Notes, updates, and interviews by Planning Commissioners Journal & PlannersWeb Editor Wayne Senville
Details on a free online course offered in May 2013: Technicity. The course will explore how the increasing availability of networks, sensors and mobile technologies allows for new approaches to address the challenges that our cities face.
Ten of us piled into a mini-van for a tour of Topsham, Maine (population about 9,100) — Brunswick’s suburb to the north. Stops included the historic Bowdoin Mill; a remarkable active-adult housing development; and the famous John A. Roebling-designed Swinging Bridge across the Androscoggin River.
In 2005, the Brunswick (Maine) Naval Air Station was designated for closure — one of more than 350 military installations ordered closed between 1989 and 2005. A look at progress on redevelopment plans for this sprawling, 3300 acre facility.
In part II of this posting, we take a closer look at how the Town of Mansfield, Connecticut worked with UConn and and a private developer to move forward on its new downtown, Storrs Center. Including some tips from some of the project participants.
It’s not every day that university and town perspectives on a key issue are closely aligned. But that’s the case in the small town of Storrs, Connecticut, where the University of Connecticut and the Town of Mansfield both agree that what they really want an need is a new downtown center.
How did Blue Back Square get developed? West Hartford Community Services Director Rob Rowlson takes us on a tour of the development, and explains why the Town’s developer-friendly approach led to positive results.
Rob Rowlson, the Town of West Hartford’s Director of Community Services, makes no bones about it: too often planning can be an obstacle to private investment and development. In Part I of this post, Rowlson talks about efforts to strengthen the core of the town’s downtown: West Hartford Center.
One of the key themes I heard during sessions at the Association of Metropolitan Planning Organizations conference was the importance of better connecting pedestrians to nearby shopping and to transit corridors. That means focusing on one of the most basic components of a community’s transportation network: sidewalks.
During the AMPO (Association of Metropolitan Planning Organizations) conference the past two days, the three words I think I heard most often were Sustainability; Livability; and Walkability. What’s more all three of these were often tied in to another phrase: economic competitiveness.
PCJ Editor Wayne Senville is reporting today from the annual conference of the Association of MPOs in Saratoga Springs NY. In this post, a look at presentations focusing on transit challenges — and opportunities — in three very different parts of the country.
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— The Segedys weigh in on the top 10 ways to make your planning commission more relevant. — Have you taken a look at Elaine Cogan’s latest columns on PlannersWeb? See “On Commitment” and “Dealing with Commissioners Who Have Too … Continued
The authors’ of the feature article in the Summer 2011 issue of the PCJ respond to comments and questions about their article.
