Resources for free and low-cost economic development analysis, part 1

If you need good economic numbers and analysis in a hurry, you should consider hiring a consultant or using fee-based services. (Among the most commonly used are Claritas, ESRI and InfoUSA, but we do not make any endorsements.)

But if  you're willing to put a little time into it, there are plenty of free and low-cost resources that can help you get a pretty good understanding of your local economy.  Federal and state agencies provide a wide range of free resources.  In some cases, their websites will do simple calculations.

For economic research, you want to get information on consumer behavior and characteristics and business activity.  This essay, the first of two, focuses on information about consumers.

For consumer information, some of the best free sources are:

• American Factfinder.  This site from the US Census Bureau contains information from the 2005-2009 American Community Survey (the best source of demographic data until all of the 2010 Census numbers come out).  2010 Census numbers can be found on American Factfinder 2.  Warning: The new American Factfinder is difficult to use.  Please go through the tutorial before using it. 
  The ACS' community profiles provide interesting overviews of incomes, occupation, and industry data, as well as lesser-known data (commuting time, language spoken at home, etc.)
• The Consumer Expenditure Survey can help you estimate what people in your study area are likely to spend on various items.  The CES, from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, is a survey of spending patterns on a wide variety of things, from mortgages to shoes.  Unfortunately, the spending categories are not detailed.  You wouldn't know, for example, how much individuals spent on movie tickets.  But you could find out how much they spend on "fees and admissions" and develop some ideas from that.
  One interesting feature of CES is that it has tables showing spending patterns by geographic region, education, race, and other demographic characteristics.
• The federal Bureau of Economic Analysis also has information on consumer spending.  While in some ways more comprehensive than what is found in the Consumer Expenditure Survey, BEA's free analysis is done at a national level.  
• One of the more unusual studies of consumers is the Multicultural Economy series from the University of Georgia's Selig Center for Economic Growth.  This annual study explores buying power -- i.e. disposable income -- for ethnic groups in the United States and every state. You have to pay for the full, current report, but as of 2011, the executive summary of the previous report was available free.
• Psychographics is more valuable than demographics, which is why research companies can charge good money for it.  Psychographics combines information about demographics (age, race, income) with information on spending habits (based on such things as magazine subscriptions).  While you can't get a full psychographic report, you can get a little information from the "My Best Segments" pages from Claritas, a fee-based provider.  The online form tells you the five top psychographic clusters in a particular zip code. 

You can use these numbers from these sources to show how much income or expected spending there might be in your area. It won't show you the whole economic picture (although, to be fair, no amount of research will), but it can give you a head start.  And the money you save on getting consumer information you can use to get more out of fee-based services or economic development consultants. 

--Leonardo Vazquez, AICP/PP

Director, Professional Development Institute

If you know of any additional free resources for consumer information, please feel free to share that information with us.  We'll update this essay as appropriate.

How to get smarter about the things you know

How smart are you about the things you know explores different levels of expertise -- from being aware of a topic to understanding the topic intimately.  This, the second part of the essay, focuses on strategies you and your organization can take to increase your expertise.

(If you didn't already, please read the first part of this essay.  Otherwise, much of what follows won't be as strong.)

Cost-effective ways to better knowledge:

• Webinars, videos, short seminars, traditional conference sessions (that is, a moderated panel of speakers), newspaper or magazine articles, blogs, community discussion boards.  
• In-house strategies: Invite speakers to share their knowledge with your group, or invite staff to conduct presentations on their own areas of expertise.

Cost-effective ways to better comprehension:

• Workshops of a half-day to a day, longer seminars that focus on single set of topics, books, self-paced courses and video tutorials.  
• In-house strategies: Create or maintain a library in your office, reward staff for becoming "resident experts" on various topics.  

Cost-effective ways to better application:

• Training programs that indicate what skills are to be learned and provide opportunities for participants to learn from someone who can evaluate their work.  (Because some people apply the word 'training' to any kind of learning, it is important to know what skills will be taught and how.  Also, opportunities for staff to practice their skills under real or realistic conditions.  (Any skill can be forgotten if it's not practiced.)
• In-house strategies: Provide staff time to train their colleagues.  Reward efforts made by staff to seek in-house training.

