Be the Apple of Your Commission’s Eye
Tired of our talking about those bad apples who serve on planning commissions? In today’s column we offer some balance — with a look at commissioners who deserve your appleause.
The Segedys
Jim Segedy, FAICP, worked for many years in Ball State University's Community Based Planning program, providing assistance to more than one hundred communities and many plan commissions (as planning commissions are called in Indiana). He is currently an adjunct Professor of Urban Studies at the University of Pittsburgh; and a member of the Edgewood, Pennsylvania, Planning Commission.
Lisa Hollingsworth-Segedy, AICP, is the Associate Director for River Restoration for American Rivers' Pittsburgh field office. Before moving to Pennsylvania, she spent over a decade as a circuit-riding planner for a regional planning organization serving the western fringe of Metropolitan Atlanta.
The Segedys wrote “The Planning Commission at Work” column for the Planning Commissioners Journal between 2008 and 2012. They are currently columnists for our PlannersWeb site. Their PCJ and PlannersWeb columns are listed below.
Most Recent Articles
Avoiding the Unadoptable Plan or Ordinance
There are some simple things you can do to help keep your plan or ordinance from hitting a brick wall at the end of the line. Here’s our Top Ten List of strategies that planning commissioners can use to build momentum for plan or ordinance adoption.
Top 10 Ways to Make Your Planning Commission More Relevant in Your Community
To avoid being seen as “just part of the system,” here are 10 ways to solidify your planning commission’s relevance.
Top 10 Mistakes to Avoid When Holding Public Hearings or Meetings
To help you avoid the holes in the rocky road of being a planning commissioner, we present the Top Ten Mistakes to Avoid When Holding Public Hearings or Meetings.
Putting the LID on Your Community’s Stormwater – Part IV
In the fourth installment of their series on low impact development, the Segedys provide an overview of ways communities can start to implement a LID program.
Putting the LID on Your Community’s Stormwater – Part III
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.
Putting the LID on Your Community’s Stormwater – Part II
Low impact development techniques address precipitation first as a water resource. Many LID techniques focus on capturing stormwater for irrigation use on a site. This not only supports landscaping, but helps recharge groundwater. An overview of some basic LID practices.
Putting the LID on Your Community’s Stormwater – Part I
This is the first of a series of articles in which Lisa and Jim will explain the basics of low impact development: how it works, why your community may need it, how LID costs compare to conventional stormwater management, and the type of ordinances that have worked to implement LID in communities around the country.
Reinventing Your Community From the Inside Out – Part II
In today’s economy, there are generally limited opportunities to attract industry from somewhere else — that is, to grow from the outside in. But local assets often provide strong potential for communities to reinvent themselves from the inside out. A look at what that involves.
Reinventing Your Community From the Inside Out – Part I
Too often cities have scrambled to attract new businesses … from anywhere. But a different approach has started to take hold. It involves planting local economic seeds and nurturing them to be the new garden of opportunity.
A Walkabout Approach to Public Meetings
Does your planning commission take a “walkabout approach” to public meetings. PlannersWeb contributing writers Jim Segedy & Lisa Hollingsworth-Segedy explain why it can be very helpful to put on your walking shoes and go out for a group walk.
Challenges & Opportunities
Eight of our regular contributing writers take a brief look at various challenges and opportunities facing planning commissions and their communities.
Putting Some Oomph into Planning
A roundtable discussion on ways of strengthening the planning process — with a look at: the roles of planning commissions and governing bodies; finding time for long-range planning; and better ways of implementing local plans.
