Planning Practice

The following articles first appeared in Planning, APA's monthly magazine. Planning includes feature stories on the many tools and techniques employed by planners, planning commissioners, and citizens to guide the growth, development, and preservation of the built and natural environments. All articles are copyrighted by the American Planning Association, except where noted.

May 2007
Getting Around in an Aging Society Accessibility expert Katharine Hunter-Zaworski offers some solutions.

March 2007
At the Tipping Point Jim Krohe asks if tax increment financing has become too much of a good thing.

February 2007
Transit Everywhere Rail is thriving in the Philadelphia area, reports Joseph Slobodzian.

January 2007
Is That a Good Assumption? Make sure that you don't confuse projections with actual planning.

December 2006
Everything Old Is New Again Cities are using tried-and-true approaches to repopulating neighborhoods.

November 2006
A Tale of Two Tetons Arm wrestling over growth on the Idaho-Wyoming border.

October 2006
Parking Management Best Practices An excerpt from Todd Litman's new Planners Press book.

August/September 2006
Something Old, Something New Marrying historic districts and infill: Christine Kreyling tells how it's done

July 2006
Putting Democracy Front and Center Ken Snyder explains the nuts and bolts of technology for citizen participation

June 2006
Making Friends with Franchises Ellen Shubart describes an option for distressed areas that need business partners

May 2006
Playing the Numbers Game When it comes to TODs, trip-generation figures can make all the difference.

April 2006
Hey, Big Spender Eric Minton tells us how convention centers meet the needs of today's conventioneers

February 2006
Spit and Polish What the newest base closing order means for San Antonio.

January 2006
The Power of Infilltration Elizabeth Lunday explains how cities can encourage multifamily projects and increase densities

December 2005
Give Us Some Credit Jim Krohe offers a status report on the new markets tax credits

November 2005
Quality Control Sparks, Nevada, puts planned developments in a whole new light.

October 2005
A Budding Profession Ombudsmen are popping up everywhere.

August/September 2005
Big Man Off Campus Universities are revamping their college towns to stay competitive.

July 2005
New Tech, New Trouble? One person's decentralized sewer system is another person's sprawl magnet.

June 2005
The Heart of the Matter Rodney Engelen says in the fight against sprawl, it's mixed-use cores to the rescue.

May 2005
Complete the Streets! All roads should serve all users.

April 2005
Housing's 800-Pound Gorilla Jim Goodno examines the role of homeowners associations.

March 2005
Outstanding Planning Award for a Plan: Queen City Hub: Regional Action Plan for Downtown Buffalo.

February 2005
Money Matters Al Zelinka and Jennifer Gates sing the praises of economic development.

January 2005
Affordable Housing in an Unaffordable Region How local nonprofits are helping Bay Area residents cope with a shortage.

December 2004
Changing the Culture of 'No' Richard Carson sings the praises of performance audits.

November 2004
Tax Twists Can anything be done about local taxes? Danny Krouk presents some creative ideas.
Form First Peter Katz offers the New Urbanist alternative to conventional zoning.

October 2004
Getting Your Act Together Terry Clark explains project management techniques.

July/August 2004
New People on the Block Recent planning graduates find surprises in the working world.

July 2004
Today's Scheme for Tomorrow's Technology Do you have a technology plan? Charles Kaylor and Chris Steins tell why you should.

June 2004
Keeping Afloat How university planning programs can avoid the ax.

May 2004
Light Rail Comes to Minneapolis Its opening delayed by a strike, the 12-mile Hiawatha Line is eagerly awaited by Twin City commuters.

April 2004
2004 Outstanding Planning: A Plan Urban Design Framework for the Near Southeast, Washington, D.C.

March 2004
Putting the Future First Robert Barrett tells how the military is saving time and money with "future first planning."

February 2004
Love (and Hate) That Metro Commuters complain about their transit system but use it all the same.
Planning My Way David Wallace talks about his life in planning.

January 2004
Rocky Mountain Revamp Independent minded westerners are flirting with growth management.

December 2003
Shifting Peers Changing careers can be a lifetime challenge, as Joel Werth reports.

