National APA conference goes urbanist

Though it doesn’t have the reform mission of CNU, the American Planning Association is growing more and more welcoming to new urbanist thought and technique. APA established a New Urbanism division two and a half years ago. With 300 members, the division is growing and becoming a more vocal presence within the APA. “APA tells us it is the fastest growing of the [18] divisions,” says Gina Tirinnanzi, the past division chair and a CNU member. In part thanks to the work of the new division, the speaker list at this year’s APA National Conference in Washington includes a roll call of CNU members. It’s all an indication of a growing recognition within the APA of the demand for new urbanist approaches both from its members and from the developers and public officials with whom they work. The division has set ambitious goals, says current chair Terry Wendt, another CNU member. “APA has 30,00 members. Our goal is to educate all of them.” To that end, the division publishes a newsletter twice a year and has produced a CD-ROM-based introduction to New Urbanism. Its other major education vehicle is the annual APA conference, which will begin on April 24 and have more NU content than ever. This year, CNU member contributions include the following: • CNU Planners Task Force cochair Rick Bernhardt, and task force members Joel Russell and Suzanne Rhees on “Splicing NU into existing codes.” The trio will uncover the essential “DNA” of new urban codes to help planners translate new urban principles into effective land-use regulations. Russell, Rhees and Bernhardt are all contributors to the forthcoming APA/CNU publication on new urban codes, expected to be available at CNU XII in Chicago. • CNU research director Ellen Greenberg, CNU Transportation Task Force chair Rick Chellman, and CNU member Phil Erickson on “Place-Based Street Design,” a session on the CNU-led effort to create new tools for road design that emphasize walkability and sense of place along with vehicle movement. • CNU board member Stefanos Polyzoides, Planners Task Force cochair Paul Crawford, and member Geoffrey Ferrell on “Form-Based Zoning.” Since conventional codes may result in a placeless landscape, form-based alternatives encourage cities and towns to build on proven urban patterns. • CNU board member Andres Duany on “Is Design Out of Control in Your Community?” — a session that reviews the SmartCode as a vehicle for enabling Transect-based development in the pattern of hamlets, villages, towns, and cities. • CNU members Bob Sitkowski and Victor Dover as lead speakers in a Bettmann Symposium session on “New Urbanist Codes.” The symposium is a set of sessions annually focusing on land use and development law. • CNU member David Dixon leading a session on “Density, Myth & Reality,” in which he’ll explore lessons from the first-ever national conference on the myths and realities of density. It took place in Boston in September. • CNU members and APA New Urbanism division leaders Tirinnanzi and Ray Chiaramonte on “Taking New Urbanism to the Next Level.” The session will explore strategies for making New Urbanism an everyday part of how communities do business. Division leaders say the new urbanist presentations will give planner members of APA valuable messages (and a CD) to take back to their local planning commissions, elected officials, and citizen groups. “We think there’s a lot of misunderstanding. New Urbanism is not restrictive. It’s really freeing,” says Wendt. “New Urbanism is about allowing things such as narrower streets, higher densities, shallower setbacks. Once these things are allowable, we believe developers will choose New Urbanism.” u