THE EVOLUTION OF COMMUNITY INPUT

TOOLKITS, TECHNIQUES, HIGH-TECH AND NON-TRADITIONAL/DIVERSE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT HELPS TO MAKE PLANNING ABOUT PEOPLE

The Paradise Association of REALTORS® brought in the Corps in 2021, when it was alarmed at the slow pace of rebuilding from the 2018 California wildfire that burned down nearly 20,000 structures in the area.

One recommendation was to bring in a dealmaker from the private sector, someone who could cut through red tape and get things done with streamlined permitting.

Another issue was to focus on affordable housing.

Homeowners tended to have insurance settlements that allowed them to rebuild. Renters were uninsured or underinsured, plus very little affordable housing was being rebuilt in an area that was fairly affordable compared to many areas in the Golden State.

THE EVOLUTION OF COMMUNITY INPUT

TOOLKITS, TECHNIQUES, HIGH-TECH AND NON-TRADITIONAL/DIVERSE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT HELPS TO MAKE PLANNING ABOUT PEOPLE

A verbal presentation is given at the end of the week’s work by CRE’s Consulting Corps (Corps). It is followed up with a longer, written version of expert advice.

Along with intense engagement with a broad base of stakeholders, the value of the Corps’ work is it can create strategies based more in economic realities. Sometimes cities get stuck on an unrealistic redevelopment plan.

“City staff might say ‘we want this land to be industrial and we want to have this company develop it.’

When the market reality might be that the land doesn’t have the infrastructure for industry or the market realities preclude a firm from locating to the site,” Dekoven said.

THE EVOLUTION OF COMMUNITY INPUT

TOOLKITS, TECHNIQUES, HIGH-TECH AND NON-TRADITIONAL/DIVERSE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT HELPS TO MAKE PLANNING ABOUT PEOPLE

Samantha Dekoven, director of Public Service Initiatives at The Counselors of Real Estate (CRE), helps communities with planning expertise from industry leaders, such as developers, appraisers, economists, asset managers and advisors to pension funds, that invest in real estate.

Through its affiliation with the NATIONAL ASSOCI ATION OF REALTORS® (NAR), CRE’s Consulting Corps (Corps) is able to give an outside opinion from experts and is funded by NAR’s Transforming Neighborhoods program.

The Corps does several projects per year, focusing on communities with a problem complex enough to need a team of experts, but narrow enough that the team can create solutions from about a week onsite.

THE EVOLUTION OF COMMUNITY INPUT

TOOLKITS, TECHNIQUES, HIGH-TECH AND NON-TRADITIONAL/DIVERSE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT HELPS TO MAKE PLANNING ABOUT PEOPLE

Jessica Garrow, principal at Design Workshop,  underscored the importance of nuance, within various marginalized groups.

She recalled an online meeting specifically for individuals and organizations who represent people with disabilities.

“One participant was visually impaired, and we were using a lot of visuals for the discussion.

We had to slow down and explain each concept to them because they were not able to see the screen.

This was a good reminder that it’s important to provide opportunities for community input that are accessible to people from all walks of life.”

Garrow also reminds planners to connect with everyday people by avoiding “planner-speak.”

She recalled a time when a member of the community had received a public notice and was flummoxed by its mention of “FAR in a PUD to be heard by the PC.”

The point is not so much to spell out Floor Area Ratio, Planned Unit Development and Planning Commission — but to break down jargon into wording everyday people can understand.

 

 

 

SAUDADES FEATURED ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: STEVE WRIGHT

PROUD TO HAVE BEEN PART OF THE BOOK LAUNCH 

AT BOOKS AND BOOKS THIS MONTH

Steve Wright is a visual and verbal storyteller.

His street photography is inspired by Ara Güler, the Eye of Istanbul. He learned from and edited a book about the great Turkish photographer.

Wright is a Pulitzer-nominated, award-winning writer and has published more than 5,000 professional articles.

His Save My Little Havana, a one-man show photo exhibit opened in August 2023 at the Art Deco Welcome Center in Miami Beach and ran through Thanksgiving.

Several photos by Steve are published in the book, and will exhibited at the Books & Books Gallery Space.

Steve and other artists were present at the Book Launch on October 4, when they signed books.

THE EVOLUTION OF COMMUNITY INPUT

TOOLKITS, TECHNIQUES, HIGH-TECH AND NON-TRADITIONAL/DIVERSE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT HELPS TO MAKE PLANNING ABOUT PEOPLE

Jessica Garrow, principal at Design Workshop, said online surveys are great for people who cannot attend a physical meeting, but noted not everyone is signed up for a city’s website or newsletter, so they may not know about the survey.

