2002 APA National Planning Conference

 

Day 4: Wednesday (April 17)

By Kevin Keller

The conference entered the home stretch Wednesday and finished in a final burst of sessions on another picture-perfect Chicago spring day. Looks of grief were equal parts realization that soon the attendees would no longer be in the company of thousands of their peers and realization that real work loomed once again on the horizon. From gaining new acquaintances and job skills, to impromptu discussions of van-pooling in the hotel bar, this 2002 national planning conference went off without a hitch, and seemed to be receiving high marks from all.

Publishing in APA and AICP Publications
A morning session, "Publishing in APA and AICP Publications," opened the door for conference-goers to submit articles to planning publications. Peter Link of Portland State University and Jerry Weitz, Jr. of Jerry Weitz & Associates, Inc., outlined submission requirements and tips for placing an article in the Journal of the American Planning Association and the AICP Planner's Casebook, of which they are the respective editors. James Hecimovich and Marya Morris, of the of the APA's home office in Chicago, invited interested planners to work on preparing new Planning Advisory Services reports and memos on topics of national professional interest. Sylvia Lewis, editor of Planning Magazine, revealed the secret tips and tricks to help get your article into the magazine.

New Strategies for Growth Management
Throughout the conference halls, the hot topic of the day was growth in all forms: urban, suburban and rural. An afternoon session, "New Strategies for Growth Management," presented a series of invigorating approaches to integrate all these levels of growth types into a single comprehensive plan. Elizabeth Miller, formerly principal planner with the Palm Beach County Planning Department in Florida, wowed the the audience with the county's concept of "tiers," a five-level hierarchy of increasingly intensive land use designations developed for their rapidly-growing communities in South Florida. Lorraine Duffy of the Hillsborough County Planning Commission explained the ongoing evolution of Tampa, FL's urban service area, and the impact of multiple revisions in response to changing patterns of growth and vision by introducing the Sarasota 2050 Plan. The panel was moderated by Carol Stricklin of the Orlando planning department.

Closing Session
The conference closing session brought together five experts from the extended realm of planning to discuss and debate the future of human settlement in the 21st century. Participating were AICP president Sam Casella, Robert Bruegmann of the University of Illinois-Chicago, Saskia Sasson of the University of Chicago, Chicago-area developer Dirk Lohan of Lohan Associates, and Edward Buikema, Director of FEMA Region V. Moderated by Judith Mortin of the University of Minnesota-Minneapolis, discussion moved quickly from identifying city emergency management plans in the wake of the events of September 11th to a more far-reaching discussion of the continuing impact of change in all forms: technology, time, evolution, the environment, and disaster. The consensus of the panel was a shared view that the role of the city in society extends far back into our collective urban history and will continue to extend into our collective urban future. The majority of panelists identified the environment as the single most important factor that will influence settlement in the next century.

Thanks to our Contributors!
PLANetizen wants to thank the contributing editors who generously volunteered their time to prepare daily articles from the conference: Kevin Keller, Christopher Williamson, AICP, Pablo Monzon, and Anatalio Ubalde. If you enjoyed this independent daily coverage of the APA national planning conference, and would like us to consider doing this again in future years, please let us know. We'll also forward your comments on to the contributors. A special thanks to Kim McKeggie of APA's public affairs department, who helped to make sure we were able to cover the conference. -- Chris Steins, Editor.

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Day 3: Tuesday (April 16)

Photographs from Day 3 (Select thumbnail for full-size image)
Cy Behroozi of the National League of Cities (Washington, D.C.) and presenters Anatalio Ubalde and Pablo Monzon of GIS Planning (Berkeley, CA)	Book winners, Meredith B. Guns of the Town of Kill Devil Hills (NC), Jon Lynch, AICP, of the City of Midland (MI) and Jeffrey Vassey of Aktera Development Systems (Chicago, IL).	Panelists meet with session attendees after the Computer Visualization for Community Outreach panel moderated by Kenneth Topping, FAICP, Topping Associates (Cambria, CA).
Gloria Dondero-Pedro of the City of Reno (NV), Jeffery Ulma, AICP, and James Parajon, AICP of the Town of Cary (NC) at the awards luncheon.	Awards luncheon: Winners of the Outstanding Planning Award for Implementation -- City of Mountain View, California.	Awards luncheon: Winners of The Daniel Burnham Award -- Envision Utah.
Awards luncheon: Alec S. Bash, AICP (right), winner of the Distinguished Leadership Award for a Professional Planner.	Presenters Joe Minicozzi with the City of West Palm Beach (FL), Kimberly Jones of the City of Boston (MA), Kathy Phelan of MIT (Boston, MA), and Kevin Keller with the City of Los Angeles (CA).

