New technologies. Evolving expectations. A variety of forces are changing the way planners work, the skills they need, even the issues they address. An APA task force recently spent a year looking into the planning office of the future. Learn about the findings and hear what practitioners have to say about recent changes, current conditions, and the shape of things to come.

On March 10, 2015, the New Jersey Supreme Court returned jurisdiction over low- and moderate-income housing to the trial courts, effectively ending COAH’s oversight. The ruling is the most significant court action impacting affordable housing since the court held that municipalities must provide their “fair share”. What does the court’s ruling mean for your municipality? […]

PlanSmart NJ's 4th Annual Regional Planning Summit, Stranded Suburban Real Estate Assets: Changing Economy, Changing Land Use will bring together experts in planning, redevelopment, and infrastructure to reveal the magnitude of the problem and explore methods to break through common barriers to transform New Jersey's suburbs into resilient and livable communities where people can live, work, and play.

Planning feels the impact of decisions from the U.S. Supreme Court, federal district courts, and state courts. How will their rulings affect you? Get a briefing on the year's legal developments, from First Amendment issues to environmental actions, housing, and equal access. Presenters also will discuss major legislative initiatives and APA's amicus filings. Join in a lively, informative program you and your staff, colleagues, and officials won't want to miss. This program is also suitable for planning commissioners.

Learn about the Coalition’s eorts to create model mixed-use communities at ve commuter rail stations in Newark, East Orange and Orange

This webinar will examine the linkages between landscape architecture and transportation planning, looking at how addressing design issues as early as possible in the planning process can result in transportation solutions more likely to win public support and produce the best transportation outcomes.

Athens, Ohio recently adopted The Essence of Athens: A Strategic Design Plan for Economic Enhancement and Community Competitiveness. This community collaboration 'extracted' the spirit and personality of the community and encourages architects, landscape architects, and planners to color outside the lines of ordinary design and create things that make people say, "That's so Athens."

This webcast will discuss what local governments need to do to ensure that their sign codes comply with the U.S. Supreme Court's June 2015 decision in Reed v. Town of Gilbert. That decision established that any sign regulation that "on its face" requires a consideration of a sign's content to determine how that sign will be regulated is "content-based" and subject to "strict scrutiny."

REGISTER Parking is a critical piece of a community’s infrastructure. It plays an important role in developing “mixed-use projects” and sustainable transportation. Parking also has a direct impact on the ability to create compact, healthy communities. Overly restrictive parking requirements can thwart efforts to build walkable communities that require less parking. Too little parking can […]

In this webinar you will learn what your community can do to prepare for, and land your next economic development prospect. It will cover the following items: (1) Current trends in Economic Development & Site Selection; (2) Understanding your target audience - What Prospects, Site Selection Consultants and other key players are looking for; (3) Understanding your product & target markets; (4) Before the prospect shows up – what can make your community competitive; and (5) The site visit and afterwards - practical pointers for closing the deal.

The National Center for Transit Research, Urban and Regional Information Systems Association and the Transportation Research Board are jointly presenting the 9th National GIS in Transit Conference, on September 1-3, 2015, in Washington, DC.

Join the RPA/NJIT Mayors’ Academy on Resilient Design for a public keynote presented by David Waggonner, president of Waggonner & Ball Architects and producer of the award-winning Greater New Orleans Urban Water Plan. Mr. Waggonner will offer lessons of resilience and living with water for our region’s urban cities and towns. Light appetizers and refreshments will be served

The Stormwater Committee of the NJ-AWRA is sponsoring a new seminar series that will allow for education and discussion of different stormwater related topics. Jeromie Lange, PE from Maser Consulting will present on a recent study of the performance of Basins across the State. Glen Carleton of USGS will follow with a presentation on New Groundwater Mounding Analysis Software. Please join us in this exciting new initiative and opportunity for professional development and continuing education.

This two-day course on the redevelopment planning law process will provide a broader understanding of the crucial issues, steps and challenges associated with the New Jersey’s Local Redevelopment and Housing Law (LRHL). The workshop features a faculty with many of the top planners, attorneys, government officials and consultants from the New Jersey redevelopment arena who will share their real world redevelopment experiences.

Nowadays a wide variety of data from the US Census Bureau is easily accessible for anybody to use and it is relatively easy to create impressive looking maps and flowcharts. But how reliable is this data and can we really use it to inform planning decisions? This program will highlight some of the issues with the data especially with regard to liability, comparability and data aggregation. In addition, the program will briefly discuss why these issues are even more relevant when you use third party software.

Health Impact Assessment (HIA) can be used to evaluate a proposed plan or project’s potential effects on the health of a population. HIA provides evidence-based recommendations aimed at enhancing positive health impacts and minimizing negative ones, providing an approach to the decision-making process.

Health Impact Assessment (HIA) can be used to evaluate a proposed plan or project’s potential effects on the health of a population. HIA provides evidence-based recommendations aimed at enhancing positive health impacts and minimizing negative ones.

While aging in place enables older adults to live at home independently, Aging in Community promotes social capital—a sense of social connectedness and interdependence - with systems of support and caring to maximize one’s ability to remain at home in their community.

Increasingly young workers and baby boomers alike are leaving the suburbs for higher density mixed use areas with easily accessible public transportation. This renewed interest in living and working in urban areas is helping to drive an economic boom in some of New Jersey’s cities.