Cost-effective ways to better analysis:

• Deep learning courses, such as college or graduate courses (or BOCEP Deep Learning courses), or executive learning programs; speaking at conferences or leading workshops; organizational or group retreats focused on problem-solving.
• In-house strategies: Reserve time at staff meetings for collaborative problem-solving and peer coaching on difficult client matters.

Cost-effective ways to better synthesis:

• Studio courses, volunteer projects, or any other kind of learning experiences that challenge participants to create -- not just find -- solutions to problems.
• In-house strategies:  Synthesis is what happens when participants "learn while doing."  For this to be a good learning experience, directors and managers must be open to allowing participants to make mistakes.  If that doesn't happen, participants will simply apply what they already know, but are unlikely to integrate new information. 

Cost-effective ways to better evaluation:

• Sabbaticals, extended programs such as degree or certificate programs, extended retreats.
• In-house strategies:  The best way to get to this highest level of expertise is to create an environment that encourages a large amount of reflection.  Unfortunately, this is almost impossible in organizations that focus on getting the most productivity from staff at the lowest cost.

--Leonardo Vazquez, AICP/PP

Director, Professional Development Institute 

How smart are you about the things you know?

There’s a big gap between knowing a little bit about a subject and being such an expert on it that you can evaluate it and create new solutions. 

Overestimating how much you know can be embarrassing (you can sound foolish next to an expert), expensive (if you take on an assignment that you’re not qualified for), and – if you’re a AICP urban planner, unethical. (See B12 of the AICP ethics code.) 

Underestimating how much you know can be costly (you may miss out on opportunities because of your lack of confidence) or cause you to waste your time trying to re-learn what you already know.  (How many times do you need to really need to go over the fundamentals of smart growth?)

If you’re an executive or director, not knowing what it is your employees know, or don’t, can cause significant risks and costs to your organization.

How do you know what it is you don’t know?  Here are some tips.

First, some learning theory. (Don’t worry, it will be short.)  According to Bloom’s Taxonomy ofEducational Objectives, there are six levels of knowing:

• Knowledge – the ability to recognize a subject and its parts.  If the subject is urban design, someone with knowledge is aware that urban design has an impact on the quality of places and that it involves streets, public spaces, trees, etc.
  
• Comprehension – knowing the concepts and details of a subject well enough to explain it to someone else.
  
• Application – the ability to apply your comprehension to a problem.  Example: Deciding what type of tree to put on a truck corridor.
  
• Analysis – the ability to examine or deconstruct a subject to make inferences or generalizations.  In other words, knowing not just what works, but why. 
  
• Synthesis – the ability to combine information in different ways to solve problems.  If you apply a particular solution to a problem simply because you have seen it done somewhere else, you are Applying.  To come up with new or innovative solutions, you need to Synthesize different types of information and adapt it to the problem.
  
•  Evaluation – the ability to make critical judgments based on your analysis of the subject and your awareness of other information relevant to the subject.  Jane Jacobs’ book The Death and Life of Great American Cities was an evaluation of the way planners thought about placemaking.  She analyzed activity in spaces that were affected by urban design programs, as well as activity in unprogrammed areas,  the mindsets of placemakers she had interviewed or observed, and synthesized various pieces of information to challenge us with a new way of looking at how we do our job.  Anybody can have opinions; it takes a lot of thinking to evaluate.

Education and organizational development theorists have produced a lot of useful information about how to apply Bloom’s Taxonomy.  There are a number of good free resources available on the Internet.  To save you time, here are a few questions you can ask to get a good sense of how much you know about a subject. 

If you can confidently say yes to these questions, you probably have achieved the learning level.        

•  Knowledge: Have you heard of it? Can you identify and recall the components of the subject? If the subject is an activity, can you identify and recall the sequence of steps used to achieve the objective?  Have you been able to discuss a subject without someone who is equally or more knowledgeable making valid criticisms of your assumptions?
  
