Events

Montclair Center is a vital and evolving downtown, where urban planners have implemented projects for over a century.  Join us for a narrated walking tour that will discuss the historic architecture of Montclair Center and a projects past, present and future.

TOD is much more than proximity to transit – good urban design is essential to true TOD.  This panel will address the key design concepts that distinguish TOD, as well as planning considerations such as land use types, environmental constraints, historic features, and social justice issues.

Join Bordentown City Officials and the American Planning Association - New Jersey Chapter to celebrate Downtown Bordentown’s Award as a GREAT PLACE IN NEW JERSEY!  The tour will be guided by Bordentown Mayor James Lynch and former Mayor and Assemblyman Joe Malone, with Deputy Mayor Heather Cheesman, Commissioner Zigmont Targonski and City Clerk Patricia Ryan on hand to offer interesting viewpoints and historical facts about Bordentown.

A one-day intensive workshop teaching how to make your community and region destination ready. Designed for business district management organizations, chambers and other municipal, county and regional leaders. 

Do transportation investments, particularly rail transit investments, facilitate long-term city and regional economic growth? If yes, what is the signficiance of the role of rail transit, versus other factors, in regional economic growth? In this webinar Bill Lee, Executive Vice President of AECOM Economics, will provide an extensive data-based review of three city pairs, each representing two cities that once had similar profile, but with one city that invested in regional rail transit and the other that did not.

Join us for Policy Briefing exploring the New Jersey Solar Energy Legislation signed into law by Governor Chris Christie (S-1925). Experts will discuss what is included in the legislation, the land use ramifications, and its impact on the solar market in New Jersey.

This webcast will provide planners and land use lawyers with everything they need to know about the “ins and outs” of the impacts of the booming natural gas industry’s activities on our communities. We start with an overview of the regulation of fracking activities, including federal, state, and local regulations and the consideration of land rights. Then we address in detail the role of planners in jurisdictions where fracking is permitted or is being contemplated, and how that role varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.

Get ready for what will be APA-NJ's largest conference yet!  Visit our conference website: www.2012NJPlanningConference.org for more details.  Registration is open!

We are pleased to partner with New Jersey Future on the first of their new webinar series. The Nuts and Bolts of Non-Contiguous Clustering, scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 7, at 12:30 pm, is a one-hour look at this innovative land-preservation tool and how it has been implemented in the state of New Jersey. Three presenters […]

We all know that our usual public meetings aren’t attracting large portions of our populations, and that many of the people we most want to hear from are more likely to use email and web sites than to show up for a council meeting. But with all the websites and whiz-bang online tools out there, what should we be doing? We will explore several different online public participation techniques, from surveying to idea prioritizing and ongoing project management. We will give a real-time demonstration of how several methods and online tools work, and we will spend a little time with the developer of one of these tools to discuss the challenges and protections needed to foster effective online participation.

This moderated panel discussion will examine situations common to private consultants (in contexts that also often include public sector planners) from a variety of perspectives, taking into consideration several variables. Audience members will also be invited to submit their ethical questions electronically for the panel to discuss. This session will familiarize attendees with the standards of ethical behavior according to the AICP Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct and the nuances of applying the Code appropriately and responsibly.

This presentation will explore the local issues related to LEED ND and how the rating system approaches and measures initiatives to reduce regional impact of these issues. A general overview of the LEED ND system including prerequisites and their impact on project site selection will be presented. The session will discuss specific issues addressed by LEED ND and how individual credits relate to the issues outlined.

Please join us for a holiday party hosted by the APA-NJ Young Planners Group and the Rutgers Association of Policy and Planning Students

Charles Brown, Senior Researcher at the Voorhees Transportation Center will lead a discussion on the need to write more people of color into the world of cycling and providing underserved communities with active transportation choices. Karyn Williams, co-founder of Velo City, and Tiffany Robinson, Chair of the APA-NJ's Ethnic & Cultural Diversity Committee, will discuss their experiences in teaching minority youth in underserved communities about the community planning process and empowering them with the skills needed to discuss urban issues.

