Family Friendly Communities

Family friendly communities are communities where families enjoy housing that is affordable, child care, parks to play in, quality schools, and safe neighborhoods.

Despite rapidly changing demographics that indicate a need for more choice, many communities are in fact restricting choice through plans and regulations that inhibit the flexibility necessary to create family friendly environments. Restrictions in choice can take a variety of forms — lack of affordable housing, limited transit options, inaccessible recreation amenities — but the end result is the same: a city hostile to families.

Planners are uniquely positioned to move a community-building agenda forward that is truly family supportive through both the physical and social infrastructure.

Because of this unique role, APA is working with the Linking Economic Development and Child Care Project to engage planners in thinking critically about what makes a family friendly community, what's currently being done, and what opportunities are there to create more friendly communities.

2008 National Survey

Thanks for letting us know what your community is doing in the 2008 National Survey. We had more than 900 survey respondents, and some of the initial survey results were discussed at the APA National Planning Conference in Las Vegas. Click the links below for some of the presentations.

Family Friendly Cities: Context and Opportunities (ppt)

Planning Family Friendly Communities: Survey Results (ppt)

Winners of the prizes offered for participating in the survey will be notified by June 15, 2008.

• 1 Grand Prize: iPod Nano, valued at $250
• 10 Runners Up: $25 APA PlanningBooks.com Gift Certificate

Questions?

If you would like to know more about this project, contact Tre Jerdon at tjerdon@planning.org.