American Planning Association

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

October 22, 2013 The American mobilization for World War II is famed for its industrial production; less well known is that it was also one of the greatest urban planning challenges that the United States has ever faced. Although Americans tend to think of World War II as a time of national unity, mobilization had a fractious side. Interest groups competed for federal attention, frequent — sometimes violent — protests interrupted mobilization plans, and seemingly local urban planning controversies could blow up into investigations by the U.S. Senate. Drawing on her recently released book, Planning the Home Front: Building Bombers and Communities at Willow Run, Sarah Jo Peterson shows how the federal government used a participatory planning approach to mobilize the home front. For the massive Willow Run Bomber Plant, built in a rural area 25 miles west of Detroit, bringing the plant to success required dealing with housing, transportation, and communities for its tens of thousands of workers. It involved Ame

October 22, 2013 Despite the planning profession's origins in visionary thinking about the future of our cities, many contemporary planning practitioners are mired in the political battles of today and, therefore, can feel disconnected from the idea of imagining how the cities of tomorrow may have different needs and functions than the cities of today. According to architect and urban designer Marshall Brown, from the Illinois Institute of Technology, future cities will be rooted in but not beholden to current realities. The cities of the future will likely be "mash-ups," recombining and repurposing infrastructure and design features. Brown discussed his recent projects, including proposals for reimaging Chicago's Circle Center, and shared ideas about American cities and their futures.

Tuesday, September 24, 2013 While the greater Chicago region has historically had access to ample fresh water, it can no longer assume that water supplies are infinite. Without coordinated planning and policy, the Chicago region may be in jeopardy of forfeiting future growth and prosperity. Fortunately, a lot has happened since the 2010 release of Water 2050: Northeastern Illinois Water Supply/Demand Plan that bodes well for water supply planning and management in northeastern Illinois, including the creation of the Northwest Water Planning Alliance, momentum toward a modernized state plumbing code, and the creation of the Clean Water Initiative. At the same time, there remains a lot of work to, including developing a sustainable revenue stream to support ongoing regional water supply planning. Josh Ellis, from the Metropolitan Planning Council, will summarize the current state of water supply planning in the Chicago region, and highlight opportunities for moving Northeastern Illinois toward a more sustain

Tuesday, August 27, 2013 Since 2010, the American Planning Association (APA) has worked with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to examine the inclusion of public health goals within comprehensive plans and their implementation. This presentation will identify best practices for the effective integration of public health goals into plans and successful approaches to cross-sector collaboration and community partnerships to implement those goals. Anna Ricklin and Nick Kushner of APA's Planning and Community Health Research Center offer case study examples of how local government agencies can build upon partnerships for assistance and resources to translate a comprehensive plan from policy document into a set of actions to improve community health. As built environment factors increasingly determine public health outcomes, this presentation offers a clear and targeted avenue for intervention at the highest level of built environment planning.

Tuesday, August 27, 2013 The more planners engage in collaborative participation the more they should expect to find people making judgments about the future tied to current emotional attachments. How do planners anticipate this and prepare activities and plans that encourage and foster emotional shifts? Most planners and plans provide argument and evidence to inform clients about future changes giving reasons in support of different alternative responses. But these do not work in the face of emotional attachments to familiar and popular practices. The use of narrative and storytelling offers a way for professionals to anticipate and counter client attachments. Professor Charles Hoch, from the University of Illinois at Chicago, shared some highlights from his research about the effects of emotions on planning processes and discussed the power of narrative in planning.

The Walter Reed Army Medical Center Reuse Plan provides the urban framework for 66.5 acres of land to be transferred to the District of Columbia following closing of the military installation. The planning effort was led by the District Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development and the Office of Planning. This land has valuable frontage to 16th Street and Georgia Avenue, two major axial corridors, with the former originating in the White House and the latter being a major passageway between D.C. and Silver Spring. Presenters Susana Arissó, AICP, and Martine Combal, AICP, discussed the cutting edge sustainable framework. This future neighborhood is set to become one of the five EcoDistricts in the Washington area, consisting of an exciting mixed-use development balancing new construction with historic buildings, open recreational spaces, destination retail, and residential, institutional and office uses totaling three million gross square feet. Located in an area of Georgia Avenue in di

The U.S. Constitution guarantees freedom of expression, freedom of religion, and the right to bear arms. Nevertheless, land uses that are dependent on these guarantees continue to court controversy in many communities. Whether sparked by chronic concerns over threats to community character or more acute debates related to public safety, many planners find themselves on the front lines of battles over contentious uses that have some claim on being constitutionally protected. Drawing from practice-based experience and lessons from case law, Adam Simon and Dan Bolin from Ancel, Glink discussed local regulatory issues related to strip clubs, churches, guns shops and other land uses entangled with rights flowing from the First and Second Amendments of the U.S. Constitution.