“Using yard signs, social media channels, flyers at a busy coffee shop, newspaper ads or radio ads helps increase engagement,” she said.

“I also like to pair surveys within person engagement so you can get the folks who might be rushing through their day.

It is also important to always provide hard copy options.

There are some people who do not have access to a smart phone so having surveys available at the library, community center, senior center or other high-traffic locations is important.”

THE EVOLUTION OF COMMUNITY INPUT

TOOLKITS, TECHNIQUES, HIGH-TECH AND NON-TRADITIONAL/DIVERSE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT HELPS TO MAKE PLANNING ABOUT PEOPLE

Jessica Garrow, principal at Design Workshop, is a big believer in face-to-face meetings with stakeholders outside of town-hall-type meetings.

“During a recent project, we wanted to hear from parents with young kids, so we brought ice cream to a busy park by the main childcare facility in town and talked to parents as their kids were playing.

By meeting our audience where they naturally spent time, we were able to gain important feedback,” she said.

“On transportation-based plans, I often like to hold a pop-up event at the transit station.

People are often rushing to their bus or light rail, but you can give them a business card with a QR code to complete a survey on their commute to or from work.”

THE EVOLUTION OF COMMUNITY INPUT

TOOLKITS, TECHNIQUES, HIGH-TECH AND NON-TRADITIONAL/DIVERSE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT HELPS TO MAKE PLANNING ABOUT PEOPLE

“Big flashy tactical urbanism in New York City and Dallas grabs the headlines, but this works even in small towns of 10,000 or 2,500 people.

These don’t have to be million- or several hundred-thousand-dollar initiatives,” said Camille Manning-Broome, president & CEO of the Center for Planning Excellence (CPEX) in Louisiana.

“A temporary, 30-day demonstration can be done with donated asphalt paint and loaned-out traffic cones and steel barriers.”

Manning-Broome and Alex Hobdy, a design associate at CPEX, said demonstration projects can bring 100 people to a meeting, while giving them an understanding of why design matters.

“In one place, we had a community-wide survey with over 300 respondents.

One of the recurring themes was people were using bike lanes as a route for assistive mobility devices — the wheelchair route,” Hobdy said.

“It reminded the mayor that ADA accessible improvements needed on the sidewalks and every intersection had to have curb ramps.”

 

 

KEYNOTE SPEECH EXCERPT -- UNIVERSAL DESIGN

AMERICAN PLANNING ASSOCIATION CONFERENCE 2024

 

THE EVOLUTION OF COMMUNITY INPUT

TOOLKITS, TECHNIQUES, HIGH-TECH AND NON-TRADITIONAL/DIVERSE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT HELPS TO MAKE PLANNING ABOUT PEOPLE

Camille Manning-Broome, president & CEO of the Center for Planning Excellence (CPEX) in Louisiana, said great planning results from a transparent process aimed at improving quality of life.

“We don’t achieve the mission of our nonprofit until the built environment has shifted and policies are in place to support the people, environment and economy.”

In Abbeville, La., a city of about 12,000 located in the heart of Cajun Country, CPEX did a demonstration project to show the community what the concepts of a complete street, road diet and protected bike lane are.

A demonstration project increased pedestrian safety by extending the curbs at eight intersections.

The crosswalk distance shrunk from 25 feet to about 12, meaning people only crossed one lane of traffic instead of two.

The project also enhanced the visibility of crosswalks with high visibility striping and extra signage.

THE EVOLUTION OF COMMUNITY INPUT

TOOLKITS, TECHNIQUES, HIGH-TECH AND NON-TRADITIONAL/DIVERSE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT HELPS TO MAKE PLANNING ABOUT PEOPLE

“When you put something on the ground, then you really get input.

Everybody has an opinion good and bad — which is great,” said Camille Manning-Broome, president & CEO of the Center for Planning Excellence (CPEX) in Louisiana.

“It’s a better way to ignite voices and understand perceptions for a diverse audience.”

Manning-Broome said the best renderings in the world, pinned up on a wall at a typical community workshop, cannot begin to help design a community to meet its vision and goals — like a demonstration project can.

“Our mission is to unlock the power of planning in our communities that don’t have the resources.

We help co design plans in communities that have implementation in mind,” she said, noting that CPEX drives physical change, not reports for the files.

 “We work with partners to help understand funding to get plans implemented.”

THE EVOLUTION OF COMMUNITY INPUT

TOOLKITS, TECHNIQUES, HIGH-TECH AND NON-TRADITIONAL/DIVERSE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT HELPS TO MAKE PLANNING ABOUT PEOPLE

Camille Manning-Broome, president & CEO of the Center for Planning Excellence (CPEX) in Louisiana, endorses a seeing-is-believing approach.

