Useful measures for culturally competent planning

As with transportation planning or economic development, you need to have good information to succeed in culturally competent planning.  (If you’re not familiar with the concept, please read about it here first.)

Here are some of the key pieces of data that you should get for culturally competent planning.  Some of them, such as data from the American Community Survey, Census and local school districts, you can get before you start a project.  Other data you will have to find from observation.  Some of the deepest level data you won’t know until you’re well into the project. 

So unlike in transportation planning, in which you can predict confidently the amount of time you need for information gathering, your budget and scope for information gathering should be flexible.   

Data you can and should get before a project starts

Most planners get surface-level data about diversity – ethnicity, income, age, etc.  To be more culturally competent, you need to drill down in the American Community Survey (ACS) and Census (both found through American FactFinder).  Some of the data to look for include:

*Ancestry – When people report their first or second ancestry, they are describing what cultures they feel connected to.  Respondents have the option of saying their ancestry is “American.”   But in states like New Jersey, more than 90% of residents identify themselves of being of other ancestries.  This information is most helpful in culturally-based economic development.  If a community has a larger percentage of a particular ethnicity than neighboring communities, that community has an asset that can help distinguish itself from its neighbors.

*Percentage foreign-born – This is an important set of data for both community and economic development.

*Language use and proficiency with English --  One of the clearest ways to get a sense of the diversity in a community is to see the number of people who speak a language other than English at home and those who report not speaking English well.   ACS data also tell you what families of languages are spoken and by how many people.  When the terms “White” and “African-American” are used, the implication is that these are native-born Americans.  Language use data can help you learn how many people are culturally Eastern European or Haitian.

*Moved from – Some diverse communities are “ports-of-entry” – places where new immigrants go when they come to the United States.  Others are “striver or stepstone communities” – places where immigrants and others move to when they are moving up – or down – in their finances.  For small communities and neighborhoods, you will probably need to interview social service and religious entities to learn whether the place is a striver or a stepstone.

Depending on the size of the area you’re planning for, you can get more detailed tables from the census that can tell you, for example, if one ethnic population in the town is predominantly wealthy while another is predominantly poor.  (You can probably tell this through observations, but numbers help make the story stronger.)

*Ethnic population densities – How integrated is the community you’re planning for?  Check out data at the census tract level.  Running correlation or chi-square analysis can help you see to what extent race, ethnicity and income levels are connected.

*Income by race and Hispanic origin – There are people who, when they hear the term “African-American” or “Latino,” think “low-income” and about the issues associated with poverty.  Wealth among African-Americans and Latinos is growing – in some places faster than wealth among Whites.  Showing the numbers can help in changing perceptions.

*Ethnicities of children in the school system and languages spoken by schoolchildren – In many cases, local schools are where you first see demographic changes in a community.  Because public schools are professionally and morally obligated to serve children well, and work in hierarchical systems that value data, you can usually find good statistical information in the schools.  

Data you can get by observation

*Retail/business mix in older and less-regulated commercial areas --  One of the surest signs that a particular ethnic or cultural group is growing in an area is the presence of several new businesses catering to that population.  (A single business is not a good indicator, unless it is large – such as an international supermarket.)

*Cultural icons and architecture --  People tend to express their cultural identity through food, traditions, art and architecture.  A drive or walk through a neighborhood can help you spot touchstones of cultural identity, such as azulejos in Portuguese-American areas and Virgin of Guadelupe statues in Mexican-American neighborhoods.

Data you can get while immersed in the project

*Representation at public meetings -- How well does the makeup of the people who attend the meetings reflect the makeup of the community? (Spoiler alert – it probably doesn’t.  Middle and upper-middle income Non-Hispanic Whites and African-Americans are likely to be overrepresented in meetings, except in communities with a history of collaborative planning.)  The less representative the meetings are, the more work you should put into other forms of public outreach, such as focus groups and community events.

*Cultural patterns – Patterns of behavior and polarization happen over time in response to social, political and economic conditions and tend to be maintained by people who benefit from these patterns.  Finding out why things are the way they are, and why they haven’t changed, often requires asking some difficult and deep questions.  You will need to establish a good deal of trust with your clients and audiences to get candid and useful answers.

--Leonardo Vazquez, AICP/PP

To learn how to become a more culturally competent placebuilder, become a Leading from the Middle Fellow.  

Planning for the growing wealth of diversity in the United States

As the United States gets more diverse, ethnic and racial minorities are controlling more wealth.  That has some significant implications for placebuilding in the 21^st century.