November 2003
Recycling Redux The ups and downs of the waste-not movement.

October 2003
A Toolkit for Tomorrow's Schools After years of conflict, school planning and community planning are getting back together again.

August/September 2003
From Ranchland to Conservation Community Susan Ernst Corser describes the land preservation system in Routt County, Colorado.

July 2003
Smart Tool Cape Coral's interactive growth model takes center stage in a by Paul Van Buskirk, Carleton Ryffel, and Darryl Clare.

June 2003
When the Bubble Bursts Housing doesn't necessarily behave like the stock market

May 2003
How to Make Transit-Oriented Development Work First, make sure there's transit — and density by Jeffrey Tumlin and Adam Millard-Ball.

April 2003
Church v. State Just pray you're not sued under the RLUIPA statute, say Michael Giaimo and Dwight Merriam.

March 2003
2003 Outstanding Planning: A Plan Destination 2030: A Transportation Plan for the Central Puget Sound Region
2003 Distinguished Leadership: Professional Planner David Wallace, AICP

February 2003
Right-Sizing Urban Growth Boundaries Uri Avin and Michael Bayer figure out how to make sense of UGBs

January 2003
True West. Excerpts from a new APA book on regional development patterns by Christopher Duerksen and James van Hemert.

December 2002
Plan Rage. Planning has become a dangerous profession, no matter where you practice. Ruth Knack speaks with planners who have been in the eye of the storm.

November 2002
Turning Edge Cities Into Real Cities. Jonathan Barnett travels the country to find best practices.

October 2002
Who's Got the Energy? Energy conservation and innovation are matters of concern to citizens of San Diego.

September 2002
Beyond Maps: The Next Generation of GIS Think visioning, think interactivity.

August 2002
Dense, Denser, Denser Still Are we talking units per acre or something more touchy-feely?

July 2002
The Neighborhood-Friendly Stadium Three neighborhoods and a local foundation help make Seattle's new stadium a good fit.

June 2002
Brownfields Are Looking Greener If a redevelopment makes financial sense, it will probably be built

May 2002
The Urban Network: A Radical Proposal Peter Calthorpe makes the case for a new suburban transportation network.
The Battle Over Dead Ends and Canadian Combo

April 2002
What Difference Has the ADA Made? One of the nation's important civil rights laws has changed the way we build, but Terry Szold says that more could be done.
Growing Safe Want to battle natural hazards? Start with your local plan.

March 2002
Outstanding Planning: A Plan. Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan
Outstanding Planning: A Tool. "Main Street ... When a Highway Runs Through It"
Outstanding Planning: Implementation. Integrated Transit-Oriented Development: Mountain View
Outstanding Planning: Special Community Initiative: Youth Neighborhood Association Partnership Program: Las Vegas

February 2002
Square Pegs in Round Holes Planners in engineering firms? It's a better fit than you think.

January 2002
Stormy Skies Delays at O'Hare, congestion at Midway. State and local politics complicate decisions about much needed airport expansion in the Chicago region.

December 2001
On Alert Communities struggle to update their emergency response plans.

November 2001
Smart Money Rochester, New York, completed a groundbreaking new comprehensive plan. The city is now rewriting its zoning code to reflect the goals of the new plan and has already begun work on an update. And who is paying for all this planning?

October 2001
Ten Ways to Win With Your State DOT Great Streets. You want them, but to get them you have to be able to negotiate with your state department of transportation.

September 2001
The Price is Right, and So Is the Design When a building budget is tight, good design, and good materials, are often the first casualties.

August 2001
What's Mine is Yours... and Yours and Yours For the children, it is a school library. For local garden club members, it is a public library. City police stations, abandoned public buildings, even state parking garages serve as great resources for local communities looking for innovative, cost-effective solutions.

July 2001
Bridging the Digital Divide The digital divide actually involves a diverse group with a wide geographic spread. Planners need to know about the issues and the unique roles they can play in bridging the gap.

June 2001
Love Me, Love My Garage As houses grow, it's only logical that garages do, too. But it is one particular design, the protruding garage or "snout house," that seems to have caught the attention of the national media.