• Comprehension:  If you were presented as an expert on a subject and asked, under threat of embarrassment, to explain a subject, could you do it?  Can you illustrate the concept, through drawing or metaphor?  Would you feel comfortable generalizing, based on what you believe you know?  Have you done this successfully?
  
• Application: Do you know what tools or inputs are used to solve a typical problem associated with the subject?  Have you applied your knowledge successfully?
  
• Analysis: Could you write a report that draws general conclusions about the subject, based on your examination of the evidence.  In other words, could you write a report that could be used by someone else to address another problem in that subject?  Can you explain why strategies that have worked with another problem have not, or would not, work with the problem at hand? Have you done this successfully?
  
• Synthesis:  Can you adapt tools and strategies to create new solutions to distinct problems?  Have you connected knowledge you gained from outside a subject area to successfully address a problem in that subject?
  
• Evaluation:  If you were given a choice among several solutions to a problem, could you rank them in terms of effectiveness?  Could you anticipate the negative consequences of each solution? Can you explain your evaluation so that someone with only a little knowledge of the subject can understand?

In the next essay on this subject, you will be able to identify the learning solutions that best meet your needs. 

--Leonardo Vazquez, AICP/PP

Leonardo Vazquez is the Director of the Professional Development Institute and The Leading Institute, which provide training, coaching and other services to help build leaders for planning and public affairs in the 21st century.  

To learn more, please visit the Professional Development Institute.

Help your unhappy employees go

In the knowledge economy, the engine and energy of production are in the minds and hearts of employees.  People who have up-to-date knowledge and skills can do more and better; those who are happier in their jobs tend to do more and better.  If your job is to help other people be more productive, efficient or effective, it's your responsibility to help employees get smarter and be happier in their jobs.

Though there are plenty of low-cost strategies for educating and motivating employees, there is only so much a manager can do.  If there are major problems that can't be addressed in an acceptable time frame, then it may be better for the manager to help the employee find another opportunity where they can succeed.  A happy alum replaced by a productive worker can help your organization more than an unsatisfied, unproductive worker.

Some companies in the Silicon Valley are even making the opportunity to leave a fringe benefit of joining a firm.  As The New York Times reported in "Silicon Valley Hiring Perks: Meals, iPads and Cubicle for Spot" some high-tech firms are offering employees classes on starting their own businesses.

Why does that make sense?  Because entrepreneurs tend to want the freedom to control their time and create their own schedules.  No matter how flat or progressive a company is, employees have to report to supervisors. The bigger the organization, the more likely there are to be policies and regulations that inhibit freedom.

What should managers do, and when should they decide it is time to help employees find new opportunities?

First, managers and organizations have to try.

An organization that does not provide reasonable opportunities for employees to update their knowledge and skill sets is one that, frankly, does not value their employees enough.  There are plenty of low-cost ways to train and develop people -- but there is always at least a cost of time.  A consulting firm whose managers say "You can go to free seminars and webinars, but you still have to have the same amount of billable hours" is not making any reasonable effort to develop employees.

And if an organization says it can't afford to train and develop people, it should not be buying new furniture or giving nice perks for its executives.  Smart employees know that organizations reveal what they value by what they spend.  If you spend more money on where you park your assets than on the people who made the spending possible, expect there to be widespread unhappiness.

Harder for many managers is dealing with employees' emotional states.  It's easy to identify skill sets and places where employees can get them.  But sometimes employees themselves aren't sure why they're unhappy, or what motivates them.   Also, if the employees' issues are due to problems outside the office, managers can be rightfully concerned about going into areas of psychological counseling that they are not equipped to handle.  (If your organization has a human resources department, trained professionals there should deal with employee emotional issues.  If there is no HR department, the executives and directors of the firm may have to learn enough to diagnose problems they can't handle themselves.  Organizations without HR departments should be aware of human resources consultants.)

You can start by simply asking employees what they like, or don't like, about their job and the organization.  But be aware that if an employee does not trust you, or you are part of the "don't like" column, the employee is not going to be candid.  If you don't already have a good relationship with an employee, it is better to let someone else ask the questions.