A multicultural shopping district along Roosevelt Avenue in Queens, New York. (Image found through Creative Commons search.  Photo credit: Vidiot)

According to The Multicultural Economy 2010 by the Selig Center for Economic Growth at the University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business, ethnic and racial minorities together hold about $2.6 trillion in buying power, or 23% of the $11.1 trillion in buying power in the United States.  Buying power in “multicultural economy,” as the report calls it, is growing rapidly.  In 2000, the report estimated, African-Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans and people of mixed races held about 19.7% of the nation’s buying power.  The group with the biggest rise in buying power is Latinos.  In real dollars, the buying power of Latinos rose from $633 billion in 2000 to $1 trillion in 2010.

These trends could have a significant impact in how placebuilders approach such issues as place-based economic development, cultural heritage tourism, housing and circulation planning, and community building. In addition to creating new opportunities, the rise of the multicultural economy can also challenge placebuilders to change their practices.

For example: Ethnically-based economic development strategies can help revitalize commercial districts that are seeing more empty spaces as more people shop online.   Attracting businesses that cater to members of a large or growing ethnic group in the area can create a more loyal shopping base.  Eventually, as with so many Little Italys or Chinatowns, successful business districts can attract cultural visitors, whose wealth would attract more businesses.

Sounds easy? It’s not.  Small, independent businesses tend to be more fragile than established chains and franchises.  Expect to get tense responses from businesses and residents from other communities, especially those that are losing political or economic power in the community.   And the new ethnic communities will want their values and aesthetics represented.  The design guidelines meant to make the town square look like a Norman Rockwell painting may need to be revisited – or scrapped.

So if you’re a placebuilder in this community, you might be doing more business assistance than pro formas, more conflict management than market analysis, and rethinking the ideas about prescriptive urban design.

Placebuilders should also work to avoid ethnic pride becoming ethnic exclusion.  With a few exceptions, most ethnic commercial districts probably would not prosper in the long-term if they are perceived to be hostile to outsiders.  Many businesses rely on at least some revenue coming from outside of the area.   Those that don’t benefit from having neighbors that get good foot traffic.   From a community development perspective, these ethnic districts will work better if they work more as gateways among cultures than as barriers. 

In most parts of the country, African-Americans and Latinos tend to have lower median household incomes than Non-Hispanic Whites and Asian-Americans.  So a strategy to build on African-American or Latino wealth could mean increasing housing densities and managing greater demands on roads and public transportation. 

While there are a number of successful African-American and Latino commercial districts geared to working-class communities, the growing number of high-earning minority households creates opportunities to build more upscale ethnic districts.  There are restaurants, boutiques and other businesses that serve these markets, and could help anchor these districts.

Another strong anchor is a set of public art, stores, restaurants and services (such as a music school) that is rooted in the arts and culture of the communities being celebrated.

But here again there are challenges.  The strategy will probably work best in areas with large ethnic or cultural populations with struggling commercial areas.  But it would likely involve gentrification of some streets, which could make placebuilders vulnerable to charges of elitism.

But there’s a good community building argument for having some wealthy ethnic districts.  What message do low-income African-Americans, Latinos or other ethnic minorities get when they see wealth exclusively in what they would call “White” neighborhoods?  Does this message help build the confidence and pride that lead residents to want to strengthen their neighborhoods?  Or does the message encourage those most capable to leave – and take their financial, social and creative capital with them?   

New Jersey is one of several states that are getting both wealthier and more diverse – and much of the growing wealth is due to diversity.  According to the Selig Center, total buying power (in real dollars) grew 19% between 2000 and 2010.  Only 7% of that was due to the growing wealth of non-Hispanic Whites.   Ethnic minorities in 2010 have about 27% of the state’s $399 billion in buying power.

At least 32 of the state’s 566 municipalities are potential ethnic or multi-cultural power centers.  These communities are either “majority-minority” or are have no predominant ethnic group.  With the exception of major urban centers like Newark, Jersey City or Camden, many of these municipalities are caught in the middle between large centers that have more resources and get more attention from decisionmakers and suburban areas that have more wealth.   These power centers can benefit from ethnic-oriented economic and community development that could attract attention and dollars.

--Leonardo Vazquez, AICP/PP

The troubles with city planning? For one: long plans

In The Trouble with City Planning, former New Orleans planning director Kristina Ford challenges planners to rethink their normal practices by highlighting the failures of city planning there after Hurricane Katrina.  One of the biggest problems she sees:  plans are unclear and confusing to the people who are supposed to use them. 

The kind of complex, richly- detailed plans that would get an A in a studio course are the kinds routinely ignored by decision makers and communities we try to influence.  The #1 job of a plan is to influence how decision makers act.  If it is not used, it is by definition useless.

