Articles
of Interest
Articles
from AICP's Practicing Planner
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Articles
of Interest |
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| Growth | Planned Unit Development | Smart Codes | |
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Practicing Planner, AICP’s new online quarterly magazine, is available on the APA website. Click here to read Practicing Planner. Establishing An Effective Local Economic Development Program article by Robert Bateman "It has been said many times that economic development originates at the local level, in the cities and towns across the Nation. To some extent this is true. The national economy is an aggregation of local, regional and state economies. Of course this is an oversimplification in these times of international business and worldwide economic activity...." Click title for full article.
Harland Bartholomew: His Contributions to American Urban Planning Oklahoma Suffering From ‘Stealth Stagnation’
Bold, Dramatic Income-Tax Cuts Needed To
Spur Growth Studies tie urban sprawl to health risks, road danger By Kathleen Fackelmann, USA TODAY See this interesting PowerPoint presentation on "Effective Grassroots Organization: From Grassroots to Grasstops and Everything In Between" by the consulting firm: Advanced Consulting. MARKETING APA & YOUR APA: IT'S CHANGING Articles by Robert B. Hunter, FAICP APA Region III Director
Growth puts stress on the
social divide From her family's mobile home with its leaky roof, 11-year-old Raven Tippens looks out on a part of Grapevine that locals call the trailer park. She can see children riding bicycles on the cracked asphalt streets, past yards cluttered with beer cans and homes with broken windows. She likes her big back yard, where she might fish or catch a snake, and she likes her teachers at Timberline Elementary School, where she is in the fifth grade. But inside she winces when she hears the comments from the people across Mustang Drive, who live in new brick houses worth more than $200,000 -- the kind she dreams about. For them, Raven's "trailer park" makes a poor neighbor. "It's an eyesore," says Tom Wilson, who can see the ragged housing from his house in the Town Park neighborhood. "I would love to see that gone one day. It doesn't contribute to the beauty of the area." Scarcity of land and the push for affordable housing are beginning to make neighbors of people long separated by suburbia, with its homogeneous enclaves. This integration is considered ideal by some urban planners, who believe that neighborhoods are strengthened by variety.
But the mix can create resentment on both sides.
SEE FULL ARTICLE ON AFFORDABLE HOUSING: http://www.dfw.com/mld/startelegram/5890012.htm |
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Whither the
Planned Unit Development?
Have New Urbanist theory and neotraditional planning principles displaced the once innovative technique of planned unit development (PUD)? This article provides an overview and history of PUD, reviews the public purposes, and raises some practical considerations of PUD regulation. Read the full Planning Essentials article |
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The following report summaries were published in the APA City Planning and Management Division (2002) newsletter, Strategies:
Smart Codes in Your Community: A Guide to Building Rehabilitation Codes This report from HUD provides a thorough, easy-to-follow guide for developing “smart construction codes” that encourage alteration and reuse of existing structures. Redeveloping underused buildings can boost local economies, revitalize neighborhoods and help meet growing demand for additional housing as well as industrial and retail space. However, complex, outdated codes often impede the ability of many communities to rehabilitate and reuse existing buildings. As a result, some states and localities are examining and rewriting their building codes to spur reinvestment in existing structures.
This report reviews the general regulatory environment governing reuse of existing buildings and provided examples of recent state and local efforts to reduce regulatory complexities. To begin the process of creating “smart codes,” the report recommends creating a local stakeholders’ committee to articulate problems with a community’s current regulatory approach to renovating existing buildings. Additional strategies include exploring other options and models and comparing these models with current local regulations. The report also recommends that after communities adopt new rehabilitation codes, they establish follow-up procedures, such as training for code enforcement officials. Download the report or order a copy for $5.00 at www.huduser.org/publications/destech/smartcodes.html.
Linking Land Use and Public HealthIn a report prepared for Sprawl Watch, doctors and researchers with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found several primary connections between suburban sprawl and public health. Creating a Healthy Environment: The Impact of the Built Environment on Public Health compiles data from across disciplines and multiple sources into a single comprehensive report that examines the effects on health of the broad physical and social environment, which includes housing, urban development, land use and transportation, industry and agriculture. Get the full report at www.sprawlwatch.org/health.pdf
Land Use and the EnvironmentThe US General Accounting Office (GAO) has released a new report that examines how state and local transportation and air and water quality officials consider the impacts of land use on the environment. GAO surveyed local transportation planners, state air quality officials and experts on land use and water quality. The report recommends that the EPA devise an overall strategy to help states and localities assess land-use impacts and provide them with financial, technical and other assistance. The US Department of Transportation should encourage transportation planners to assess the emissions impacts of their plans and share their data with land-use officials. GAO also suggests ways Congress could encourage a better link between land use and environmental protection. Get the report at www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-02-12.
Building Better Communities through TransportationIn honor of the 10th Anniversary of the passage of the federal Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA), the Surface Transportation Policy Project (STPP) released a report entitled Ten Years of Progress: Building Better Communities through Transportation. The report documents that in just ten years in the US, we have moved from an almost single-minded focus on finishing an extraordinary freeway and highway network to an exploration of myriad new ways to improve and expand transportation choices. The first two chapters document national trends from the past decade: increasing demand for more choices, increased investment in new solutions and changing traveler behavior. The third chapter gives specific examples of transportation investments being used to make many communities better places to live. Get the report at www.transact.org/tenyears/default.htm.
Barriers to Affordable Housing RehabilitationRehabilitation of aging housing is a major resource for meeting the nation’s affordable housing needs. Barriers to the Rehabilitation of Affordable Housing, Volume I: Findings and Analysis, and Volume II: Case Studies, the result of a cooperative research agreement between HUD and the National Trust for Historic Preservation, examines the major barriers to housing rehabilitation. The research team reviewed relevant literature, conducted case studies and convened study groups of real estate developers, nonprofit leaders, architects and other professionals who face barriers to affordable housing rehabilitation. According to the report, approximately $100 to $200 billion in housing rehabilitation is carried out each year in the US. This figure approaches the total investment in new housing construction and constitutes approximately 2% of the nation’s economic activity. The six case study programs in Volume II were chose based on the types of barriers they highlight, the success achieved in rehabilitation activities, and program type, size and geographic location. The case study sites – in Chicago, Massachusetts, Miami, New Haven, Seattle, and Trenton – provide success stories and information that can be valuable to other organizations working to increase affordable housing through rehabilitation. Get the report at www.huduser.org/publications/destech/brah.html
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