Livable Communities Archives

PCJ Articles

Bringing Commercial Uses Closer to Existing Residential Neighborhoods, Part II

by Wendy Grey, AICP

As a follow up to her previous column on approaches to bringing commercial uses closer to residential neighborhoods, Wendy Grey outlines some basic development standards for neighborhood commercial zoning districts.

PCJ Articles

Bringing Commercial Uses Closer to Existing Residential Neighborhoods, Part I

by Wendy Grey, AICP

Residents in established neighborhoods will often be very concerned about zoning proposals to allow new commercial uses close to their neighborhood. The question planners and planning commissioners must be able to answer is how the creation of a commercial district near a neighborhood will be a positive change.

PCJ Articles

Putting the LID on Your Community’s Stormwater – Part III

by Jim Segedy, FAICP, and Lisa Hollingsworth-Segedy, AICP

In the first two installments of this series, we presented basic information about what LID is and how it works. In this piece, we’ll show that LID isn’t simply a stormwater management technique, but a systems approach that provides multiple benefits addressing both public and private sector interests.

Editor's Notes & Interviews

What Really Counts in a Community

PlannersWeb Editor Wayne Senville, reporting from Bath, Maine

We all know that the bottom line in what really counts in building strong communities is … the people. Committed citizens can pull together and make just about any place better. That’s just what I saw on a windy Saturday in the small city of Bath, Maine.

Editor's Notes & Interviews

“It’s Like Planning in a Big Doll House”

PlannersWeb Editor Wayne Senville, reporting from Bath, Maine.

Bath, Maine, is just nine square miles in size, with a population a little under 9,000. But it has a thriving downtown and riverfront. A look at some of the ingredients that have made downtown Bath so strong.

PCJ Articles

Reinventing Your Community From the Inside Out – Part I

by Jim Segedy, FAICP, and Lisa Hollingsworth-Segedy, AICP

Too often cities have scrambled to attract new businesses … from anywhere. But a different approach has started to take hold: growing from the inside out. This involves planting local economic seeds and nurturing them to be the new garden of opportunity.

Editor's Notes & Interviews

Building a New Downtown – Part II

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.

Editor's Notes & Interviews

Building a New Downtown – Part I

As someone who lives in a university town, I can tell you it’s not every day that the university’s and town’s perspectives on a key issue are closely aligned. But that’s the case in Storrs, Connecticut, where the University of Connecticut (UConn) and the Town of Mansfield both agree that what they really want an need is a new downtown center. A look at the development of Storrs Center.

Editor's Notes & Interviews

Can We Connect?

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.

Planning 101

Creating “Livable” Communities

What’s a “livable” community? It surely includes places that offer a variety of both housing and job opportunities. But it also includes a range of things — from having recreational opportunities; to being walkable; to providing ways for neighbors to work together to address local concerns.

PCJ Articles

The End of the Strip?

by Ed McMahon

Long-time Planning Commissioners Journal columnist Ed McMahon on why the era of strip commercial development may be nearing an end.

Editor's Notes & Interviews

Talking with Ed McMahon about “Billboards: The Case for Control”

A conversation with Ed McMahon about his just-published PCJ article on billboard control.