Many plans are just too long, take too long to speak to the readers needs, and have too many details in their text.  This makes them a chore for elected officials, developers and community decision-makers.   Plans should provide focus and direction.  When they say too much, or try to make everyone happy, they fail.   Consider the 2004 Master Plan for Maplewood Township, New Jersey.  It recommends 17 “key objectives” which should be given “equal weight.”  Some of them, such as providing affordable housing to young families and promoting housing that would not have an impact on the school system, are practically impossible to achieve at the same time.  Some objectives are specific – such as promoting the town’s cultural center – while others are just vague aspirations – such as “preserve and enhance the general sense of community.”  Oh, and you don’t even get to these goals until page 15.  

Plans that proved to be more effective was the Comprehensive Community Revitalization Program (CCRP) Plans for the South Bronx in the early 1990s.  These neighborhood plans helped to generate millions of dollars in new investment and accelerate slow-going revitalization efforts.  Today, the South Bronx is facing an issue that was too many unthinkable 20 years ago – gentrification.

By the way, the CCRP plans were written by the same firm that did the Maplewood Master Plan.  I couldn't find an publicly-available online copy of the CCRP plans, but you can read about the plans' impacts.

CCRP lasted two years and each of the plans were short – around 30 to 40 pages.  They were written in plain English, and had a few simple statistics and intentionally cartoonish diagrams.  If they were submitted for a planning studio course today, they probably would have gotten a failing grade.  But they were read and used by the community development corporations in those neighborhoods. (I worked for one of them).  The CCRP plans provided clear guidelines for community leaders and developers to follow.

To be fair, it was the process, rather than the documents themselves, that generated enthusiasm among decision-makers.  But that’s true of every planning process.  What was different about the CCRP plans is that they provided clear guidance to leaders – and could more easily be shared with potential partners, funders and investors.

Another effective plan, by the Philadelphia City Planning Commission, helped to further the city’s growth as an arts and cultural heritage tourism destination.  Extending the Vision for South Broad Street branded this place as an “avenue of the arts.”  Today, South Broad is developing into a district for high-end performing and visual arts.

The plan, which by design looks and reads more like a coffee-table book than a policy document, was quietly criticized by some professionals – especially engineers – as not being serious enough.   But it worked.

It’s not just an issue of length.  Sometimes plans have to be long, especially if they might be subject to legal scrutiny because they advocate eminent domain or strategies that might reduce property values in an area.  But the best plans – such as the CCRP or Broad Street plans – make their points quickly and clearly, and use just enough statistical information and graphics to strengthen their points.  

Long plans by their nature are intimidating. Ford talks about a string of long plans for New Orleans, including the Unified New Orleans Plan that would run to 2,000 pages.  As much as I enjoy reading plans, I would want to be paid to look at something that immense.  You can imagine how the stressed and overworked decision-maker would look at such a document.

So how to make a plan that both your elected officials would want to read and the wonky naysayers would find credible?  Split the plan into at least two parts. 

The first part contains the executive summary, a statement of goals (please, no more than 10), a set of strategies to reach the goals, just enough detail to indicate why the goals and strategies are important and reasonable, and images that can illustrate ideas more efficiently than can be done in print.   Think of the busiest person you know, and write this part of the plan for that person.  If you go over 50 pages, go back and see what you can cut.

The rest of the plan can be appendix items with as much detail and statistics as you’d like.  Nobody other than a researcher, lawyer or critic is going to read this part.  So, make sure your facts are straight and don’t sweat the writing.

But always remember: the ability of the plan to influence decision-makers depends more on the planner’s powers of persuasion than the ideas in the plan.

--Leonardo Vazquez, AICP/PP

The Professional Development Institute and The Leading Institute offer several courses to help planners become more convincing and persuasive.  These include Professional’s Writing Studio, a Bloustein Online Continuing Education Program Deep Learning course, and Leading from the Middle, a leadership development program for placebuilders.

How you finance the arts depends on how you define the arts

In one of the most artsy towns in one of the most artsy areas of New Jersey, the South Orange Performing Arts Center is struggling to pay back a $3.9 million loan to the township. One South Orange official openly questioned whether SOPAC will ever be able to pay back its debt.  This author has heard SOPAC called a failure.

South Orange Performing Arts Center

Well, that depends on how you look at it. As a business, SOPAC is not doing well, and might not for years to come.  (The "bad economy" argument is not compelling.  While we might expect subscriptions and donations to go down, local theaters should be a more attractive alternative to those who want to enjoy performances and save money.)

On the other hand, there are plenty more stores and restaurants in South Orange Village than were there in 2005, a year before SOPAC opened.  (In other words, there were more places to shop, eat and visit in the worst years of this recession than there were in the best years before the crash.)