The tour will walk around the Voorhees Town Center site, beginning at the new town hall with a brief presentation of the background and history of the site and the redevelopment initiative.  The tour will be led by representatives of the developers as well as the Mayor and Township administrator and will explore progress that has been made, the work that is currently underway, challenges that have been overcome, and where additional opportunities may be realized in the future. 

Given the nation’s economic climate and looming fiscal constraints, many of us are looking for creative solutions to our communities’ problems. This Roundtable series, designed exclusively by and for Greater Philadelphia’s community and economic development professionals, invites you to share your challenges, bring your good ideas, and brainstorm answers to your colleagues’ tough questions.

Our current selection is The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America. Our December 2012 meet-up will be held at BXL Zoute from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m.

The purpose of the workshop is to “bridge the gap” between planners and community based organizations (CBOs). The workshop will provide a platform for CBOs to better understand the role of city and regional planners in community development, and acquire access to information that can help them become strong and sustainable entities within their target populations. It will also give planners an opportunity to learn more about CBO’s, what they do, and their needs. 

The proposed webinar will explore the connection between aviation and other travel modes, and the challenges that airports and their communities face when integrating airports into regional transportation systems and nearby communities. We will provide background that transportation planners need to know when embarking on transportation planning or site development projects that involve direct or indirect connections with airports or federally obligated airport property.

More than half of Americans own and use a smartphone. Increasingly planners and the public are accessing information and engaging via mobile devices. Walk through the research and mobile applications out there to aid planners in using their mobile devices to the maximum effectiveness. This session is sponsored by the Ohio State University.

Please join us for the annual NJ Planning Conference!  Due to Hurricane Sandy, the originally scheduled conference was moved to January 31 and February 1.  There's still time to register!

New pressure from elected officials and city managers to reduce fees, regulations and process to make it easier to attract development may or may not be consistent with the Principles espoused by the Code of Ethics, much less the Rules of Conduct. This interactive session will engage participants in dialogue about the pressures we are facing in our jobs on a day to day basis and how to align our response with the AICP Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct.

Planning and plagiarism go hand in hand. We copy zoning codes, plans, and ideas from other towns and, in the process, we are responsible for killing any sense of identity in our own communities. This session is about gaining the self confidence to plan truly exceptional places. This session is sponsored by the Ohio State University.

Real progress will occur with a paradigm shift if generations work together and cultural imperatives are addressed. This session will highlight both research and on-the-ground experience in multi-generational planning.

APA-NJ Members use promotional code APANJ2-13 to receive a 10% discount.  A one-day intensive workshop teaching how to strengthen organizational communication & participation integrating the latest tools & innovations in social media and web applications. Designed for business district management organizations, chambers and other municipal, county and regional leaders. 

 MAPS 3 is a 10-year program designed to improve the quality of life in Oklahoma City through the construction of eight projects funded by a limited term, one-cent sales tax initiative that began in April 2010. Russell Claus, Director of Planning for the City of Oklahoma City, and Cathy O’Connor, President of The Alliance for Economic Development of Oklahoma City, will discuss the history of the MAPS initiatives, private investment that has occurred as a result, and ongoing planning for leveraging private investment from MAPS 3 projects.

What happens when a group of six planning consultants decides to create a new consulting firm during the latest Great Recession? Hear how this group of one-time sole proprietor planning consultants chose to join forces and start a new consulting firm as the market contracted….and they succeeded. What did it take? What lessons did they learn? What tools and strategies worked best? How did sole proprietors, used to being leaders themselves, adjust to the new normal of being part of a six-person firm? Learn how to succeed and what it takes to move forward in today’s market.

Design guidelines are an innovative tool for controlling strip development and helping to maintain community character. This session will present case studies of design guidelines being used to control strip development in Kittery and Scarborough, Maine, Salem, New Hampshire, and Cape Cod in Massachusetts. It will illustrate how design guidelines were prepared and implemented and how they have influenced new development.

High oil and natural gas prices over the last decade, combined with new technology have ignited a fossil fuel boom across the West. Drilling for oil and natural gas is a high-impact economic activity. Today’s unconventional oil development and its effects differ in important ways from oil booms of the past. This webinar charts the new “unconventional” fossil fuel boom, tracking production, employment, and fiscal trends in an effort to better understand the pressures boomtowns face and to identify best practices for benefiting from these new unconventional fossil fuel plays.

