CNU welcomes new planning director

CNU welcomes its newest staff member, Heather Smith. As Planning Director, Heather will help advance CNU Task Forces and Initiatives and will serve as a contact for members needing assistance with other projects. Heather’s planning background spans a range of scales, with special focus on regional issues. Before joining CNU, she worked for three years for Chicago Metropolis 2020, a regional planning advocacy organization. During her tenure she helped produce “The Metropolis Plan: Choices for the Chicago Region” — a land use and transportation plan that maps out different growth outcomes over the next thirty years based on different scenarios. The scenarios involve either no change in current practice or implementing regional planning and smart growth. Prior to working in Chicago, Heather received an American Planning Association fellowship to advance sustainable development and planning issues in the United States Senate, and worked for the New York City Department of City Planning. She holds a master’s degree in urban planning from Columbia University. “Heather has a real understanding of the challenges of implementing good urbanism locally and regionally and will serve as a truly valuable resource for our members,” says CNU President John Norquist. “I look forward to working with the top professionals who are doing the hard work of implementing New Urbanism,” says Heather. “Density and transit-oriented development are hard for elected officials to comprehend unless they can see projects on the ground, kick the tires, and understand how they function in the real world. That’s why I look forward to working with the new urbanists who are getting so many quality projects built across the country. These projects are powerful examples for teaching local leaders how to implement New Urbanism in their communities.” Heather’s first task will be to help plan the upcoming CNU XIII. She is looking forward to meeting many CNU members and others in June.