And SOPAC adds several benefits for South Orange and surrounding communities: A large event space, more opportunities to highlight community and student performers in a professional setting, and more choices for movies -- all within walking distance of the train.

So the question for South Orange and other communities looking to the arts for community and economic development is:  Should an arts center be considered a business sector, infrastructure or a social good?

The answer can help determine whether a municipality supports the arts, or just allows it to happen.  The answer also can help officials decide whether arts activities supported by communities should be managed by economic development, community development, or parks and recreation agencies.

If the arts are just another business sector, then a community should judge their success by their return on investment to the public.  Nonprofit institutions don't pay property taxes, but they can give a Payment In Lieu Of Taxes (PILOT).  Community leaders should negotiate for a PILOT that covers the center's share of municipal services, plus extra to make up for the fact that a tax-paying business could be on the site.  If, as in the case of South Orange, the community invests in a center, the community should demand that the center generate as much revenue as possible.  But the center should be free to charge as much as the market will bear, without any consideration for community arts or events that wouldn't bring in much revenue.

If the arts are seen as community infrastructure -- like a road or a storm drain system -- then their success should be measured in how many businesses, revenue-generating development or self-supporting residents it attracts and supports.   To make it work financially, communities could support the arts with some of the revenue that would be generated by new development.  That's what Rahway did in March, when its City Council unanimously approved an $8.5 million bond to propel its growing arts district.

It can make sense to take on this much debt for large projects that generate enough revenue to pay back their costs  That's why tax increment financing is successful around the country.  (In New Jersey, it's known as a Revenue Allocation District.)  But there are other ways to support small initiatives.  Governments could reserve a portion of the added tax revenues or fees that come about because of the arts.  Or perhaps Special Improvement Districts could dedicate a percentage to the arts from the revenues they receive from restaurants, shops and other businesses that benefit from all the people coming to enjoy the arts -- then staying to shop and eat.

Under the infrastructure scenario, cultural organizations and artists that receive support should be encouraged -- if not obligated -- to promote local businesses and projects who can bring more revenue to the municipality.

A third option is to see the arts like parks -- an overall benefit to society that are not expected to pay for themselves. School-based  and community arts programs, small community theaters and the like are probably not going to be self-supporting over the long term. (Especially not in north and central Jersey, where there are so many options for arts lovers.)

In this view, the community supports the arts through its property taxes or other fees. As with other social goods, measures of success include the number of people served and how those people feel they benefit from the arts.

The responsibility of cultural organizations and artists in this scenario would be to serve as many people as possible, and especially those who do not have as much access to art.

The three options are not mutually exclusive.  Larger cities like Newark and Jersey City might be able to do all three.  But in smaller communities like South Orange and Rahway, the choices are more difficult.

By choosing among these options, community and cultural leaders can make better choices about how public resources should be spent, and reduce the type of controversy now facing initiatives like the South Orange Performing Arts Center.

 Leonardo Vazquez, AICP/PP

For more on the SOPAC struggles, see this report in NJ.com


For more on Rahway's support for the arts, see this report in NJ.com

Photo credit: David Gard, New Jersey Local News Service.  The image was published in NJ.com on October 10, 2010.

For the time being, make small plans

Make no little plans. They have no magic to stir men's souls and probably themselves will not be realized.

Attributed to Daniel Burnham, a godfather of  American urban planning

Sorry, Mr. Burnham: Realistically, small plans may be all we can do now.

There is a lot less support for big infrastructure projects than there might have been two years ago.  Consider: The recent election of so many fiscal conservatives across the country, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie's killing of a new train tunnel to New York, and the loss of 14,000 architectural and engineering jobs in the U.S. the past year.  (While the economy added 151,000 jobs in September, hiring was flat in the A&E field, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.)

There are still some pockets of support for big projects, but here are things you can do if you're a placebuilder in a place that wants you to help solve problems at the lowest costs possible:

• Understand why people and leaders are reluctant to do big things in times of economic uncertainty and concerns about long-term debt. If you don't, you're going to have a hard time persuading communities and their leaders, and building their confidence to do more, and do better.
  
• Frame community and local economic development strategies around small business development.  The one thing conservatives and progressives seem to agree on is supporting the growth of small businesses.  For example, if you wanted to do public art downtown, you would be better off talking about it as a way to attract visitors who can support retail businesses.
  
• Encourage more public/private partnerships, and partnerships between business and community groups.  This can help with small ticket items -- such as place marketing or business assistance centers -- that in normal times are done by public agencies.  And no, it's not enough to just write that into a plan -- if you want it to happen, you'll probably need to do some matchmaking.
  