May 2001
Ian McHarg's Triumph McHarg was a savant and teacher. If you accepted his philosophy and his uncompromising portrayal of that philosophy you had to accept ecological planning as the prescription for survival. There could be no other equivocation: You either embraced ecological planning or you did not.

The Plotting o' the Green It's not easy to be an environmentalist in an era of megamansions and SUVs. That makes tools like the popular green maps all the more valuable. The maps are a tribute to the work of Ian McHarg, who died this spring, leaving a legacy of faith in the power of mapping to show what's wrong and what's right with the world.

April 2001
A Sound Solution. Expressway noise walls can fix some community problems--while causing others.
What Does 'Smart Growth' Really Mean?Can groups as different as homebuilders and transit advocates be using the term in the same way? The answer is noprompting one expert to offer advice about how to resolve deep conflicts.

March 2001
Outstanding Planning: A Plan. Biodiversity Recovery plan for the Chicago Region.
Outstanding Planning: A Project. The refurbishment of Central Station in Memphis.
Outstanding Planning: Implementation. Downtown Arlington Heights, Illinois.
Outstanding Planning: Special Community Initiative: Save-A-Plant Oro Valley, Arizona

February 2001
Divert a River, Save a Marsh . Instead of the normal swirls of green marsh grass amid the light chocolate waters of coastal Louisiana, there were big patches of dark brown where the marsh grass was dying and black patches where there was only grass stubble.

January 2001
From Highway to My Way. Now that the nation's highways are nearly complete, transportation professionals are turning their sights on local communities and the inherent link between transportation systems and surrounding land uses.

The Long Haul. Freight hauling is a growth industry, but can our transportation system cope?

December 2000
Life in the Fast Lane. There's no question that technology has changed our lives by changing the way we communicate.

November 2000
How to Survive a Lawsuit. Practical advice from a pro.

October 2000
For the Greater Good. A broad definition of "public purpose" stirs criticism of eminent domain.

September 2000
Renewing Urban Renewal. Chicago's Hope VI.

August 2000
Pipe Fitting. Anyone searching for examples of innovative land planning wouldn't necessarily look to water and stormwater projects. But that would be a mistake.

July 2000
Retail vs. E-tail. Think twice before shopping for new retail. Overzoning and Internet sales could put a real crimp in local property and sales taxes.

June 2000
Rezone or Dezone? Why tinker when you can start from scratch? We need to overhaul a basic tool of the planning profession.

May 2000
Weather Report Hug that maple tree while you can. With global warming, it may be moving to Canada. Communities from Burlington, Vermont, to Los Angeles are fighting greenhouse gases one locale at a time.

April 2000
Outstanding Planning: A Plan A Blueprint for Liberty, Missouri
Outstanding Planning: Implementation Forest Park, Missouri Master Plan
Outstanding Planning: Special Community Initiative The Learning Corridor in Hartford, Connecticut
Outstanding Planning: Project, Program, or Tool Revitalizing the Working Landscape in the New Economy

March 2000
Digging into the Grass Roots. Shades of the 1960s. New York's community planning process has brought "power to the people," its defenders say. Yet critics charge that the process is slow and unwieldy, and that the plans produced are not worth the effort.

February 2000
Moving Mountains A unique organization in eastern California gives a whole new meaning to the word "partnership." A profile of the planning efforts of the Sierra Business Council.

January 2000
Does Your Growth Smart? Measuring sprawl is like herding cats. An elusive task—until now. A descripition of the "Smart Growth Audit" used in Charlotte-Mecklenburg, North Carolina, and how it can be applied elsewhere.

Are You Ready to Bet on Smart Growth? Sure, Portland isn't the only city to take the plunge. But is the rest of the country really going for it?

December 1999
Visionary Thinking. Everyone's involved in the new round of comprehensive plans.
Two Extremes. A look at the housing choices of the young and the not-so-young.
Bright Ideas in Transportation. Some lasted longer than others.

November 1999
Luck Be a Lady in Gary. A depressed steel town bets on riverboat gambling.

October 1999
More Than Motoring A Planning Practice on transportation enhancements.

September 1999
Heavy Freight Are America's communities being railroaded?

