APA - PA Southeast Section | Blog, Upcoming Events, and Jobs

April 22 & April 29: Planning Smart Montco 2021

March 26, 2021 / APAPA-SE / Comments Off

The Montgomery County Planning Commission hosting will be hosting a number of planning training courses presented by the Pennsylvania Municipal Planning Education Institute. These sessions will run from from April to June. Information on the upcoming April sessions is below.

See MCPC’s website for the full list of upcoming sessions.

Planning Smarter

Planning Smarter, an initiative of the Montgomery County Planning Commission (MCPC), provides important planning information that will enable local leaders and citizens to better plan for the future of their community. All Planning Smarter events are free and open to the general public unless otherwise noted. Event details will evolve as the year progresses and we continue to adhere to ongoing pandemic requirements. The 2021 series contains a hot topics event in June, which will focus on some of the effects of the pandemic and other topics that can result in significant community impacts. Given social distancing requirements, the three-session courses we annually sponsor from the Pennsylvania Municipal Planning Education Institute (PMPEI) are not available. Instead, we have worked with PMPEI to schedule Montgomery County instructors/MCPC staff—who can provide local information—for one date of each of the 90-minute virtual courses being offered by PMPEI statewide in 2021. Each course is $25, and class space is limited. Registration and payment for the courses, as well as additional course dates and credit information, are available at www.training.boroughs.org. As usual, we will cap off the year with the Montgomery Awards celebration! For more information, contact Rita McKelvey or 610.278.3753.

Category: Upcoming Events /

April 13: Delaware Valley Smart Growth Alliance Hosts Andre M. Perry

March 26, 2021 / APAPA-SE / Comments Off

DATE: Tuesday, April 13 | TIME: 8:00-9:00AM

In the second of a three-part series, DVSGA is hosting Andre M. Perry—a nationally known and respected commentator on race, structural inequality, education and economic inclusion—who will discuss the role of race in land-use patterns and policies. In addition to Perry’s work at Brookings, he is also a scholar-in-residence at American University, a columnist for the Hechinger Report, and the author of Know Your Price: Valuing Black Lives and Property in America’s Black Cities, which is available for purchase.

Smart growth has traditionally advocated for economic and community development strategies that curb urban sprawl and worsening environmental conditions to create healthy, environmentally resilient and economically robust places; however, little attention has been paid to how race impacts planning and outcomes. We look to this discussion to reveal concrete strategies that proponents of smart growth can use to end inequality that has historically existed in land use. Dr. Perry will be interviewed by Charnelle Hicks, principal of CHPlanning, a firm providing comprehensive, municipal, transportation and environmental planning and community outreach programs.

Category: General, Upcoming Events /

Deadline April 20: Submit a Nomination for APAPASE Section Council

March 16, 2021 / APAPA-SE / Comments Off

This summer we will hold elections for American Planning Association, Pennsylvania Chapter, Southeast Section (APA PA SE) Officers and Council members. Nominate a friend, nominate a colleague, nominate yourself! All nominations are due NO later than April 20th to elections@apapase.org!

We are taking nominations for Chair, Vice Chair, Treasurer, Secretary, 6-7 Professional Planners, and 2-3 Citizen Planners.

The four Section Council Officer positions consist of President, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer. Chair provides leadership and guides the development of the chapter, the Vice Chair assists, the Treasurer maintains the budget and all financial matters, while the Secretary administers the documentation and membership of the organization.
A Professional Planner is an individual earning a majority of their income practicing planning or who is retired from such occupation. Professional planners are required to be a member of the Pennsylvania Chapter of APA.
A Citizen Planner is any appointed or elected official who is involved in planning decisions for the betterment of a state, region, county, city or municipality; who is
individual who has an interest in furthering the purposes of Association, but who is not a Professional Planner (for example, planning commissioner, planning official, zoning board member, Philadelphia RCO zoning representative, or similar). Elected citizen planners will receive complementary membership to the Pennsylvania Chapter of APA.

If you are interested in serving either in an Officer or Council member position:

New members welcome! No previous experience required.
AICP not required to join the board.
Review the Chapter Bylaws for descriptions of the Officer and Council member duties and responsibilities.
Determine if your schedule will allow sufficient time for the position, generally 1-3 hours/month.
Speak with current Officers or Council members regarding any questions or concerns.
Submit a nomination and brief biography (3-4 sentences) to the Nominating Committee no later than April 20th at: elections@apapase.org. You may also submit a mission statement and picture.