It's useful to know what employees value most.  One way is to ask them, after they complete their lists of likes and dislikes, to identify, in order, what they would be willing to give up if they had to, and what they would be willing to get rid of if they could.

Another tool for understanding what motivates employees is Career Anchors.  It is a tool developed by management guru Edgar Schein that helps those who use it better understand what they want in their careers.  People who value independence above other things will probably be unhappy in rule-bound bureaucratic organizations.  People who value stability more might find it too stressful to work for a small, tight-budget nonprofit.

There may be other tools that your human resources colleague or consultant might recommend as a better fit for your situation.

When you have a better understanding of what most motivates employees, determine what you can change, and what you can't.  If what can't change in a reasonable period of time is important to the employee, then it is time to help the employee find new opportunities.

Having the talk with the employee is difficult.  The employee might think that he or she is going to get fired, and you are providing a subtle form of advance notice.  If that is not the case, make it clear.  If it is the case, let the employee know what he or she can do, if anything, to change the decision.

Then through your contacts, job boards, or other ways you're comfortable with, help the employee find a new opportunity in an organization that can help yours.  If the employee goes to a competing organization, the employee's new supervisors would look down on that person helping you in the future.

Encourage the employee to stay in touch.  Or better yet, create or expand an organizational network to include alumni.  Some large law firms, like colleges, have their own alumni organizations.  These help maintain good relationships and generate good leads.

There are three ways that people in knowledge-based industries leave their jobs:

• They lose their motivation, which reduces the energy they put into the job and makes them less creative, productive and committed to resolving problems.
• They lose their interest, which leads to distractions and mistakes.
• They spend more time away from work, either voluntarily (coming in late, overly long lunches) or otherwise (when the stress causes illness or injury, increasing the number of sick days used)

If unhappy employees are going to leave, help them go in ways that benefit everyone.

--Leonardo Vazquez, AICP/PP

Leonardo Vazquez, AICP/PP, is the Director of the Professional Development Institute and The Leading Institute at Rutgers University's Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy. The institutes offer continuing education courses in leadership and management.  Learn more about the Professional Development Institute, The Leading Institute and upcoming courses.

Buchanan v. Warley reveals the double-edged sword of zoning

On April 10, 1916, a case began in the U.S. Supreme Court that set some important limits to zoning regulations.  The case, Buchanan v. Warley made it clear that local governments could not engage in racial zoning -- that is, regulating land uses based solely on the race of the property owners.

If you never heard of the case, don't be surprised.  The histories of urban planning we learn in school often tell an an untarnished story of early planners bringing order to the chaos of the early 20th century.  Buchanan v. Warley reminds us that while land use regulations were doing good in some cities, they were also being used to deny African-Americans in the south (and Chinese-Americans in California) full and fair rights and opportunities.

In the early 1900s, cities across the United States were using land use regulations to, among other things, prevent  buildings from being so big and bulky that their residents and neighbors could not get good air circulation and light and to protect residential areas from smelly, noisy factories.  At the same time, cities like Baltimore, Louisville and other places in the south created land use regulations to keep African-Americans isolated and away from White people.

In Louisville, Kentucky, where the Buchanan v. Warley story starts, the city created an ordinance that prevented African-Americans from moving into neighborhoods that were majority White, and vice-versa.  The reason for this ordinance, Louisville's representatives told the Court, was to prevent the kinds of "civil disturbance" that would arise if White and Black residents were allowed to live in the same neighborhoods.

(Notice the reliance on 'protecting order' -- which is the basis for a lot of zoning regulations then and now.)

Charles Buchanan, who was White, sold a house to William Warley, an African-American.  Because most of the people on the block were White, Warley could not legally occupy the house.  The Supreme Court ruled unanimously that while Louisville had a right to enact regulations to protect public order and provide for the general welfare, the city's ordinance violated the 14th Amendment rights to equal protection of individuals under the law.