The Emerging Professionals Group has teamed with ASCE's young member group to host a joint networking event.

The City Planner Book Club Meet-up is scheduled for Thursday, March 21 at 6:00PM. The meeting will beat The Merchant in Jersey City. 

"From Jersey to Dixie: Issues of Place and Planning" is a documentary, created by Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy students Brandon McKoy and Susannah Dyen, that compares and contrasts planning issues in New Jersey and the Southern region of the United States (Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana).

Registration Open!  As the lights come back on in New York and New Jersey, the region looks to the future. How can planning create a more resilient region? Who will make the tough decisions? And how will they change the way people live, work, and play along the coastal shores?

As bike sharing systems are proliferating in cities across the US, and early systems in Boston and Washington, DC are coming of age, we examine the different metrics on which bike share programs can be evaluated. What does bike share success mean? Financial self-sufficiency, or even profitability? Improved mobility? Improved public health? Reduced GHG emissions? How can we measure the cultural impact of bike share? Or should we simply be concerned about operational success--keeping the trains running on time.

Please join us in a candid and information discussion among students and professionals about the realities of the planning profession.  Obtain insight, career advice, and network with practitioners.  

 Using 13 cases studies of the largest PHAs in the Pacific Northwest Region, this webinar outline what activities PHAs are undertaking in this devolved, market-based context, speculating about the future. PHAs make trade-offs among paths that emphasize agency survival, producing more housing for the poorest households, identification as a non-profit housing provider (rather than depending on HUD), poverty alleviation, merging with another public agency, or closing. This diversity of responses points to the under-valued attribute of public housing authorities as local organizations receiving diverse mandates from the federal government and as local housing providers.

Join us on Saturday, April 20^th, for a leisurely stroll through the beautiful Borough of Frenchtown, named One of New Jersey’s Great Places by the New Jersey Chapter of the American Planning Association – and we’ll show you why it deserves this title! 

Members will learn the basics of energy pipeline operations and maintenance, facilities, and products transported. They will gain an understanding of the risks and benefits pipelines pose to the community. Members will learn the agencies that regulate pipelines at the Federal, State and local level. They will learn the role that local governments can play in improving pipeline safety. Additionally they will learn risk based practices for land use and development planning near transmission pipelines. They will be provided with examples of good and poor development near pipelines and well as the location of additional technical information and financial resources to support their efforts to improve safety of the community and the built environment near pipelines.

Save the Date: Thursday, June 6, 2013. The conference will be held at the Newark Museum. The conference is co-hosted by the NJ Historic Trust, NJ Historic Commission, NJ Historic Preservation Office, and the Common Wealth of New Jersey. 

Recent federal legislation on collocations, FCC non-binding guidance and now state level legislative proposals could dramatically impact your community's planning authority and local zoning of wireless facilities towers. In this webinar, BB&K telecommunications attorneys will provide an overview of the challenges and opportunities facing local governments as they attempt to protect local interests while complying with federal requirements governing zoning of wireless facilities and to defeat damaging state legislative proposals that are sweeping the nation.

The 5th Annual Sustainable Raritan River Conference will focus on action steps everyone can take as individuals, as families, as part of a company or as a leader in government – to improve water quality in the region through redevelopment, remediation, restoration and protection of the Raritan River and all its tributaries.

Featuring front-line Executive Directors from NYC - Kerry McLean from the South Bronx and Rebeca Ramirez from the Heart of Brooklyn - NJ'sJGSC Group, developer Steve Santola and commercial real estate CEOBrian Silbert.

 In this webinar we examine a few failed projects that damaged the financial position of the municipality that undertook them and consider what lessons we can learn from these unfortunate situations. “The wise learn from other people's mistakes and fools from their own.” –Old Proverb. “The way of fools seems right to them, but the wise listen to advice.” –King Solomon, Circa 950 A.D.

