Archive for Upcoming Events

June 21: Transportation Camp PHL

he TCPHL24 team is pleased to be hosting our fourth-annual Summer Gathering event on Saturday, June 21, 2025.

Initially formed as an extension of our 2021 virtual conference to offer a safe, outdoor in-person experience, the event was such a blast, we’ve been keeping it going as a standalone event… even as we’ve returned to an in-person conference!

As with years past, the event will feature a day of urban exploration with fellow TransportationCamp participants, concluding with a happy hour in the afternoon. What’s it like? Check out photos from 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024.

The event is open to recent and former attendees of TransportationCamp PHL, other TransportationCamp conferences, APTAtech attendees & affiliates, members of YPT chapters from Philadelphia and beyond, and their friends and family. (Yes, we’re family-friendly, and have had some families join!)

Are you a local or looking to make a long weekend out of it? Our event is designed to help you make the most out of your time in the Philadelphia region… particularly if you’re coming to Philadelphia for the very first time.

We’re ecstatic to be seeing you in-person and hopefully connect with others throughout the region and beyond. Let the summer fun commence!

Tickets are complimentary; there is no charge to participate, although food, transportation, and admission to any activities (e.g. museums, events, sports) are not included.

Registration

May 7: APA PA – Webinar Wednesday – Vision Zero Delco (1 CM)

Vision Zero Delco: An Innovative County Approach to Vision Zero

Developing a Vision Zero Plan for a county that owns no roads and is comprised of 49 municipalities presented many challenges and barriers. Undeterred, Delaware County became the first Pennsylvania County to adopt a Vision Zero Safety Action Plan. It was adopted by resolution on February 19, 2025. This presentation will discuss how the county overcame the barriers and challenges using innovative planning methods and tools to develop an implementable Safety Action Plan that all 49 municipalities could adopt.

CM credit is pending approval. You must attend the webinar live in order to earn CM credit.

Speaker(s):
Cathy Spahr

**The Pennsylvania Chapter is not responsible for the materials or opinions of the speaker(s) you will hear**

Deadline to register is May 6

If you’re interested in sponsoring a Webinar Wednesday session or have a session for Webinar Wednesday please contact us. Send your request to admin@planningpa.org

Register Now

May 28: Meet Angela Brooks, Philly’s New Chief Housing and Urban Development Officer!

One-on-One with Angela Brooks

May 28 @ 5:30 pm7:00 pm

Join Design Advocacy Group (DAG) for a special event as we host Angela Brooks, Philadelphia’s new Chief Housing & Urban Development Officer and Immediate Past President of the American Planning Association (APA), for a one-on-one conversation that will touch on issues related to affordable and accessible housing and community development. In this newly-established role in Philadelphia’s administration, Brooks will oversee the implementation of Mayor Parker’s Housing Plan, which aims to achieve the goal of creating and preserving 30,000 units of housing. Leah Eppinger, Executive Director of the Housing Authority of the County of Dauphin and President of APA’s Pennsylvania chapter, will moderate the discussion.

This event is a collaboration between DAG and APA Pennsylvania, and will be held at the Center for DesignPhiladelphia, 1218 Arch Street, Philadelphia PA 19107.

Registration is not required for in-person events, however it is helpful for our planning. Light refreshments will be served.

Register Now

April 25: APAPASE Spring Event – Rail Park Tour!

Mark your calendars – Friday, April 25th at 5:00 PM please join APAPASE at our Spring event where we will be offering a tour of the Rail Park! The Rail Park is a former section of the Reading Railroad Viaduct in Philadelphia that has been transformed into an elevated park with walking paths, landscaping, lighting, swinging benches, and expansive city views. The Project Manager for the Rail Park will be leading us through the site and explaining the Planning/Engineering history behind the completed Phase 1 portion as well as the vision for the next phase of the Rail Park. Following the tour (approximately 30 minutes), we plan to convene at Love City Brewing to continue our conversations and network.

Interested in attending? Please email Danielle Baer at dabaer@urbanengineers.com to save your spot. Further details about a specific meeting location and rain plan will be sent as we get closer to the event. This event is free, but we ask that you please consider donating to the Rail Park to assist with the maintenance and upkeep of the space (https://www.therailpark.org/donate/).

May 13: Smart & Sustainable Mobility Showcase SEPTA & the City of Philadelphia 2025

Tuesday, May 13 · 9am – 3pm EDT

The Navy Yard
4747 South Broad Street #Building 101, Suite 120 Philadelphia, PA 19112

The Québec’s government office in New York, the Southeastern Pennsylvania
Transportation Authority (SEPTA), and the City of Philadelphia, are excited to partner on the Smart and Sustainable Mobility Showcase taking place on Tuesday, May 13, 2025, from 9am to 3pm, on the Marine Parade Grounds. The event is free and open to public and professionals.