By Chris Steins

Longtime Chicago Tribune urban affairs writer, John McCarron, published a Sunday editorial column, "Daley as Visionary," about the process of planning in Chicago and the national planning conference being held in the city. McCarron also hosted a fascinating mobile tour of Chicago, along with Lee Bay, Mayor Daley's deputy chief of staff for planning and Joel Wert, Director of communications for the City's planning department. A fascinating special Tuesday evening discussion show on the Chicago PBS affiliate, WTWW11, featured John McCarron, APA Executive Director W. Paul Farmer, and Alicia Mazur Berg, chief of Chicago's Department of Planning and Development, discussing planning in Chicago and the role of planners in the city's future. The conclusion: Mayor Richard M. Daley personally sets the planning agenda for the Chicago, and, as McCarron says, is "directing an extraordinary urban renaissance."

E-Government for Economic Development and Planning
Anatalio Ubalde of GIs Planning (Berkeley, CA) introduced the topic with an overview of E-Government and the implications for local and state governments. In a study by the University of Maryland, School of Business, over 53% of online adults had made a purchase on the Internet in the preceding 12 months, but only 13% of those same adults had visited their local or state government website for information. Chris Steins of Urban Insight (Los Angeles, CA) started the discussion with an overview of four types of E-Government: G2C (Government to Citizen/consumer), G2B (Government to Business), G2G (Government to Government) and Internal workflow and automation. He presented two examples of successful technologies used in E-Government: Web based mapping for workforce development research by the Los Angeles County Workforce Collaborative (maps.laworkforce.org and www.laworkforce.org); and content management systems used by PLANetizen (www.planetizen.com), as a model of how to manage and deliver daily news. Bruce Race of RaceStudios (Berkeley, CA), provided an overview of SacSites (www.sacsites.com) as an example of a highly successful public- and private-sector partners collaborating to create an innovative economic development website that allows businesses to search for available development sites. Pablo Monzon of GIS Planning (Berkeley, CA) provided several tips on building good web-based mapping applications. "Think about who the user is," Monzon said. "Don't build GIS sites for GIS users -- build it for citizens. Focus on the service or problem you want to solve instead of focusing on the technology." Monzon then demonstrated two E-Government sites, a new Traffic Alert System for the South Bay Cities, and an impressive planning and land use system for the City of Hayward, California.

Planning Awards Luncheon
The annual awards luncheon was moderated by APA Executive Director W. Paul Farmer, AICP, who opened the luncheon with a moment of silence for the events and victims of September 11. "The theme for the day," APA President Paul Farmer said, "Is that from many voices come one vision." Videos introducing each of the award-winning projects preceded presentation of the APA's prestigious national planning awards for excellence in plans, individuals, and organizations. The APA has information about all of the awards and winners. The 2002 winners represent dedicated, innovative planning from Honolulu to Brooklyn, from the desert to downtown.

Uniting Density, Design, and Development
Kath Phelan, a Ph.D. candidate at MIT introduced the panel, which developed as a response to frustration at last year's conference which seemed to focus heavily on suburban and rural issues. Panelists discussed planning efforts in Los Angeles, Boston, and West Palm Beach. Clearly, the topic was a popular one, drawing close to 800 people, with standing room only. Kevin Keller with the City of Los Angeles Planning Department led the discussion with a discussion of how to re-urbanize Los Angeles and responsibly increase density to accommodate the largest projected urban growth in the nation over the last 20 years, using the city's heavily-urbanized Wilshire Blvd. as a case study "In Los Angeles we have three things, the Boulevard., The Transit; and The People. …In our case the answer is to focus on densification and transit infrastructure," Keller said. Kimberly Jones, with the City of Boston, discussed the current state of planning in Boston -- a city of neighborhoods. Joe Minicozzi with the City of West Palm Beach offered a riveting presentation of the challenges and successes faced by West Palm Beach (FL). The City has revitalized its downtown with streetscape improvements, a public plaza, a new urban retail center ("shoppertainment") -- which have created new market demand for housing in and around downtown. "The environment is there. If you offer enough design cues, people will learn how to live in downtown," said Minicozzi.

New APA and AICP Presidents Elected
Members elected to serve as APA and AICP leadership for the next two years were announced in Chicago this week. The APA has a full list of the newly-elected APA President-Elect and Board of Directors and the AICP President-Elect and Commissioners.