• Get influential people and especially fair-minded representatives of small businesses on project steering committees and advisory boards.  In an age when so many people are standing on soapboxes and shouting from their blogs and TV appearances, the quiet conversation can be quite powerful.
  
• Have the courage to question your assumption about big projects.  Do the critics have a point?  Are there ways to move toward the same goals without large up-front investments?  Note to New Urbanists, architects and civil engineers:  Not every problem needs a design solution. 

Be creative.  You can think outside the box without having to build it.

Leonardo Vazquez, AICP/PP 

The Leading Institute and the Bloustein Online Continuing Education Program offer great courses that build your capacity to do more in times of limited resources.  Learn more.

Speaking up for community planning at libraries and recreation centers

Two of the most common venues for holding community meetings are in town halls (or their equivalent in cities and boroughs) or large rooms provided by Town hall rooms and the open rooms of large religious institutions.  But these may not be the best places to get people engaged.

Where you have a community meeting is critical.  You want it to be in a place that's convenient and where the audiences will feel welcome and comfortable.  If you work in a community where there's widespread distrust of government  (or the community is divided along political lines), some audience members might be tense when they go into the room.  (This is especially true if a lot of your audience members go to Town Hall only to pay taxes or fines, or to complain about the government.)

Having a meeting at a religious institution has a lot of benefits. The environment encourages people to be more respectful of one another.  If community stakeholders are members of the institution, they will likely feel more comfortable there than in town halls. But people who are members of different faiths may not feel as comfortable or as welcome there.

In many communities, there are other neutral locations:

• For small group meetings, consider using the local library.  More and more, libraries are reinventing themselves as community service centers.  Besides circulating books, many libraries offer computers with Internet access (which many people need just to apply for jobs), and provide space for other information services.   
• Check out a local recreation center for larger group meetings.  These centers are often designed with large spaces for sports activities.  It's often easy to add tables and chairs.
• Local schools often have classrooms for small group sessions, large rooms for interactive sessions, and auditoriums for presentations. 
• If your budget can handle it, try using space in a local restaurant or catering hall. Because people often associate these spaces with happy events, the location can help put participants more at ease.

In any case, always check to make sure the places you consider are not controversial in the community.  (It's best to check local blogs or discussion boards, or ask neutral sources.)  If a seemingly neutral location is known to be dominated by a faction in the community that is in conflict with another, try to find a difference space.

For community outreach, where you say it can be as important as how you say it.

--Leonardo Vazquez, AICP/PP

Knowing RLUIPA more important as communities get more diverse

By Lora Lucero, 
Guest contributor


Land use regulation, property rights, and religion – a potentially volatile mix in any community. Add to the brew the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 (RLUIPA) and, depending on who you talk to, there’s either an explosion or a celebration.  Some consider RLUIPA a shield to protect religious land use applicants (particularly minority religions) from the abusive, exclusionary zoning practices of local officials. Others view RLUIPA as a sword wielded by bullying applicants who want special treatment or want to avoid the land use regulatory process altogether. The truth probably rests somewhere in the middle.

RLUIPA was enacted by Congress in 2000. This year, Boulder County, Colorado has declared its intention to file a petition for certiorari to the U.S. Supreme Court asking the Justices to declare the statute unconstitutional. Boulder County v. Rocky Mountain Christian Church. This will certainly be the case to watch if the Court accepts review.

RLUIPA cautions local governments not to “substantially burden” a religious land use applicant’s right to free exercise, but provides little guidance about what actions might constitute a substantial burden. Congress failed to define ‘substantial burden.’

No government shall impose or implement a land use regulation in a manner that imposes a substantial burden on the religious exercise of a person, including a religious assembly or institution, unless the government demonstrates that [the land use regulation is] in furtherance of a compelling governmental interest [and] is the least restrictive means of furthering that compelling governmental interest. 42 U.S.C. § 2000cc(a)(1).

Religious land use applicants have prevailed in “substantial burden” claims less than 25% of the time - pretty good odds from the local government’s perspective! The statistics, however, fail to account for two important factors: (1) the very high monetary judgments that the local government might have to pay if unsuccessful, and (2) the number of municipalities that capitulate when threatened with RLUIPA litigation to avoid the risk. In that regard, Congress stacked the deck in favor of the religious land use applicant because RLUIPA authorizes attorney fees for the prevailing land use applicant, but none for the local government when it successfully defends itself against a RLUIPA challenge.

Planners and local government officials must be informed about, and sensitive to, RLUIPA issues and proactively plan for the needs of religious land uses in their communities, just as they do for other types of development.  The RLUIPA Reader – Religious Land Uses, Zoning, and the Courts is a good, practical resource. (Michael S. Giaimo and Lora A. Lucero, eds. RLUIPA Reader – Religious Land Uses, Zoning, and the Courts, ABA and APA (2009).)

