APA

2012 APA Award Winners Announced

The APA has announced its 2012 National Planning Excellence Award winners. Award recipients come from a diverse array of locales including: New York City; Wilmington, North Carolina; Tulsa, Oklahoma; and Cleveland, Ohio.
23 January 2012 - 6:00am
Planning.org

No-Exam Bylaws Amendment for Planning Faculty Will Cheapen AICP Certification

Stuart Meck and Rebecca Retzlaff call the attention of AICP certified planners to an upcoming change to the certification process which they believe will "degrade and cheapen" the AICP designation.
28 November 2011 - 11:45am

An Un-Planned Neighborhood Gets APA Award for Planning

The Houston neighborhood of Montrose was recently named one of the APA's 'Great Neighborhoods' for 2009, but as this editorial suggests, planners had nothing to do with it.
13 October 2009 - 6:00am
The Houston Chronicle

APA Picks 10 Great American Streets for 2009

The American Planning Association has released its picks for Great Places in America for 2009, including their choices for Streets, Public Spaces and Neighborhoods. Skagway, Alaska's Broadway tops the list.
8 October 2009 - 8:00am
American Planning Association

The New Normative Planning

Wed, 06/10/2009 - 18:10

The conference bags handed out to the attendees of the 2007 National Planning conference in Philadelphia had four words printed on one side: value, choice, engagement, community. The words echo the long mission statement of the American Planning Association, evidence of what I described last year as the pragmatic position of the profession that refrains from making a larger argument about the form of the city. Here's a taste:

"Our collaborative efforts will continue to result in great success for APA and the vital communities we strive to support, and APA members will continue to help create communities of lasting value. We value choice and community engagement, diversity, inclusion and social equity."

Since then, a new program from the organization and other evidence may suggest a subtle shift in professional values now underway.

End Powerpoint Abuse

Mon, 05/12/2008 - 07:04

We’ve all been subject to them – the endless powerpoint presentations that extol the worst aspects of animated text and mind-numbing bullet points. While Edward Tufte has written about the horrors of powerpoint, I see it as just a tool and like any tool it can be used wisely or poorly. After all, David Byrne, the former Talking Heads front man, makes art with powerpoint so it can’t be all bad. But one thing struck me at the American Planning Association’s (APA) conference two weeks ago: some sessions would have been much better if the powerpoint presentation (or abuse thereof) didn’t get in the way. In actuality, some of the best presentations I attended didn’t use powerpoint at all.

When will Earth Day come for the APA?

Mon, 04/23/2007 - 18:23
Typically I have fallen into the “every day is earth day” camp. But this year, April 22nd offered a moment for reflection, although of a more professional than personal nature.

Green is everywhere these days – from Vanity Fair to the Wall Street Journal. The decades long debate about the validity of climate change appears to be over – as the discussion seems to be quickly shifting to either: a) how do we make it less dramatic, or b) how we prepare for the inevitable.
Syndicate content