By Pablo Monzon

Georgia's Plan Builder
In the morning, Dan Basso of the Georgia Department of Community Affairs presented the Georgia Plan Builder which is an innovative management system to web enable the planning process in the state of Georgia (www.georgiaplanning.com). The system is a decision support tool that allow local governments to organize, publish and update their comprehensive plans on the web.

Plaza as a Place Maker
Ken M. Hughes of the State of New Mexico Local Government Division discussed the importance of public gathering places to reinforce community identity and democracy. He presented the plaza as an instrument to "transform communities into more livable, usable places for people all ages." Hughes presented ten ways for a plaza to make sense of place. Suggestions included: community input; observation of current uses; keeping the plaza local; providing a rich mix of uses; and interest and designing the plaza flexible enough for different events. Other presenters included Peter Musty of the Charrette Center Commission (MN) and Harrison T. Higgins, AICP, of Florida State University-Tallahassee.

Transforming How Planning Departments Deliver Information
In the late afternoon, there was a session about how planning departments provide access to information to city staff and citizens. Laura E. Clarke of Maryland National Capital Park and Planning Commission discusssed the importance of providing a central point of service for zoning and planning information. She emphasized that by providing access to all staff, customer support will improve significantly. Derek R. Hill of the Planning & Development Department Administration of the City of Detroit presented the city's "Welcome Information Center" which is a service center for providing all the information needed for property purchase, rehabilitation or development. Robert Paternoster of the City of Sunnyvale, California presented their one stop permit center which tracks permits, staff comments, hearing dates, fees, and land/parcel data. He also presented their new "e-one stop which allows permits to be issued online, and provides plan check status and information on scheduling and history. Sunnyvale has also been testing electronic plan review.

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Day 2: Monday (April 15)

Photographs from Day 2 (Select thumbnail for full-size image)
Conference exhibition hall	Planners take a lunch break in the Hyatt's lobby.
John Hoal and Laura Lyon of H3 Studio, Inc. (St Louis, MO).	Susan Deen, Town of Davie, Florida and Glenn Irwin of Ocean City Development Corp. (Ocean City, MD) have lunch on the curb.	Chicago's largest infrastructure project -- riverfront development along Wacker drive -- is just down the street from the conference.
A view of downtown Chicago from the Sears Tower.	Elaine Cogan, partner in the firm that won this year's APA Public Education Award, signs copies of her book Successful Public Meetings with Sally Lambertson of the APA.

By Kevin Keller

Today, planners were back at it, crowding into the first round of sessions at 8:45 a.m. sharp, although a general haze of grogginess indicated some had not so successfully bounced back from the Opening Reception last night at Chicago's famous Field Museum of Natural History under the watchful Jurassic gaze of Sue, the world's most complete T-rex.

Redeveloping Riverfront Brownfields
A morning session, "Redeveloping Riverfront Brownfields" drew in the crowds to learn how Philadelphia, PA and Camden, NJ are working together to tackle the host issues of environmental remediation and waterfront reclamation. Roshi Pelaseyed of Traid Associates (Drescher, PA) gave an overview of the region's "Two Cities -- Once Exciting Waterfront" concept followed by an engaging presentation by Philadelphia City Planning Commissioner Maxine Griffith, AICP outlining the aggressive strategy of reclaiming the city's long-neglected post industrial waterfront for infill housing and open space. Other speakers included Gary Reiber of URS Corp.

Making Places Special
A disappointing afternoon panel, "Making Places Special" gave attendees a sneak-preview of a soon-to-be-released book of the same name presented by author Gene Bunnell, AICP of Vassar College's Urban Studies Program. Bunnell presented the detailed methodology and approach he used in documenting eight case study cities and the respective impacts of local planning efforts over the last two decades. While avoiding any design discussion which much of the audience expected as part of a place-making session, Burnell and Michael Stepner, FAIA, FAICP, of Stepner Design Group (San Diego, CA) instead made a case for the importance of documenting the internal policies, procedures and histories of local planning over time, using Duluth, MN and San Diego, CA as models of "special places."

Walkable Healthy Communities
One of the favorite sessions of the day was "Walkable Healthy Communities" starring the Michigan Department of Transportation. The session was part of this a featured conference track on the interrelationships of transportation and community. David T. Downey, of the Michigan Society of Planning Officials, Michael D. Eberlein of the Bureau of Transportation Planning, (Lansing, Mich) and Leslie E. Kettren, AICP, of HNTB (East Lansing, Mich.) presented the statewide program which teaches one community at a time about the benefits and nuts and bolts of planning in support of increasing the use and function of pedestrian and non-motorized forms of transportation. The concepts of walking audits -- encouraging residents and professionals alike to learn first hand as pedestrians what works and what doesn't -- and strategies such as "walk your child to school day", were well-received by audience members. In a discussion following the panel, planners expressed disappointment with the recent traffic circle conversion craze and the impact of traffic circles have on walkability as pedestrians try to safely cross roundabouts.