Of course, that didn't stop cities throughout the United States from using planning -- or planners -- to promote segregation.  In fact, according to historian Christopher Silver in The Racial Origins of Zoning in American Cities, "After 1917, cities preferred to engage professional planners to prepare racial zoning plans and to marshal the entire planning process to create the completely separate Black community."  He adds that when regulations couldn't enforce segregation, "data supplied by planners made it possible to monitor and influence land use trends based on social criteria."  Pioneering planners such as Robert Whitten, Harland Bartholomew, and Morris Knowles (who prepared the groundbreaking historic preservation plan for Charleston, South Carolina)  all created plans for their clients that promoted and enforced apartheid, Silver says. Some of these planners defended their actions by arguing that keeping races in separate areas of a city would help everyone because single-race neighborhoods provided social stability.

Today, planners are more aware and sensitive to issues of social and economic justice.  But Buchanan v. Warley reminds us that planners and the tools of planning can be used as much for denying opportunity as it can for promoting the general welfare.  It's good to keep in mind when leaders of a wealthy, fast-growing municipality suddenly warm up to plans for increasing open space.

--Leonardo Vazquez, AICP/PP

References:
C. Silver, "The Racial Origins of Zoning in America," from Manning Thomas, June and Marsha Ritzdorf eds. Urban Planning and the African American Community: In the Shadows. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 1997.  Chapter available at: http://www.asu.edu/courses/aph294/total-readings/silver%20--%20racialoriginsofzoning.pdf

Author unknown, "Buchanan v. Warley," in Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buchanan_v._Warley

Successful bike and pedestrian planning starts with change leadership

Shape minds to shape streets. Build support and alliances before building bike lanes.

Those were two of the key messages from Gil Penalosa, who works around the world to help cities become safer and more inviting for walking, bicycle riding and taking public transit. Gil, the Executive Director of 8-80 cities and an international planning consultant, gave an inspiring speech on April 4 at the Municipal Art Society in New York.

Example of a bicycle lane 

While he showed the usual collection of design images and people enjoying public spaces, he said the keys to success in this work are as much psychological as they are physical.

To get to the point where you have success stories to share, places need:

• A sense of urgency
• Political will
• Leadership at the community level
• Broad partnerships

The key work of placebuilders, to begin with, is to shape how people think about open spaces, pedestrian areas, and bicycling.  Gil called it "changing the chips," likening the human brain to a computer.

For example, in several of the cities he's worked in, Gil said that skeptics used similar arguments.  The arguments, and usual answers are paraphrased below:

• It's too hot or It's too cold.  (People walk and bike where it is safe and enjoyable to do so, no matter what the weather.)
  
• That's not our culture. (It's not until enough people do it, and then it is.  In Copenhagen, Denmark, where it gets very cold, 38% of residents use bicycles.)
  
• That may work for them, but we're different.  (Individuals are unique, but people are similar around the world.)
  
• In developing countries: Bicycling is for poor people.  In developed countries: Bicycling is for louts in lycra. (where bicycle lanes are safe and useful for people of all ages and incomes, people of all ages and income bike.)
  
• The streets in Europe were designed for pedestrians and bicyclists.  (Actually, most of these pedestrian and bicycling streets were redesigned in the last 30 years.)

These concerns can be addressed and overcome, but they require placebuilders to be engaged in public conversations with a broad array of leaders (not just elected officials), as well as members of the various communities affected by the plans.

Gil did offer some physical design recommendations on activating public spaces and making streets better for pedestrians and bicycle riders.  Among them:

• Design first for pedestrians, then bicyclists, then cars.
• Design public spaces so they are active in bad weather, as well as good.
• Design spaces so they are comfortable, inviting and safe for people 8 years old to 80.   
• Separate pedestrians from bicyclists, and bicyclists from vehicles using dividers. Bike lanes tend to be abused by vehicle drivers, causing some bicyclists to go on sidewalks.
• Turn the lights that illuminate streets towards sidewalks, so pedestrians and bicycle riders can get more light.

Gil's success in cities around the world provides a valuable lesson to those placebuilders who think that change happens first with physical design.  Sustainable design starts with sustainable change leadership.

