[Durham INC] FW: Chapel Hill 2020 Presents Talk by APA [American Planning Assc] President

Wed Nov 23 08:40:14 EST 2011

I went to this presentation last night, and we might want to think about getting Mr. Silver to come to Durham to give his talk to us.  
A couple things he said:Planning departments have become too much about zoning and process, but they are the natural centers of expertise if a community wants to do a strategic plan -- planners need a bigger vision of their jobRaleigh is working on a new comprehensive plan with some nodes and corridors to target development, as well as some new kinds of housing types in the zoning code.  My impression is that they are adding context-sensitive design to what Durham did in creating the UDO and our last comprehensive plan. We might want to keep an eye on what Raleigh is doing as source of both good and dangerous ideasHe spent a lot of time discussing what demographics reveal for both conventional planning and zoning work (where is an older population going to live and how will it get around, how do we meet the Gen X/Y demand for choices) and in more general strategic thinking (what does keeping globally competitive mean for education?). The South is where people are moving (even more than The West) so we don't really have an option about dealing with growth.  And it is the Urban South -- NC's rural counties are aging and dying as much as those in rural North Dakota. 

A couple of my thoughts:Our planning tools are not necessarily up to the kinds of problems they need to address -- there's still no laws against ugly, good business says to move your "housing product" as far "up market" as you can which leaves some working poor with few and bad choices, etc.Some of his comments make it clear why neighborhoods might distrust planners.  He sees himself are representing The Future Public at the table, and doesn't seem to recognize that the neighborhood public is often excluded from the table until way too late.  He has a problem-solving view that if, for example, density creates traffic, we can mitigate the traffic.  Of course, some NIMBYism is just being dense, but the truth is that density is something for which some people benefit and a lot of people may have uncompensated losses.He mentions that Gen X (people born 1965-1981) and Gen Z (born 1995-now -- yes, the generations seem to be going faster (-:) are "baby bust generations" while Gen Y (1981-1995) is a baby boom.  The Great Depression seems to set up a population wave of booms and busts that will keep going on.  He didn't point out that we maybe have 10 years to think about what happens when we have growth + the next baby boom hit our schools.  

Regards, pat

From: info at townofchapelhill.org
To: pats1717 at hotmail.com
CC: 
Subject: Town of Chapel Hill: Chapel Hill 2020 Presents Talk by APA President
Date: Tue, 8 Nov 2011 11:49:55 -0800

Chapel Hill 2020 Presents Talk by APA President

Posted Date: 
11/8/2011

Mitch Silver, president of the American Planning Association (APA) will make a presentation as part of Chapel Hill 2020 community planning process at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 22, in the Council Chamber of Chapel Hill Town Hall, 405 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. 

    Silver's talk, "What you need to know about the Demographic in the 21st Century," will be aired live on Chapel Hill TV-18 and also made available by streaming video on www.townofchapelhill.org. The public is welcome to attend. Chapel Hill is currently developing a vision for its future through the Chapel Hill 2020 process. Mr. Silver's talk will inform our community discussions about who will live here and
 what current demographic trends could mean for our Town, our future. 

    As APA president, Silver is leading the effort to revive planning to be one of the most relevant professions in the 21st century. Silver is also the chief planning and economic development officer and planning director for Raleigh. 

    Silver is an award-winning planner with more than 25 years of experience in the public and private sectors. He is nationally recognized for his leadership in the planning profession and his contributions to contemporary planning issues. He is a contributing editor and author of "Local Planning: Contemporary Principles and Practice," which was released by the International City-County Management Association in February 2009. 

    Known by his colleagues as a creative thinker, problem-solver and visionary leader, Silver has been at the
 center of many cutting edge trends, innovative solutions and visionary plans. As planning director in Raleigh, he has led the comprehensive plan update process to create a vibrant 21st century city with a modern transit system, great streets, great places and great neighborhoods. He is now overseeing a rewrite of the City's Development Code. 

    For more information, contact the Town of Chapel Hill Planning Department at planning at townofchapelhill.org  or 919-968-2728.

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