By Anatalio Ubalde

Is There a Gay Aesthetic?
The Gays and Lesbians in Planning Division sponsored a compelling panel asking, "Is there a Gay Aesthetic?" which chronicled the historic influence of the "queer community" in design, architecture and urban planning. Panelists also discussed the changing role of gay enclaves in New York, West Hollywood, Chicago and San Francisco and the growing conservatism that is emerging in these and other gay and lesbian neighborhoods.

Youth Changing Communities
Youth are getting more involved as planners, which was evident in the "Youth Changing Communities" session. Young people living in HOPE VI housing developments from all over the nation gathered for the first ever "Youth Leadership by Design" conference in Washington D.C. At the conference trainers facilitated the education of youth through teamwork building, leadership training and design education so that youth could go back into their communities to make the new housing developments more youth-friendly. An urban design exercise including a site visit, information gathering and model building culminated in the young people presenting design solutions and strategies they could implement in their own neighborhoods.

A report of the ethnic make-up of the planning profession was presented by the New York Metro Chapter of the APA that showed significant under-representation for Hispanic and African Americans in the profession of planning. This survey covered the New York area for public, private and non-profit planning practitioners. Data showed that under-representation has persisted with little improvement over recent years. Panelists discussed the value added by planning professionals with diverse backgrounds to the planning process. With equity being one of the six major goals of the APA, attendees expect greater institutional support from the APA to increase minority opportunities in the profession.

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Day 1: Sunday (April 14)

Chicago -- With over 5,000 planners in attendance, and 200 sessions ranging from smart growth to gay urban aesthetics, Chicago is the place to be this week as the American Planning Association hosts its annual National Planning conference at the Hyatt Regency Chicago.

Photographs from Day 1 (Select thumbnail for full-size image)
Opening session with Edward Blakely.	Lobby of Hyatt Regency Chicago	View of exhibition hall.
Mike Walsh of Envision (Vancouver, Canada) and Nick Seigal of Criterion Planners/Engineers (Portland, OR) the exhibition hall.	View from outside the Hyatt Regency Chicago.	Opening reception at the Field Natural History Museum.
Field Natural History Museum main hall.	Jeff Lambert, AICP of Santa Clarita, CA and California Chapter president and Mindy Oliver of Urban Insight (Los Angeles, CA).	Joe Genovese of Stantec Consulting (Las Vegas, NV); Doug Burrick and Daniel Weeks of Appalachian State University.
Zack Matley of W-Trans (Santa Rosa, CA); Tiffany Robbe, City of Petalmua, CA; Beth Silsdorf of Boston, MA; and Scott Silsdorf of Parsons, Brinckerhoff (Boston, MA).	Angela Rapp of Nashua Regional Planning Commission; Rio Hollenbeck of Ball State University; Koren Melfi of Nashua Regional Planning Commission; Chris Holme of UMass Amherst; Amanda Walker of UMass Amherst; and Ed LeClear of Cornell University.

The Opening Session

by Chris Steins, PLANetizen Editor

Chicago -- Despite the early hour (8:30 a.m.!) on a beautifully warm and sunny Sunday morning, several thousand planners packed the ballroom for the opening session, which got off to a rousing start with a moving song from the Chicago Children's Choir.

Alicia Mazur Berg, chief of Chicago's Department of Planning and Development welcomed the attendees and offered a rundown of Chicago's major planning efforts. Although Chicago has seen out-migration of 100,000 people per decade since World War II, the city is now rebounding, with a net gain of 112,000 residents in the last decade, and successful revitalization of much of downtown Chicago. Three of the city's most significant planning efforts include a new focus on a massive riverfront development along Wacker Drive; the Lake Michigan Plan, which will connect a greenway across the lake's 26-mile perimeter; and a rewrite of the City's zoning code, which was originally drafted in 1957.

By the time Edward Blakely, dean of the Robert J. Milano School of Management and Urban Policy, began his keynote, there was standing room only. "We stand at a crossroads where those outside planning are doing more than planners -- lawyers, engineers, and the financial markets." Blakely discussed the significance of of September 11 on the planning profession. As a nation, we are forced to face the enemy within. Planners will have to decide whether to erect more fortifications or to extend the promise of America more evenly. Blakely challenged the APA on five points:

• The APA should setup an international commission for planning in cities around the world to define principles and standards for planning and environmental justice;
• The APA should create a model regional planning code to focus on regional development, and encourage the adoption of regional planning;
• The APA and AICP should advance social equity planning and enforce equity planning ideals in all that it does;
• Academics should join the ranks of professional planners to advance the field, and not view practicing planners as simply regulators; and,
• The APA should begin planning for the next America.