--Leonardo Vazquez, AICP/PP

The Professional Development Institute and The Leading Institute offer several ways to planners and placebuilders to develop their leadership skills.  Get our newsletter to find out about upcoming events and courses.

Image source: "Segregated cycle facilities," Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Segregated_cycle_facilities

Making smart choices for your career in placemaking

Whatever sector you’re in, this economy is getting more and more difficult for urban planners and placemakers.  Government cutbacks are eliminating public sector jobs and consulting contracts that support private sector planners.  Nonprofit organizations are seeing more competition for grant money.

If you’re in a difficult situation, or are simply unhappy with your job, analyze your career – and yourself – with the same rigor you would put into a placemaking project.  The work you put in to yourself can help you find the place and job that’s a good fit for you.  Here’s how: 

1.  Choose your role in the placemaking field.  Do you prefer to be a neutral analyst, a change agent, or an advocate for an issue or community?  The 'neutral public servant' will probably be happier in a public sector position, while the change agent might find things more comfortable in a nonprofit community development organization.  For more on the different roles urban planners play in society, read John Levy's Contemporary Urban Planning.
   
2.  Understand the differences among sectors.  Working in the public sector traditionally has been more stable than in the private sector.  But public sectors can be more rule-bound and slower to change.  The nonprofit sector can be a welcoming alternative, but working there can mean having less direct influence on development, and nonprofit jobs tend to be sensitive to funding trends.
   
3.  Know yourself and your career anchors.  What is more important to you now?  Stability? Lifestyle? Service? Independence?    One of the best tools to help you learn more about what you want in a job is Career Anchors Online, by management guru Edgar Schein.
   
4.  Understand institutional cultures.   In general, larger organizations tend to be more rule-oriented than smaller ones.  Transportation planning and civil engineering organizations tend to take fewer risks than community development organizations.  To learn about specific organizations, ask for informational interviews.  Be aware that people may not be aware of their own institutional cultures, so you might have to ask questions about this topic in different ways.
   
5. Choose your trade-offs. What are you willing to give up to  get what you want? What opportunities might you lose if you take the one in front of you?  In almost any job, there are things you might not like about it.  Are those important enough to give up what you do like about the job? 
   
6. Build your capacity for success.  Keep up with trends in the placemaking industry (At a minimum, you should subscribe to free sources of information, such as Planetizen.)  If you’re oriented towards technical analysis, build your skill set in emotional intelligence, leadership and cultural competency.  If you’re more of a “people person,” get smarter about technology.  You don’t have to become a technician, but you should know how to use the right technology to get things done faster and better.   Become more knowledgeable in the  economic development and environmental science.   Those are two of the things your clients or elected officials are probably thinking about.  Build professional development into your career.  If you wait until you need it, somebody else may get that job you want.
   
7. Remember this:  Anything you can do from your desktop can be done by someone else around the world, and probably for less money

This essay was adapted from “Making Smart Choices for Your Career in Planning,” a presentation PDI Director Leonardo Vazquez gave to the Regional Student Forum at the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission in March.  To get a free copy of the presentation, please contact Leo at vazquezl@rutgers.edu.  To get the presentation, you must either subscribe to the Professional Development Institute newsletter or agree to receive emails from PDI.

--Leonardo Vazquez, AICP/PP

Sustaining the arts and creative placemaking through tax increment financing, Part 2

Some philanthropists like to have their names attached to theaters or museum galleries.  But as far as we know, none of them try to get their names put on an office copier or an accounting position.

One of the things that makes sustaining the arts so difficult is that it is harder to get funding for the back office operations -- that is, general operating support -- than for specific projects.  As a result, organizations that should be spending more time building their organizational infrastructure are instead doing the things that bring them attention from funders.

That's why the arts can benefit from a revenue stream that doesn't rely on a private funder's particular interest.  In the previous essay on this topic, I talked about how Allegheny County and the state of Colorado generated hundreds of millions of dollars for arts through a sales tax initiative.  More interestingly, Allegheny County is able to increase the amount going to the arts because of this revenue model.

