Transcript APA Your Association Advancing Your Priorities

Planning and [Your
Community]
What is planning?
Helps guide how a community grows and develops
 U.S. population expected to reach 400 million
by 2043.
Considers all resident needs
Looks at the “big picture”
 What are the community’s current and future
needs?
Examines issues from all angles
 Social, environmental, hazard, physical
What is planning?
Planning is comprehensive and
community-focused, and enables
greater choices for residents.
Let’s look at how planning
impacts you.
How do you get to work?
Do you:
 Drive (solo or car pool)
 Take mass transit
 Walk
 Bicycle
 Other
Where do you live?
Do you live in an:
 Urban setting
 Suburban neighborhood
 Rural community
What is your residence?
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Stand-alone home
Apartment
Condominium
Town house
Other
Planning gives you choices
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Where you want to live
How you want to commute
The type of house you live in
Where you play or spend your
leisure time
Planning benefits your community
 Maintains neighborhood character
 Reduces environmental impacts
 Provides protection from natural and man-made
disasters
 Preserves parks and open space
 Helps determine where buildings, businesses,
homes, and roads will be located (or sited)
Who are planners?
 Professionally educated and trained
 Visionaries with a comprehensive view
 Ability to address the challenges of growth and
change within a community
 Many achieve certification and advanced specialty
certification
 By the American Planning Association’s
professional institute, the American Institute of
Certified Planners (AICP)
Planners address challenges
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Housing affordability
Commute times
Obesity
Pollution and air quality
Safety concerns
Some planning tools
Comprehensive plan
 Guides overall community growth and
development
Zoning
 Classifying land uses into different ‘zones’
Design standards
 Set of guidelines regarding the architectural
appearance of a building
Graphic Information System (GIS)
 Computer-based system for generating maps
 Think of Google Earth
Get involved!
 Serve on the planning commission or attend the
meetings.
 Participate in forums, visioning sessions, growth
discussions in your community.
 Keep informed of planning issues in your
community.
 Join the American Planning Association (APA)—You
don’t have to a planner to be a member.
American Planning Association (APA)
 Membership and education organization
 Represents more than 40,000 members
nationwide:
 Professionals, business leaders, elected officials,
citizens, students, educators
 Advocates for good planning practices
 In communities, legislatures, and courts
 Encourages engaging the entire community in
planning decisions
National Community
Planning Month
 Annual celebration in October
 Celebrates the benefits of
planning in our communities
 Increases awareness about the
importance and need for planners
and planning
 This year’s theme is “Health and
Prosperity
 Visit: www.planning.org/ncpm
Examples of planning in [town
name]
 Example 1 (add picture if available)
 Example 2
 Example 3
Resources
 APA: www.planning.org
 APA’s YouTube Channel
 Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning:
www.acsp.org
 Local planning department [include link
information]
 [Local APA chapter & web link]
Resources
Suggested reading:
 Citizens Guide to Planning (4th ed.)
 The Death and Life of Great American Cities by
Jane Jacobs
 High Cost of Free Parking by Donald Shoup
 Smart Growth in a Changing World by Jonathan
Barnett
 True Urbanism by Mark Hinshaw
Visit APAPlanningBooks.com for more titles
Contact
American Planning Association (APA)
312.431.9100
[email protected]
www.planning.org