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Smart Planning Unleashes Renewable Energy Access for Michigan
By: Daryl Poprave, AICP, Area Manager, Local Government and Community Affairs, ITC Holdings Corp.
The state of Michigan is known for many things: an auto industry that is experiencing a renaissance, a proud college football tradition, and the world's longest freshwater coastline along the Great Lakes. The lakes provide wide open spaces where the wind blows day and night. Michigan wind may make our winters a bit chillier than other Midwestern states, but it also provides us with a resource that can deliver cheaper, cleaner power for our businesses and residents.
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2012 Zoning Series Restoring the Option to Walk |
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By: Jim Breuckman, AICP
Manager of Planning, City of Rochester Hills
The previous three installments of this series examined how street design and development together create character of place along major streets. Major streets move a lot of traffic, which is a practical limit on how much change we can reasonably expect to foster in the short to medium term. Such change will alter how corridors look, but will not substantively change how they function.
This article is about making the option to create walkable places that respond to market demand as easy and straightforward as it is to create driveable places.
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 American Planning Association
Community Planning Assistance Team (CPAT)
The American Planning Association provides leadership in the development of vital communities by advocating excellence in community planning, promoting education and citizen empowerment, and providing the tools and support necessary to effect positive change. One of the tools that APA uses to fulfill this mission is to help communities solve critical planning and economic development challenges by providing a Community Planning Assistance Team (CPAT).
In February of 2011, the Story County Planning and Development Department applied for CPAT assistance from the APA. CPAT's consist of planners from all over the US with expertise in areas relevant to the current community challenge, supported by an APA staff person in the field and additional APA staff in Washington.
As a member of this APA CPAT, Russ Soyring, AICP, Planning Director, Traverse City, lent his time and expertise to the process and development of an economic plan and strategy for Story County, Iowa.
MAP had the opportunity to talk to Russ about his experience and what he learned through the process...
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Call for Awards Jury
APA Georgia Chapter
The Georgia Chapter of the American Planning Association is seeking a jury of four Michigan professional planners to vet submitted applications for their 2012 chapter awards.
Each juror will be reviewing around six submissions over the month of August.
If you're interested in positively representing the MI chapter, lending your expertise to this process, and learning innovative best practices from another chapter, please email lcarlson@planningmi.org.
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Do you want more information on a particular planning basic or hot trend? Let us know. We are always happy to take requests for article topics and value the opportunity to give members resources they need. E-mail lcarlson@planningmi.org with ideas and submissions.
 
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