I argued that states could develop a funding pool without raising sales taxes.  What states or districts can do is to reserve a portion of taxes above a base for the arts. (This is a model known as tax increment financing [TIF], which is used in most of the country to support big development projects.)   This money can help support creative placemaking activities that not only benefit the arts, but also make communities more attractive for cultural tourism and businesses that rely on highly educated workers.  As the arts improve the quality of place, attracting more shoppers and workers, people spend more money, and more support goes to the arts, and the cycle continues.

This fund can help to support the kinds of activities that are less likely to be supported by private foundations and corporations, including:

• Organizational development and administrative activities that help arts organizations become more effective.
• Place marketing efforts and collaboratives, such as arts councils.  While individual organizations may want to support local arts councils and efforts to market their communities, they need to support themselves first.  Also, the current funding environment (some win grants, others lose) furthers competition that may make it harder for some organizations to work together.
• Arts events and festivals.  Some of the larger arts events generate enormous returns on investments to their communities.  The WaterFire event in Providence, Rhode Island, attracts about 1 million visitors and  $25 million in private spending per year, according to Tom Borrup in The Creative Community Builders Handbook.  But most small festivals need to build their audiences over time to have these kinds of numbers.  The TIF can invest in these events and festivals as they build their audiences.
• Public art and street art activities.  These can help attract people to commercial areas or encourage shoppers there now to stay longer (which can generate more consumer spending.) 
• Interorganizational mergers and partnerships.  There are a number of people -- funders and even arts advocates -- who say there are too many distinct arts organizations.  The TIF can provide incentives for organizations to engage in long-term partnerships or even merge.
• Arts activities in underserved communities.  Some places -- Manhattan in New York City; Santa Fe, New Mexico; and Asheville, North Carolina -- will always get more funding because funders spend more time in these places.  The TIF could be a catalyst for arts-based economic and community development in neighborhoods and towns without large and influential arts organizations or strong advocates.

--Leonardo Vazquez, AICP/PP

Sustaining the arts and creative placemaking through tax increment financing, Part 1

It seems like everybody involved in creative placemaking is talking about funding cuts to the arts.  Well, maybe not everybody.

In Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, (which includes the city of Pittsburgh), the county's Regional Allocation District is planning to increase its allocation to arts and cultural activities by 2%.  This is thanks to a creative way of funding the arts -- through a portion of sales tax revenue.  The District gets revenues from half of a 1% sales and use tax in the county, and distributes it to arts, cultural and entertainment facilities and parks throughout the county.  Though the amount of the tax may seem insignificant to a shopper, it has translated to more than $2.3 billion since 1995. In fiscal 2011, the Regional Allocation District Board is expecting to give $81.1 million.

Colorado does something similar with its Scientific and Cultural Facilities District in the Denver metropolitan area.  This fund -- based on a tenth of a percent of sales tax -- distributes about $40 million per year to around 300 organizations in seven counties.

Sales taxes are a great way to support the arts and creative placemaking.  Governments don't even have to create new taxes to make this funding system work.  Through a process known as tax increment financing, arts and cultural organizations can get a portion of any sales taxes above a certain baseline.

Here's how it works.  Let's say in 2011, ABC County collects $100 million in sales taxes.  That $100 million is the base.  In 2012, because of an improving economy, ABC County collects $110 million in sales taxes.  That additional $10 million goes to support arts and cultural activities.  A government agency wouldn't have to wait years for the money to pile up.  It could float a bond that could be paid for by increased sales tax revenues.

Most states have tax increment financing programs (TIFs).  But, like in New Jersey -- where it is called a Revenue Allocation District -- TIFs usually go to support big development projects.  So in New Jersey, a TIF could help build a big performing arts center, but provide no funding to support its operations. This is a big problem -- not just for arts organizations that struggle to keep the lights on, but also for the municipalities and leaders who sometimes use a lot of political capital to get these big projects built.

And of course, most arts activities happen outside of big theaters and cultural centers.  Some, like public art and street art, generate no or little money.

New Jersey uses a form of tax financing. A portion of the tax that guests of hotels and motels pay goes to the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, which distributes revenues to arts organizations.  (Arts Build Communities is one of many grantees supported by this fund.)

