Lisa Hollingsworth-Segedy, AICP, explains why being able to tell a good story about plans and development is more valuable than any maps or pretty renderings.
Planners are trained to be rational, GIS-wielding data-gatherers, says Hollingsworth-Segedy - but that data by itself is not compelling to the general population:
"Our job is to help ensure that community decisions are rational, and the link between current conditions and future solutions is logically defensible. But the facts alone don't provide what planning staff and planning commissioners need to do their jobs effectively -- to compellingly communicate the issues to the public, and to draw citizens into meaningful involvement that translates into dynamic results."
In addition to the article, you can hear Hollingsworth-Segedy give three lessons she's learned about story telling in audio here.
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