The official elections ballot will be distributed online during the summer by APA national to coincide with their election and voting will end in early September. The results of the election shall be published for Section members in October, with official terms to start in January 2022.

Please visit the APAPA-Southeast Section website for more information about the section.

Category: Committees, Engagement, Featured /

March 18 – Designing for Distance

March 8, 2021 / APAPA-SE / Comments Off

Thu, Mar 18, 2021 2:00 PM – 3:30 PM EDT

Recognizing that sometimes a picture speaks a thousand words, the goal of the Designing for Distance pilot program is to provide municipal leaders and the community revitalization organizations with practical designs, planning solutions, and implementation strategies to help their businesses adapt to the difficult circumstances created by COVID-19. Please join us to hear directly from the pilot communities and their selected firms to learn about their designs and implementation plan, and how your community can Design for Distance.

This project is a partnership between PA Historical Museum Commission and Pennsylvania Downtown Center.

The activity that is the subject of this program has been financed in part with Federal funds from the National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior made available through the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. However, the contents and opinions do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Department of the Interior, nor does the mention of trade names or commercial products constitute endorsement or recommendation by the Department of Interior.

Category: Upcoming Events, Webinar /

March 17: Making Planning More Adaptable

March 4, 2021 / APAPA-SE / Comments Off

March 17 @ 12:00 pm – 1:15 pm

Making Planning More Adaptable

Approved for 1.25 CM credits

With the complexities and uncertainties revealed in the pandemic and unrest of 2020, planning effectively for the next decade means being more adaptable. In this webinar, there will be discussion of the three approaches to urban planning: prescriptive, proscriptive and adaptive. The adaptive approach is best suited for times of rapid change and uncertainty. He will talk about how planners and organizations that rely on prescriptive and proscriptive strategies can modify their practice to be more adaptive.

This interactive webinar, with some coaching thrown in, will help you and your organization be better prepared to do more collaborative, culturally competent and cost-effective planning. There will be an open and supportive conversations to help you and your organizations achieve more, more effectively.

Category: CM Credits, Upcoming Events, Webinar /

Featured Job Listing – DVRPC – Summer Internships

March 1, 2021 / APAPA-SE / Comments Off

DVRPC has opened applications for summer internships! Internships are available for:

Category: Featured, Job /

March 20: Virtual AICP Exam Prep Session

February 25, 2021 / APAPA-SE / Comments Off

March 20 @ 9:00 am – 4:00 pm

The Pennsylvania Chapter of the American Planning Association is holding an all-day virtual AICP exam prep session on Saturday, March 20 from 9:00 a.m.- 4:00 p.m.

The session will review the content outline of the AICP exam, which APA recently updated, and provide details on the different content areas. The exam has been updated to reflect the new content outline, and the session will take time to clarify understanding of the revised exam. Questions are encouraged throughout the day.

Registration is required. Register here

Category: Education, Upcoming Events /

March 3: Webinar Wednesdays – Planning with a Purpose and Need

February 25, 2021 / APAPA-SE / Comments Off

March 3 @ 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm

Planning with a Purpose…and Need: Connecting with PennDOT and FHWA to Build the Foundation for Sound Transportation Projects

Sound transportation projects start with sound planning! Properly identifying and documenting transportation problems early in a project’s life cycle are key to developing a project’s purpose and need for NEPA documentation and analyses. Purpose and need serve as the foundation of a project and identify what the project is intended to accomplish and what transportation problems are to be addressed. The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) through its recent PENNDOT Connects initiative and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) through its Planning and Environmental Linkages initiative, encourage early collaboration with planning partners and the use of information developed in planning, such as purpose and need, to inform the NEPA process. During this session PennDOT and FHWA specialists will share valuable tips and methods showing how planners can collaborate with them to better identify and document transportation problems/needs early during project planning. CM credit is pending approval.

Speaker: Scott Duncanson, Drew Ames, Nicole Auker and Barbara Shaffer

Deadline to register is Tuesday, March 2, 2021.

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.

Category: Upcoming Events, Webinar /