(Editor's note: Apr. 16 -- the full text of Blakely's address is now available in PDF.)

APA President Bruce McClendon, FAICP, served as the moderator and outlined the process by which APA reviewed over 100 planning principles and narrowed these down to focus on six fundamental guiding principles, of which one is social planning. McClendon closed the session by noting that the first planning conference was held 99 years ago today in 1903 in Washington D.C., with 43 planners in attendance, and in which then-President William Taft delivered the opening address.

Panel Themes: Nexus

By Chris Williamson

Nexus is the operative theme so far at the conference. Perhaps a better way to express this legal term is "no-nonsense, common sense." Planners seem serious and focused as they moved through the plush Hyatt Regency overlooking the Chicago River. Questions to panelists were numerous, specific, and focused on "how-to" topics.

Impact Fees and Growth Management
Impact fees are increasing at 4.5% per year and they continue to be a flash-point on the development versus growth management debate. The all important nexus of impact fees to the infrastructure that they fund remains solid, but some common-sense variations were presented by Clancy Mullen of Duncan Associates (Austin, TX). Don't charge fees in already-developed areas, or at least charge less; use other funds to subsidize fees, but don't waive them as part of a growth management or smart growth program, and vary the all-important school fee by unit size. Other speakers included James C. Nicholas, University of Florida-Gainesville.

Connecting Water, Land, and Growth
The next nexus issue addresses was linking planning to the availability of water, which is a common-sense assumption for planners. Yet, the assumption about water and land use have always been:

• Governments will always provide water for whatever is needed and approved;
• Water flows uphill to money (thus enabling assumption #1); and,
• Population increases in proportion to decreasing availability of water (or at least, this is true in the West).

This paradigm is changing for a variety of reasons. California and Nevada are experimenting with linking water to planning in a forceful way. But don't look for a privatization process, "It won't work," says Patricia Mulroy, general manager of the Las Vegas Valley Water District. "Most water decisions are about transferring from one user to another, not developing new supplies." Other speakers included Lora A. Lucero, AICP, American Planning Association; A. Dan Tarlock, Chicago Kent College of Law; Denise Fort, University of New Mexico--Albuquerque; and Randy Kanouse, East Bay Municipal Utility District (Sacramento, CA).

TDRs from Rural Areas to Downtowns
Transferring rights and nexus came together as panelists discuss a King County, Seattle program that allows owners of agricultural land in unincporated areas to sell development right to developers in Seattle's Denny Triangle neighborhood. A mixed-use, high-rise project is nearly entitled with an additional 166 TDR housing units. Half of the per-unit TDR fee goes to preserve open space in rural Kings County; the other half goes to improving streets an facilities surrounding the high-rise. Speakers included Rocky E. Piro, AICP, Puget Sound Regional Council, (Seattle, WA); Mark R. Sollitto, King County TDR Program (Seattle, WA); Elsie Crossman, City of Seattle; and Keith W. Dearborn.

Day 1: Lots of people, lots of ideas, lots of details and lots of fun.

Opening Reception

(by Chris Steins, PLANetizen Editor)

Kudos to the Chicago planning committee for producing the best opening reception in recent history. After a poorly-planed and widely criticized opening reception in Chicago in 1993 and a reception last year in New Orleans that kept attendees waiting in drizzling rain, the host committee spared no expense in throwing quite a bash this year. The dazzling Field Natural History Museum just off Lake Michigan was the perfect location. Despite a crowd of thousands, there were plenty of drinks and refreshments, no lines, and and planners could socialize in the main hall and balconies, or wander through the open exhibits.

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About the Contributing Writers

Kevin Keller
Kevin Keller is an associate planner with the City of Los Angeles, CA specializing in long range planning, urban design and historic preservation. Kevin also serves as a board member on the Los Angeles Section of the APA.

Pablo Monzon
Pablo Monzon is the founder and chief technology officer for GIS Planning in Berkeley, California.

Chris Steins
Chris Steins is a PLANetizen editor, and chief executive officer of Urban Insight in Los Angeles, CA.

Anatalio Ubalde
Anatalio Ubalde is the chief operating officer for GIS Planning in Berkeley, California.

Christopher Williamson
Dr. Chris Williamson, AICP is a staff senior research associate at Solimar Research Group in Ventura, California.