's Jo Peña about how, within a relatively short period of time, their team developed a standard operating procedure for the online meetings of their Metropolitan Development Commission, Board of Zoning Appeals, and other governmental functions. Mack also outlines the many lessons they've learned along the way while maintaining these critical government services.

The Planning magazine editors get together — virtually — to recap some of the stories from the April 2020 issue. First up are drive-thrus: In the article "Is Fast-Food Through With Drive-Thrus?" author Brian Barth talks about how good urban design and walkability just don't favor the car-centric fast food model anymore. But last month states and cities started closing bars and restaurants, limiting food options to takeout, delivery, and, of course, the drive-thru. All of a sudden, drive-thrus seem more relevant than ever. The editors also discuss how e-commerce affects land use and infrastructure planning, as well as coding and how planners are using it to make sense of the vast amount of data that's out there, but also to solve critical planning challenges.

Boston is currently a hot spot for the new coronavirus. Like many municipalities across the country, it's taking unprecedented action to respond to the challenges brought about by the pandemic. Brian Golden, director of the Boston Planning & Development Agency (BPDA), joins APA's Roberta Rewers to discuss many of these tactics, including new responsibilities taken on by the city's planning staff. Last month, the city partnered with the McChrystal Group — consultants who specialize in strategic remote crisis management — to review the city’s preparedness for emergency response to the coronavirus pandemic. Golden explains the motivation behind their decision to seek out external assistance, and he breaks down exactly how the consultants helped the city structure their approach to the public health crisis during the last few weeks. Through this eye-opening discussion, planners and other city officials will learn best practices for strategic crisis management, and they'll get an insider look into one major c

With millions across the country now working remotely to curb the spread of COVID-19, cybersecurity and data protection issues are top of mind for just about everyone. Phishing attacks have increased. The term "Zoom bombing" has entered the lexicon. What should planners do to make sure their agency's data and communications are safe? APA's Jo Peña talks with Nupur Gunjan, a public sector analyst at Cisco. Nupur is a trained planner who transitioned to the tech world after working for the City of Austin, Texas. Her experience with local planning and tech uniquely positions her to share advice with communities who are using online engagement tools. The two focus on what planners need to know about data protection and online public engagement right now, but also what they can do to protect their communities in the future.

This episode features a dynamic conversation between Planning magazine editor-in-chief Meghan Stromberg and Lisa Nisenson, vice president for new mobility and connected communities at WGI. The two discuss what e-commerce trends mean for land use and contactless delivery; they also review the major implications of the COVID-19 pandemic for online retail.

Hear from Matt Hoffman, immediate Past Chair of the Fayetteville, Arkansas, Planning Commission, about how the city continued — virtually — with its planning commission and other board meetings during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In this episode of the podcast series Cover to Cover, the Planning magazine editors review the contents of the March 2020 issue: from an interactive map from the US Department of Transportation that shows the linkages between transportation and the new Federal Opportunity Zones program, to the steps it takes to prepare a community for large-scale solar development, to a special "business of planning" article, with 13 strategies for becoming an effective manager. Before the editors dive in to their discussion, editor-in-chief Meghan Stromberg reflects on the state of the world amid the COVID-19 pandemic. This lens casts a new, even-more-pressing light on her discussion with Ward Lyles, AICP, and Stacey Swearingen White, about their research into emotions in planning. Swearingen White is a professor at the University of Kansas, as well as the director of the School of Public Affairs and Administration, and Lyles is an associate professor at the university, in the School of Public Affairs and Administration. He

In this episode of People Behind the Plans, host Courtney Kashima, AICP, catches up with Traci Sanders of WXY Studio in New York. Traci serves as the director of civic impact for the multidisciplinary architecture, design, and planning firm. She and Courtney start off by exploring how Traci discovered the field of urban planning — the seed was planted during high school, when she split her time between the South and North Sides of Chicago and noticed the stark inequities between them. Traci describes how her work trajectory changed after graduating from NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, eventually leading her to a job with New York City Councilmember Melissa Mark-Viverito and involvement in the East Harlem Neighborhood Plan. Both Traci and Courtney share their thoughts on how certain urban planning spheres view public versus private backgrounds, and they muse on issues like the public dimension of design and why a community engagement process should be tailored to every client.

In this episode of the APA Podcast, the Planning magazine editors sit down to recap the urban planning trends and ideas from the February 2020 issue. Featured topics this month include public transit's gender gap (and how to close it), the Texas Freedom Colonies Project, user-centered planning, and the rise of nighttime mayors.