Winning isn’t everything, but we can often learn a lot from plans, programs, and projects that have been deemed worthy of an award. In this session, speakers representing four winners of SCD’s 2015 Awards for Excellence in Sustainability will demonstrate how communities can function more sustainably.

For decades, the terms Central Business District, CBD and downtown were used almost interchangeably because, functionally, downtowns were dominated by retail stores, office based businesses, professionals and government agencies, along with some hotels and maybe entertainment venues.

The U.S. city was built for the baby boom. Its bones were formed when the U.S. was in its final decades of legal apartheid and fleshed out over four decades of rising inequality. The baby boom is still here and will continue to shape cities, suburbs, and rural areas. But we now need to accommodate a new generation— the millennials—whose coming of age will require millions of new rental housing units. Where will this housing be built?

New Jersey Future's Redevelopment Forum is a daylong conference that brings together more than 500 municipal and state leaders and leading professionals in planning, development, law, transportation, architecture, construction, environmental conservation and historic preservation to share best practices and lessons learned.

Understanding the challenges andopportunities communities face—economic, social, and environmental—is a prerequisite for making investments that achieve their goals. To respond to this need, environmental justice stakeholders have begun developing analytical tools that can give communities rich and accessible information for supporting local goals for environmental protection and equitable development in cities and regions.

The Creative Placemaking Leadership Summit is one of the largest gatherings of people involved in the intersection of arts, culture, community improvement, and local economic development. In 2014, it attracted more than 250 people. They included public and elected officials, leaders of community based organizations, developers, urban planners, and leaders of cultural organizations and, of course, artists.

This session will explore the relationship of the short-term rental sector of the sharing economy to land use and tax regulation and social and economic factors in resort and destination communities.

Maintaining a variety of affordable housing types is a critical component of long-range community viability. This session will equip planners and public leaders with strategies for determining the type and volume of housing that is most needed, by whom and where, within the context of shifting demographics. The presenters will review affordable housing needs assessments they conducted in Colorado Springs, CO, the State of Washington and Westmoreland County, PA, and explain the approaches that were most successful in translating measured housing needs into community goals with targeted, practical action steps.

APA's National Planning Conference offers advanced sessions by top presenters — and a high return on your training dollars. Registration is now open for the planning profession's biggest event of the year — APA's 2016 National Planning Conference, April 2–5 in Phoenix. Register before March 4 and save $!

Parks have become an unexpected driver of both tourism and urban transformation. Learn about new approaches to urban parks, from reusing industrial sites to rethinking design and function. Hear about unexpected uses, economic benefits, and enticing ways to attract people to parks. Where do parks fit into the work of the planning commission? Find out in a program designed for commissioners as well as planners.

Come join AHPNJ's Panel Discussion and hear the panelists share their perspectives on the municipal approvals process for affordable housing and it's importance in facilitating effective regulatory compliance.

The 65th NJ Downtown Institute to features Roger Brooks of Roger Brooks International (RBI) as he shares his high-energy, high-value expertise to take you through key strategies and tactics for building communities as destinations and then promoting them effectively. Using uncommon common sense and his ability to cut through the B.S. in our media- and marketing-saturated world Roger will leave you with great ideas that are both inspiring and actionable.

Creating walkable and bikable communities is a successful strategy for maintaining and restoring economic vitality and improving public health in a community.

Creating walkable and bikable communities is a successful strategy for maintaining and restoring economic vitality and improving public health in a community.