August 1999
Seven Months 'Til Showtime Last-minute shifts in Census 2000 promise some excitement.

July 1999
Don't Dream It, See It How layering images can reveal urban design possibilities.

June 1999
Small Is Fruitful A hands-on approach to farmland preservation.

May 1999
Home Bodies Zoning rushes to catch up with home-based businesses.

April 1999
Outstanding Planning: A Plan. Focus Kansas City
Outstanding Planning: A Project, Program, or Tool. Chester County, Pennsylvania
Outstanding Planning: Special Community Initiative. Port Towns Revitalization Initiative
Outstanding Planning: Implementation. Tierra Contenta

March 1999
Ring Around the Region Washington's growth management program.

February 1999
'X' Marks the Spot A new computer coding system may be a boon to planners

January 1999
The TIFs Go On Critics aside, tax increment financing remains a development tool of choice.

December 1998
Toxic Turnabouts News from the brownfield front.

November 1998
Agencies with an Attitude Public housing authorities play all the angles.

October 1998
Home Delivery Through rain or sleet, these communities will fight to keep their post offices downtown.

September 1998
It's Off to Work They Go Where new planners are going and how they get there.

August 1998
Connecting the Dots A new, "growing greener" approach to subdivision design is proving a surefire way to save open space.

July 1998
Campus Moves Lively experiments in transportation technology are crossing the line between town and gown.

June 1998
Church and State When these two forces bump, something's got to give.
Viva Cuba: An enthusiastic look at our island neighbor.

May 1998
All Counting is Local For the first time ever, the Census Bureau this year is giving local governments addresses and corresponding maps to check against local government administrative records.

April 1998
Planning and Conservation of Places Pittsford's Greenprint Initiative
Outstanding Plan Coastal Georgia Gateway
Outstanding Planning Implementation Tennessee River Park

March 1998
Big Dig, Big Results It took some complicated negotiations but in the end, says this planner, Boston's Central Artery Project was worth it.

February 1998
Designs on the DesertPhoenix is kicking around ideas for sustainable development.

January 1998
Tax Tips for Consultants: What the new law means to business owners--and others.

December 1997
Seven Paths: Planners' careers move in many directions

November 1997
Rising From the Ashes: Industrial corridors are making a comeback--as three cities prove.

October 1997
Stock Plans: Off-the-shelf subdivisions are still the rule.

September 1997
Vive la Difference: Diversity training has moved from corporations to public agencies.

Let's Not Stop Meeting Like This As planners, we must recognize that racial and ethnic tensions threaten to tear apart our communities. It's up to us to ensure that all voices are heard, and that everyone has an equal chance to participate in building a livable community.

August 1997
Deep in the Neotrad of Texas: Austin enlists old-fangled concepts to fight sprawl.

July 1997
Catching Up With the Net: How computer networks are being used on the job.

June 1997
Don't Even Think of Parking Here: Are we building too many spaces?

May 1997
Liquid Gold: Communities are getting aggressive about protecting their water supplies.

March 1997
Doing the Job in Double Time: How San Diego made its "customers" happy by speeding up its permit process.

February 1997
Taking the Bite Out of Big Projects: State and regional agencies are fine-tuning regulations governing developments of regional impact.

January 1997
Just Get Me to the Plane on Time: New rail lines, buses, and vans could make the trek easier.

November 1996
'Types' Replace 'Uses' The hardest problem is dealing with existing communities that were never designed to be true neighborhoods.

October 1996
Inquiring Minds Want to Know APA's Planning Advisory Service has heard it all.

September 1996
Going by the Numbers Using indicators to know where you've been—and where you're going

August 1996
A Rural County Shows the Way Routt County has taken aggressive steps toward ensuring that local senior citizens will have a place to live.

June 1996
Oregon Metro Faces the Ultimate Test Metro, the regional government for Portland, Oregon, and its suburbs, faces a big test this year. The Metro Council must decide whether to expand the area's urban growth boundary by up to 9,000 acres.

May 1996
Getting to Less Do leaner planning departments deliver better services?

March 1996
Orange Blossom Special Plans for transit are speeding up in Florida