In Chapter Ten, Vivian Kahn, FAICP, shares the top ten tips for planners to remember.

           

*          Understand and appreciate RLUIPA’s scope and purpose.

*          Plan for religious land use comprehensively.

*          Audit your comprehensive plan and land use regulations.

*          Work with applicants early in the development review process.

*          Ensure that design regulations do not conflict with religious values and traditions.

*          Incorporate strong findings in the record.

*          Treat every land use applicant fairly.

*          Don’t unduly burden religious practices.

*          Provide alternate means of relief.

*          Hold practice sessions.

Lora is a city planner and land use attorney in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  She is Editor of Planning & Environmental Law and, along with Michael S. Giaimo (Robinson and Cole LLC), edited RLUIPA Reader: Religious Land Uses, Zoning, and the Courts published by the American Bar Association and American Planning Association in April 2009. 


In January 2011, Lora will be teaching “Current Trends in Land Use Law,” in the Bloustein Online Continuing Education Program.   The course provides a thorough discussion of RLUIPA and how planners and local government officials should prepare themselves to successfully address religious land use applications in their zoning regulations and development review processes.

In today's economic climate, everyone needs to be a rainmaker

Now more than ever in our lifetimes, the job security of many placebuilders depends on their being able to bring in resources.

In the private sector, infrastructure spending hasn't led to widespread bumps in job hiring.  According to the U.S. Department of Labor, there are about 21,000 fewer jobs in architectural and engineering organizations in the United States, compared to September of 2009.  In good times, technical professionals who hate marketing and networking could rely on others to bring in the money.  Today, any professional who is not overly busy doing billable work or generating it might be seen as a cost that a firm can't afford right now.

(The back office professionals -- mapmakers, researchers, and others who do little direct work with clients or communities -- are especially vulnerable.  Technology is making it possible for others to do the same work at less cost.  And that's not going to change, even when the economy fully recovers.)

To make things more difficult, the lean times are causing more competition.  In strong economies, bigger firms can afford to turn away smaller jobs, confident that something else will come around.  Now, they are chasing the smaller game.  (This is especially tough for the mid-size firms, which might not have the resources of large firms or the flexibility and low overhead costs of small ones.)

In difficult economies, many nonprofit organizations tend to struggle with increased demands for services and reduced giving by foundations and corporate entities.  Community based organizations, most of whom were created to address social issues, tend to spend more time on direct service and less time on planning.

The public sector has been a good landing spot for placebuilders who wanted to do good works without the risks and uncertainty of working in the private and nonprofit sectors.  Not anymore. Since September 2009,  around 249,000 public sector jobs have been lost, according to the Department of Labor's September 2010 jobs report.  Placebuilders are especially at risk because unlike the work of police, firefighters, teachers and road crews,  it is harder for placebuilders to show direct or immediate benefits from their work.

What if you have someone in your organization who is great at raising funds, getting contracts or retaining clients.  Those people are going to be the ones in most demand from other places.  It's a big risk to rely on just a few people for sustainability.

If you want to be seen as more valuable to your firm, organization or agency:

• Demonstrate how your work can or does generate more revenue or helps the organization retain clients. Being smart is not enough.  There might be plenty of other smart people who are willing to do your job for less money.  Talk about the value of your work, and your organization's work, to everyone who might affect it -- elected officials, civic and business leaders, potential clients. Urban planners in particular need to be promoting the value of planning.  Consider: If they don't know what you do or what value it gives them, why should they pay you to do it?
  
• Always Be Marketing.  If you're not writing proposals or meeting with potential clients, you should be looking for opportunities and being aware of trends or conditions that could pose threats or provide opportunities for your organization.
  
• If you don't have experience in marketing or business development, learn how to do this work.  It's more difficult and complex than it looks. If you think it's just putting a nice spin on what you already do, you need to learn more about this work.
  
• Offer to get more involved in marketing and business development. Work with others in your organization who are good at getting contracts and grants. But don't just copy what they do -- find ways of marketing and business development that work for you and your organization.  If you're uncomfortable asking your supervisors for this kind of work, volunteer to help raise money or write proposals for a nonprofit that you believe in.  They are likely to appreciate whatever help they can get, and you can develop experience and a track record for generating revenue.

--Leonardo Vazquez, AICP/PP

The Bloustein Online Continuing Education Program offers several classes to help you get more contracts and grants, and retain clients.  The next course in this topic is Business Development for Planners, running from November 3 to December 18, 2010. (Scholarships still available at the time of this writing.) Questions about BOCEP or the class?  Contact us

Tips for collaborative writing

Software like wikis and change-tracking features can make it easier for groups of people to work together on reports and plans.  But the software can't help with the hardest part of collaborative writing -- the human side.