More than 20 cutting-edge companies from Québec, Canada will be present at the event, showcasing the latest innovations in transportation and equipment. This event will provide a unique opportunity for participants to connect and network with industry leaders, government officials, and other professionals in the field. Participants can expect to see a variety of vehicles and equipment on display, including battery electric transit buses, electric school buses, electric street sweepers and other innovative solutions designed to reduce emissions and support the Philadelphia region’s climate objectives.

REGISTER HERE

April 2: APA PA – Webinar Wednesday: Blowing up Your Boards and Other Bold Ideas…

April 2 @ 12:00 pm1:15 pm

Register Now

Blowing up Your Boards and Other Bold Ideas to Bring Your Comp Plan to Life

How do you guarantee that your community’s new comprehensive plan will see fruition? Operationalize its implementation. The presenters will explore fresh ideas for delivering on vision, highlighting an innovative accomplishment by the Municipality of Mt. Lebanon to completely restructure the community’s appointed advisory boards to align with the key issues at the center of Ascend Lebo, the recently adopted comprehensive plan. Discussion will also focus on inclusive engagement strategies to discern shared values and build momentum for progress, as well as integrating the plan into the Capital Improvement Program.

This session is designed to provide education to professional planners, municipal officials, students and others on the creative application of the implementable comprehensive plan model, which helps communities co-create processes for progress. A key theme is critical thinking about how to embed long-range planning firmly rooted in equitable engagement into municipal operations: How can advisory boards strengthen implementation efforts? How can the Capital Improvement Program be anchored in plan implementation? We propose the Mt. Lebanon case study within the broader context of communities doing this work and will engage the audience in interactive discussion.

Educational objectives:

  • Understand application of the Implementable Comprehensive Plan model as a best practice
  • Broaden critical thinking about integrating planning into day-to-day municipal operations
  • Gain insight (and inspiration!) on the strategic use of appointed advisory boards to build capacity for plan implementation

CM credit is pending approval. You must attend the webinar live in order to earn CM credit.

Speakers:
Ian McMeans
Jenni Easton

**The Pennsylvania Chapter is not responsible for the materials or opinions of the speaker(s) you will hear**

Deadline to register is April 1

If you’re interested in sponsoring a Webinar Wednesday session or have a session for Webinar Wednesday please contact us. Send your request to admin@planningpa.org.

Register Now

March 26 – 2025 Edmund N. Bacon Urban Design Awards

APA members receive discounted registration. At checkout select the APA member option.

Register Here
Center for DesignPhiladelphia, 1218 Arch Street, Philadelphia
Wednesday 26 Mar 2025
5:30 PM – 8:30 PM

Join us in honoring Vishaan Chakrabarti and the student winners of DesignPhiladelphia’s 2025 Edmund N. Bacon Urban Design Awards. Vishaan Chakrabarti is an architect, author, and public thought leader. He is the founder of PAU | Practice for Architecture and Urbanism, a Manhattan-based architecture firm dedicated to building ecological, equitable and joyous communities. As a licensed practitioner across several states, Chakrabarti leads the studio’s cultural, institutional, commercial, and infrastructure work including Brooklyn’s Domino Sugar Refinery, Cleveland’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Princeton’s Hobson College, Philadelphia’s Schuylkill Yards, and New York’s Pennsylvania Station. His past positions include working as a principal in other global architecture firms, teaching at Columbia University, and serving as the William Wurster Dean at UC Berkeley’s college of architecture. As Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s director of planning for Manhattan in the aftermath of 9/11, Chakrabarti helped to reimagine the High Line, rebuild the World Trade Center, extend the #7 subway line, and revitalize the waterfront.

In addition to his role at PAU and serving on numerous non-profit boards, Chakrabarti currently teaches at Cornell University as the Thomas J. Baird Visiting Critic in Architecture, and is a regular contributor to the New York Times, Vital City, and other publications. He is the author of two books: A Country of Cities: A Manifesto for an Urban America (Metropolis Books, 2013), and most recently, The Architecture of Urbanity: Designing for Nature, Culture, and Joy (Princeton University Press, September 2024) in which he argues that designing connected physical communities that bridge our differences—as opposed to disconnected technologies that exacerbate them—is essential to addressing our greatest societal challenges from climate change to political division to our growing public health crises.

The 2025 competition asks students to focus on the area affectionately known as “The Disney Hole,” located at the southwest corner of 8th and Market in Center City, Philadelphia. The surface parking lot at the southwest corner of 8th and Market in Center City, Philadelphia, symbolizes missed opportunities. From the 1890s to the 1980s, it was home to the grand Gimbel’s Department Store. After Gimbel’s closed, changing trends led to the building’s demolition. In the late 1980s, the space was intended for DisneyQuest, an entertainment complex that never materialized, leaving behind a large excavation hole. This area, known as “The Disney Hole,” is now a parking lot. Through the Disney Hole Student Design Competition, students are invited to reimagine and revitalize this neglected space.

