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October is National Community Planning Month!
This is an outstanding opportunity to enhance awareness of the benefits of planning in your communities: how planners make great communities happen. APA’s website has some ideas about how to observe National Community Planning Month in your county, city or neighborhood:
Organize a photo competition: Ask participants to submit photos of the great streets and neighborhoods in your community.
Create a community documentary: Feature community leaders as well as citizens who contribute to the greatness of your streets and neighborhoods.
Guide a tour: Organize a bus, bike, or walking tour through your great streets and neighborhoods for the public to rediscover your community.
Engage elected officials: Use National Community Planning Month as an opportunity to reach out to your local, state and congressional representatives.
Suggest a street or neighborhood for APA's Great Places in America program: Enter one street and one neighborhood in your city or town to be designated by APA as a Great Place in America. Ten streets and ten neighborhoods will be announced each October during National Community Planning Month. Read about the program, and learn how to make a suggestion at www.planning.org/greatplaces.
Last week APA announced the inaugural group of great streets and neighborhoods, and we have a winner! Savannah’s Bull Street joins the list of honorees along with places like St. Charles Avenue in New Orleans, North Michigan Avenue in Chicago, and Ocean Drive in Miami Beach. Congratulations to Savannah for making the first list. Let’s make sure that Georgia is represented next year as well by nominating neighborhoods and streets all over the state.
Sidewalk café and horse carriage.
Photo courtesy of Charlotte Moore. |
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Former Armory building.
Photo courtesy of Charlotte Moore. |
Thanks to all the participants and organizers who made this year’s conference in Savannah (not too far from Bull Street!) a great success. Look for highlights in the upcoming hard-copy newsletter.
Ellen Heath, AICP, President
Georgia Chapter
American Planning Association
Making Great Communities Happen
World Town Planning Day Event
The Georgia Tech Student Planning Association will be holding its annual World Town Planning Day event on Wednesday, November 7th from 5:30 to 7:00pm in the Georgia Tech College of Architecture Atrium.
The Student Planning Association is pleased to have Dr. Jack Crowley of the UGA School of Environmental Design as the featured guest for the evening's event. Dr. Crowley will be giving a presentation entitled "Green Neighborhoods on Streets of Steel," which will explore issues associated with developing sustainable transportation infrastructure in an economically viable way.
Dr. Crowley is well known for his founding of the UGA College of Environment
and Design, which brings together the disciplines of landscape architecture,
historic preservation, and ecology. He originally joined the University of
Georgia's Landscape Architecture program in 1975 and served a four year term
as an assistant professor. After working in Oklahoma in the fields
of planning and real estate, he returned to UGA in 1996, where he served as
the Dean of the College of Environmental Design from 1996 to 2006 and where
he is currently a Professor in the School of Environmental Design.
World Town Planning Day was created in 1949 by Professor Carlos Maria della
Paolera of the University of Buenos Aires as a way to advance public and
professional interest in planning. It is now celebrated in over 30
countries and successfully draws attention to planning issues on local,
regional, and global scales.
This event is co-sponsored by the Georgia Planning Association and is open to the public. Light hors d'oeurves and refreshments will be served
following Dr. Crowley's presentation.
Planner’s Book Club Announcement
There was a lot of interest in both suggested books, so my thought is to read one now and the other for our winter reading. Since it is fall, let's start with:
Last Harvest: How a Cornfield Became New Daleville by Witold Rybczynski
Please mark your calendars for the discussion on Monday, November 12, 2007 at 7 pm.
Dot and John Matthews have offered their home in Va-Hi for the discussion (1252 Cumberland Rd. NE; Atlanta GA. 30306).
Please let me know if you plan to attend.
Thanks.
Kristen Wescott, AICP
URS Corporation
678-808-8830
kristen_wescott@urscorp.com
GPA Divisions Forum
The Georgia Chapter of the American Planning Association represents professionals, public officials and citizen planners with a wide diversity of planning focus. To better serve our membership, the GPA Board has established a mechanism to encourage more communication between members of similar interests. We would request that all members see the new GPA Divisions Page (under “Resources”) and sign up for one or more of the (9) newly established GPA “Divisions”.
Divisions include Zoning Administration, Diversity in Planning, Economic Development, Environment, Natural Resources and Energy, Information Technology, Small Town and Rural Planning, Transportation Planning, Urban Design and Preservation, and Housing and Community Development. Creating an account will allow you to receive information on resources and to monitor and participate in discussions of particular relevance to your interest in planning.
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