Team writing is hard because even similar people have different ways of communicating information, have access to different facts (which seem to come out at the last minute) and interpret the same information differently.  Also, some people are comfortable writing in an organized, step-by-step fashion, while others do their best work in what seems to others to be a mad and maddening rush.

Here are some tips that can help you work better with your co-authors, and more importantly, keep you from wanting to grab their pens and stick it...

1. The team should decide on a way to write collaboratively. If you use a wiki - a document that allows for multiple collaborators -- or software features like 'track changes' in Microsoft Word, be sure that everyone knows how to use the tools.  If a team member is not comfortable with a type of technology, it might be easier to pick someone to take that team member's work and upload it to the team document.  Once the team has selected an approach to collaboration, every member of the team is responsible for knowing how to use the technology.
   
   
2. The team should create an electronic library of shared documents that all authors can use as a resource for their writing.  The library should include all relevant plans, reports and memos, as well as raw information (such as data tables from government sources.)  There are a number of services that offer file sharing, either free or on a monthly subscription basis.
   
   
3. Ensure that all members understand their roles and responsibilities. Members of the writing team have to know whether they are providing data for someone else to write, writing portions of the document, reviewing other people's work, or making edits themselves.
   
   
4. Make deadlines clear, and make them at least 20% longer than what the authors say they need to complete their work.  No matter how well planned the writing project is, things are going to happen.  Somebody might get sick or have a work/family emergency. Somebody is not going to get things done in time for any variety of reasons.   Another reason for extending the deadlines is that the process of drafting -- or seeing others' drafts -- helps you see new connections and gaps and create new ideas.  An extra few days can help you create a much better product.
   
   
5. The team should pick a lead author and final editor. The lead author's role is to bring everything together.  The final editor's role is to make sure the work reads as if it were written by a single person.  If only one person can fulfill both roles, plan some time for the lead author to step away from the document and come back to it with a fresh set of eyes. Editing your own work is difficult, because you tend to see what you expect to see, rather than what's there.  That's why we can find typos and grammatical errors in others' writings, and miss them in our own.
   
   
6. Unless there is a good reason to do otherwise, the lead author should make the team document available to everyone to look at while it is being drafted.  It is everyone's responsibility to read their teammates' work, and to alert the lead author to any factual errors, inconsistencies or new ideas that come from connecting the dots in others' work.
   
   
7. Everyone should respect the fact that everyone else has a different way of working.  If you're the kind of person who can write over a long period and in steps, don't get so huffy about the people who get their bursts of inspiration under the stress of a deadline.  But, if you're a last-minute writer, and others need your work to complete theirs, waiting for the spark of inspiration is not artistic -- it's rude. As with any relationship, the more everyone talks about what they need, what they like and what ticks them off, the happier they will be.
   
   
8. When it's all done, enjoy and celebrate the hard work. Even if you feel like you never want to talk to the collaborator again, go have a drink or a cup together.  Whatever it was that drove you crazy about the other person's work, it probably wasn't that big a deal.
   
   
9. If you're going to work with the same people again, talk  with them about how things can be done better.  Remember to say first what you would do differently before you ask someone else to change their ways.  If you're going to work with different people, reflect on your experiences and help your next set of teammates to work better.

--Leonardo Vazquez, AICP/PP

The Bloustein Online Continuing Education Program offers a number of courses on teamwork, writing and other aspects of professional practice.  Please see the course catalog for more on upcoming courses.

Planning for success in and through a BOCEP Deep Learning class

BOCEP Deep Learning classes offer a lot: Resources, good discussions with professionals, opportunities to test your knowledge.  To get the most of the class, with the least stress, it helps to get into good learning habits.  Here's how:

1.  When you're in the class, avoid the temptation to check email, answer the phone, or do other things that would make you lose your focus.  Multitasking may be fine for simple things, but BOCEP Deep Learning courses are complex.

2.  Schedule time for yourself throughout the week to work on your class.  Of course you're going to get busy and deal with unexpected work or family matters. But the better you can schedule yourself -- and keep to it -- the better your experience will be.  Here's a sample:

• Friday: Review upcoming assignments and readings
• Saturday/Sunday: Read materials for class that week
• Monday: Read the lectures and questions from the instructor; think about your answer and start working on week's assignment
• Tuesday: Respond to the first set of questions
• Wednesday: Check class to see other responses; reply
• Thursday: Respond to next set of questions
• Friday: Check for responses and reply; complete assignment; review upcoming assignments and readings

Most BOCEP learners spend between three and seven hours per week on their course, including reading and assignments.  (Please note: If you are taking a course for Certification Maintenance credit, you are ethically obligated to spend at least 14 hours overall in the class.)