“We don’t see how you can get meaningful input by just holding workshops and having discussions and that’s your only way to understand community needs,” she said.

“You need various tools. We are big on funding demonstrations.

We work in a number of communities with stakeholders, community groups, elected officials — to create temporary installations addressing issues such as traffic design and floodwater management design.”

“MARK - A CALL TO ACTION” RELEASES GLOBALLY ON OCTOBER 8

I AM HONORED TO APPEAR IN THE DOCUMENTARY AS A GLOBAL DISABILITY ADVOCATE AND UNIVERSAL DESIGN EXPERT CONSULTANT

The documentary, by an award-wining team, premiered in Japan in February.

I was gratified to attend in Tokyo.

On October 8, it releases via Digital, Streaming, Satellite – even DVD.

“Mark – A Call to Action” is the story of Dr. Mark Bookman, a severely disabled Pennsylvania-born American who later resided in Tokyo full-time, becoming one of Japan’s leading experts on accessibility, and a policy consultant to governments and major corporations around the world.

His tireless efforts helped raise awareness and positively impacted the lives of not only disabled persons, but also children, seniors and vulnerable populations in the United States, Japan and many other nations.

For more information, visit:

https://www.soundviewmediapartners.com/mark-a-call-to-action/

For a review, see this image:

THE EVOLUTION OF COMMUNITY INPUT

TOOLKITS, TECHNIQUES, HIGH-TECH AND NON-TRADITIONAL/DIVERSE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT HELPS TO MAKE PLANNING ABOUT PEOPLE

People, not the project, must come first.

“High tech is great, but we also need high touch. That means going to where the people are and finding people who speak the neighborhood language,” said Jason Jordan, director of Policy & Government Affairs at the American Planning Association (APA), meaning local nuances, not just languages other than English.

“We need to understand all the layers that factor into the neighborhood’s identity — the housing market, job accessibility, impacts.”

“Great public engagement means people are working with officials to solve a problem, as opposed to organizing to oppose a project,” he said.

“People have every right to oppose something — but they might not if the process weren’t front loaded.”

THE EVOLUTION OF COMMUNITY INPUT

TOOLKITS, TECHNIQUES, HIGH-TECH AND NON-TRADITIONAL/DIVERSE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT HELPS TO MAKE PLANNING ABOUT PEOPLE

Jason Jordan, director of Policy & Government Affairs at the American Planning Association (APA) said the move from the traditional town-hall meeting toward virtual meetings and online surveys has pluses and minuses.

For people who cannot make a weeknight meeting, or those afraid of speaking in person, virtual can be helpful.

“Digital tools are great, but we must be aware that some technology can exacerbate underlying inequity,” he said, noting that not all people are online and not all trust online surveys.

 

THE EVOLUTION OF COMMUNITY INPUT

TOOLKITS, TECHNIQUES, HIGH-TECH AND NON-TRADITIONAL/DIVERSE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT HELPS TO MAKE PLANNING ABOUT PEOPLE

While good old-fashioned human buy-in is key, technology can help, said Jason Jordan, director of Policy & Government Affairs at the American Planning Association (APA).

“In California, the state sets standards and says ‘your town needs to build X number of new units.’

VR headsets can help people ‘walk’ through a simulation,” he said, explaining that a visualization may show that increased density doesn’t disrupt the fabric of the neighborhood.

“People can see the big picture, then learn how it translates into code and regulations.”

 

THE EVOLUTION OF COMMUNITY INPUT

TOOLKITS, TECHNIQUES, HIGH-TECH AND NON-TRADITIONAL/DIVERSE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT HELPS TO MAKE PLANNING ABOUT PEOPLE

“Whether the tools are VR, AI or going to places where real people hang out to get real input — the more we front load [planning] with people’s participation, the better off we will be,” said Jason Jordan, director of Policy & Government Affairs at the American Planning Association (APA).

“We need to go to the people, find out what is the problem to be solved, then create the project to address it.”

Planning, even by very well-intentioned professionals, tends to design the solution then sell it to those impacted by it.

“We have to be much more intentional. For instance, we need to do a better job of engaging the renter community vs. homeowners,” Jordan said.

“I saw a case study from Arlington County, Va. They helped create missing middle housing by context setting and storytelling that led to land-use and zoning reforms.

They shared data showing the need, but they engaged people from the ground up — instead of designing a project and asking, ‘do you like this [rendering] or not?’”