The ceremony will be followed by a coffee + dessert reception for all in attendance.

With the purchase of a VIP ticket, we invite you to join the award winner and us before the ceremony at 5:30 PM for our VIP Reception which features hors d’oeuvres, wine, beer, and music. In attendance will be Vishaan Chakrabarti, local dignitaries, and our built-environment-focused sponsors, without whom this program would not be possible.

March 20: New World Utopias: Planned Cities in Colonial America

APAPASE members attend free! Get tickets here.

Thursday, March 20 · 5:30 – 7pm EDT
Carpenters’ Hall
320 Chestnut Street Philadelphia, PA 19106

Join us on March 20th for New World Utopias: Planned Cities in Colonial America, a public program with author and architectural historian Dr. Robin Williams of the Savannah College of Art and Design. Thomas Holme’s 1683 plan for Philadelphia laid the foundation for our city’s growth for centuries, and Savannah’s claim to be the first planned city in the British colonies is a bedrock of their tourism marketing (spoiler alert: it wasn’t!). Dr. Williams’s engaging presentation on the history of planned cities, inclusive of Savannah and Philadelphia, and Q&A will expand your understanding of this fascinating topic.

Robin B. Williams chairs the Architectural History department at the Savannah College of Art and Design. A native of Toronto, Canada, he earned his B.A. in Art History at the University of Toronto before pursuing his Master’s and Ph.D. in Art History at the University of Pennsylvania with a focus on architectural history. His doctoral dissertation examined the transformation of Rome into the capital of modern Italy during the late nineteenth century. Since joining SCAD in 1993, Williams has made Savannah the focus of his research supported by state and national research grants. He was the lead author of the architectural guidebook Buildings of Savannah (2016) and he is co-author of a forthcoming book, Learning from Savannah, being published by the University of Georgia Press, that analyzes the evolution of Savannah’s famous urban plan and its influence on the city’s architecture and what lessons the city holds for other places. Separately, Williams has an on-going study of the evolution of street and sidewalk pavement in cities across North America, which he has addressed in articles, academic and public talks, including a TEDx talk in May 2017, and through his website, “historicpavement.com”. Williams actively participates in the civic arena, having served on local, state and national boards.

APA PA – Webinar Wedneday – March 5: Take a Ride on the Reading – Passenger Rail and TOD Planning in Reading, PA

March 5 @ 12:00 pm1:00 pm

Take a Ride on the Reading – Passenger Rail and TOD Planning in Reading, PA

The recently standardized planning process created by the USDOT Federal Railroad Administration in their Corridor Identification and Development Program (CIDP) and the efforts to-date and planned by the Schuylkill River Passenger Rail Authority to restore passenger rail service between Reading and Philadelphia within the CIDP process.

The current program to develop a Transit Oriented Development (TOD) zoning overlay in the City of Reading to leverage the planned restoration to passenger rail service between Reading, Pottstown, Phoenixville and Philadelphia.

CM credit is pending approval. You must attend the webinar live in order to earn CM credit.

Speakers:
David Hunter
Thomas Frawley

**The Pennsylvania Chapter is not responsible for the materials or opinions of the speaker(s) you will hear**

Deadline to register is March 4

If you’re interested in sponsoring a Webinar Wednesday session or have a session for Webinar Wednesday please contact us. Send your request to info@planningpa.org.

Please note: You will receive a reminder email a few days before the webinar with zoom information (please check your spam/junk folders). This email will be sent to the email address you used to register for the event.

Register Now

Feb. 20: Registration Open for Student-Mentor Mixer

APAPA-SE is excited to host our annual Student-Mentor Mixer Event on Thursday, February 20th, 2025 from 6:00-8:00 PM at the Plaza Gallery of Meyerson Hall at the University of Pennsylvania!
210 S. 34th Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Please join us for an evening of networking and mentoring with pizza/sandwiches and an open bar provided. This is a great opportunity for students to engage with a diverse group of seasoned planning professionals and learn about potential career and internship opportunities.
We would like to thank our student and faculty volunteers from the University of Pennsylvania, Temple University, and West Chester University for their assistance in planning and sponsoring this event.
Note: You do not need to be a member of APAPA-SE to attend!
Please contact the Events Committee Co-Chairs if you have any questions: Danielle A. Baer, AICP at dabaer@urbanengineers.com or Lorianne DeFalco, AICP at ldefalco@akrf.com
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