3. Think of yourself as part of a learning team, and know that as you help yourself, you help your colleagues.  Many of us are taught to think of learning as an individual effort.  As a result, some people think it's no big deal when they stop participating in discussions.  But it is important.  Not only do you learn more by sharing your ideas, you give fresh perspectives to colleagues, who learn from you. 

4. Remember that the more you put into the class, the more you get out of it.  Yes, it would be a lot easier to sit in the back of a room watching a PowerPoint presentation.  But if you take the easy way out, you will learn only a fraction of what you can learn in a BOCEP Deep Learning class.

If you can master these techniques, you'll see benefits beyond the class.  These time and focus management skills are what help make professionals more effective and influential.

--Leonardo  Vazquez, AICP/PP

Measuring human needs for placemaking practice

This essay is designed to help you put into practice the principles of human needs placemaking. 

Before we do, let's recap:
Based on various psychological theories, there are four types of human needs:

• Physiological needs -- Food, safety, shelter and the necessities for survival
• Relational needs -- Connections to other people and groups who will support and nurture the individual
• Self-actualization needs -- The desire to "be all you can be" as an individual and to have independence and recognition.
• Environmental needs -- The desire to be in aesthetically pleasing environments, such as (for some) areas with a lot of greenery.

Everyone wants all four of their needs met.  How much is "enough?" All individuals have their own standards, which they may or may not be able to express clearly to placemakers.  The bottom line -- No placemaking effort can make everyone equally happy.  (In fact, because placemaking efforts involve some change, whoever is benefiting from the status quo is going to be, at a minimum, inconvenienced.)

But though we can never reach the horizon, we can walk towards it and use milestones to measure our efforts.  Here's how.

In surveys:

Imagine that all four needs are a continuum between "hell" (complete absence of a need) and "heaven" (complete satisfaction).  You can use a range to mark the continuum.  (Try using a range that's easy to understand, such as 1-10 or  "Strongly agree to Strongly disagree"

Ask plain language questions that relate to the needs.  For example, if you asked "How well are your safety needs being met," you'll probably get some blank stares.  Instead, ask something like "How safe is it to walk at night in the neighborhood?"

It's unlikely that everyone's needs are met entirely within their own communities.  If you ask, "Are there enough social groups for you in your community?" you will find out about the availability of social groups in a limited area -- not whether the person's relational needs are unmet.  A better question would be: "Do you have easy access to social groups of your liking?"

Asking about access is important because children and seniors who can no longer drive, as well as people who don't own cars, have much more limited access than older teens and adults.  Also, people who prefer not to drive, such as those living in downtowns or city centers, may expect that things should be more accessible by foot or public transit.

So it is also important to get key demographic information -- such as age, gender, ethnicity, and income --   to see if there are significant differences between the satisfaction levels of groups. 

In focus groups and interviews:

These settings call for open-ended questions.  (Save all of your limited choice questions for surveys.) 

1. Ask respondents to say what they would like to see more or less of.  
2. Then ask why what they said was the first thing to come to mind.  (The 'gut response' tends to reveal more about the person's values and concerns.  The longer people have to think about a question, the more likely they are to give you the kind of answer they think you want.) 
3. Ask respondents to talk about what they would trade off.  This will help you understand their heirarchy of needs.  For example, if respondents are complaining about public safety and high costs, ask them if they would be willing to have fewer police and firefighters if it meant lowering their property taxes.  The answer can tell you what the more critical needs are in the community.

As with surveys, pay attention to the differences in responses from people of different ages, genders, ethnicities or work status.

An example:

Here's a portion of an actual survey being conducted for a community plan in New Jersey.  This survey is part of a complex needs assessment, which includes focus groups and one-to-one interviews.

	Strongly agree	Agree	No strong opinion	Disagree	Strongly disagree
I feel safe walking in this neighborhood. (physiological needs)
I feel safe walking on my street at night, by myself. (physiological needs)
It is safe for young people to walk around in this neighborhood. (physiological needs)
I can walk to buy what I need (groceries, household supplies). (physiological needs)
I have easy access to services my family or I need (such as banks and doctors. (physiological needs)
I have easy access to job opportunities.  (physiological and self-actualization needs)
I have easy access to places for me or my family to play or relax. (environmental needs)
The schools in this neighborhood are good. (self-actualization needs)

Leonardo Vazquez, AICP/PP

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Learn better placemaking skills through The Leading Institute and Bloustein Online Continuing Education Program