Please join APA-NJ as it celebrates one of its 2012 Great Place in New Jersey award winners with a Walking Tour of Broad Street, Hopewell Borough.  The Hopewell Borough Mayor, Council members and other local stakeholders will walk with us and discuss the efforts made to retain the historic qualities of the area while seeking and investing grant monies into streetscape improvements

Come explore Orange’s Valley Arts District - a strikingly rich multicultural community nested in the Valley of West Orange and Orange. This is a terrific opportunity for planners to uncover the history and vibrant culture in the Valley Arts District.

USGBC and the Land Use Law Center at Pace University have recently launched two new, free resources to help municipalities utilize the LEED for Neighborhood Development rating system to support their sustainable planning goals. While certification under the rating system is often best suited to development projects, many elements of the rating system can be utilized as an open-source tool to strengthen local government planning efforts. These two resources explore in great detail the ways in which the rating system can be utilized translating those into direct action for planners complete with numerous case study examples.

Addressing the Needs of LGBT Seniors: Seniors in the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender community face a unique, and significant, set of obstacles to aging comfortably, including discrimination, lack of certain legal protections, and an absence of a family support system. Examine current trends in addressing the needs of LGBT seniors as well as innovative programs and services to help them age in place.

New York is known the world over as a city of walkers and straphangers, not to mention one of the most popular tourist destinations anywhere with five very distinct boroughs, clashing street configurations, and a variety of naming and numbering conventions. Despite huge volumes of residents and visitors walking and using transit, most existing on-street directional information is aimed at drivers. This webinar will introduce participants to the basics of wayfinding with a focus on the system design and program development in NYC. There will be a Q & A session at the end of the webinar.

On Monday, October 29, 2012, Superstorm Sandy struck New York City, the most populous region in the United States. Sandy was the biggest Atlantic storm in history, devastating homes and businesses across the Northeast, and causing over $19 billion in damages in New York City alone. In response to this disaster, the New York Metro Chapter of the APA undertook a six month effort to assess how Superstorm Sandy impacted businesses in Rockaway, Queens, a community uniquely situated on a narrow peninsula and one of the hardest-hit areas of New York City. This webinar walks you through the process that the New York Metro Chapter team took to conduct its needs assessment and develop meaningful recommendations for strong planning.

Join the placemaking experts from Project for Public Spaces, Philadelphia's University City District, and the C.L.U.E Group (along the Montclair Center District itself) for this workshop.  You will learn about key principles for creating great community places, scalable & innovative placemaking in practice, and innovative funding sources for making local public improvement projects happen.

Last month, the US Supreme Court handed down its decision in Koontz v. St. Johns River Water Management District. In this complex 5-4 decision, the court ruled that monetary conditions attached to land use permits are now subject to the heightened scrutiny tests of nexus and rough proportionality found in Nollan and Dolan – and that these tests also apply to permit denials, as was the case here. To help you understand what Koontz means, join with two of the country’s leading experts in land use law: Professor John Echeverria of Vermont Law School and Dwight Merriam, Esq., FAICP of Robinson & Cole LLP.

Functional classification is a transportation topic that is often left for engineers to sort out, but it has a huge impact on urban planning. Anyone involved in urban planning – including community stakeholders – should be part of the dialogue surrounding the function of public streets. This webcast will incorporate very specific examples that are typical of public transportation networks throughout the United States.

Addressing the Needs of LGBT Seniors: Seniors in the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender community face a unique, and significant, set of obstacles to aging comfortably, including discrimination, lack of certain legal protections, and an absence of a family support system. Examine current trends in addressing the needs of LGBT seniors as well as innovative programs and services to help them age in place.

This presentation will demonstrate a small historic Connecticut town's efforts to create a form-based code that enables a significant amount of context-sensitive development within the existing town center. The town also established innovative stormwater management regulations and design guidelines integrated with the adopted form-based code. Issues common to many smaller towns will be discussed as will the approach taken to establish compact, walkable development patterns as a framework for watershed health.

The Common Ground Program is a community gardening and urban agriculture program created by the city of Lawrence, Kan. This webinar will provide an overview of the Common Ground Program, an outline the goals of the project goals, community benefits and lessons learned. The webinar will also provide insight on funding sources and potential partnerships that other communities or organizations may utilize in pursuing similar efforts.