Why should the arts be singled out for special treatment with a portion of sales tax?  Because arts and cultural activities are proven generators of economic activity. According to several economic impact reports, the arts bring people to downtowns and other places,  where they will spend $8, $10 or $20 per person on top of the ticket prices.  As you can imagine, this is good for nearby restaurants and stores (especially the smaller businesses that have little money for marketing.)   And it's also good for high-tech and information industries, such as pharmaceuticals.  They want to attract the best educated and most creative people to come up with the next product to generate billions of dollars.  And what do creative people like?  To be in places and with other people who are creative.

It's a virtuous circle: more arts activities and artists tend to generate more money for restaurants and stores.  And all of these provide a windfall benefit to companies that want to attract educated and talented employees.

That's why a hotel/motel tax is a good start, but not enough.  A portion of sales taxes from businesses that benefit from arts and cultural activities could be used to support the arts and creative placemaking.

How the money is distributed, and for what purposes, determines whether the sales taxes generate a good return on the investment.  That's the subject for the next part of this essay...

--Leonardo Vazquez, AICP/PP

To learn more:
About the Allegheny Regional Allocation District
About the Scientific & Cultural Facilities District
About the New Jersey State Council on the Arts

Arts Build Communities and the Bloustein Online Continuing Education Program offer several courses on creative placemaking, including economic development through the arts, programming cultural uses, and cultural heritage tourism planning.  Learn more about our upcoming courses.

Do you have the right personality to market through social networking?

In today's economy, being smart is not enough to get you interviews, contracts and opportunities. A lot of your competitors know many of the same things -- or more -- than you do. To stand out, you have to show that you bring a distinct quality that your clients value.

Social networking can help.

Sites such as Facebook or LinkedIn make it easy to create a place on the Internet for yourself or your organization. The hardest, and most important parts of this work are in how you establish yourself online.

Determine a persona for your site. What makes you distinct, and why would someone want to connect to you? You may want to do some competitive analysis before you start. For example, if you're smart about an unusual but valuable topic such as transfer of development rights, see if anyone else is actively writing about it in a blog or a social networking site. If they are, how could you write about it differently? (Maybe you could take a different approach to the same, or you could write from a different angle. If the other writer is casual, you could be more academic, or vice-versa)

Give that persona a personality. How do you want your readers to think of you? As the smartest person in the world on a subject? As someone who just tells it "like it is?" As edgy and not afraid to be controversial? Think about who you want to be your clients, and what kind of voice they would respond to.

If the site is for a division or organization, talk with the other members of the organization about what the shared voice of the group should be. This will make it easier for different members of the organization to contribute to the site.

Communicate early and often. Figure out things to talk about to stay on the radar screen of your readers. Don't have anything to talk about this week? Check out a news site, such as Planetizen, and offer your thoughts on what you read. If the topic is interesting enough to talk about it with a colleague, it's probably interesting enough to put on the Internet. Writing can be a lot of work, so if you're not used to writing often, try posting once a month. Then do more as your schedule allows.

--Leonardo Vazquez, AICP/PP

Tips for arguing respectfully and productively

Tips for civil disagreement

It’s unfortunate that it takes a tragedy to get so many people in the United States talking about the kind of language we use in policy and strategy arguments. Here are some tips that can help professionals engage in arguments that are more likely to be both civil and productive.


• Focus on the topic, not the person. Personal attacks rarely get the other person to change their views or behaviors. More often, they get met with other personal attacks or angry silence – neither of which helps.

• Know that the argument may be about more than the thing being argued. In a community that has been abused or ignored by previous developers, a community’s opposition to a proposed land use might be more about anger with developers than with the proposal. If an argument is generating more emotion than would seem reasonable, there’s probably more there that you need to explore.

• Do not assume you know the person’s motivation. When someone makes a personal attack, it is sometimes because that person thinks he or she knows what lies behind the other person’s objections.

• Seek to understand before seeking to be understood. Make sure you’re hearing the other person correctly. (One way is to put the person’s comments in your own language and saying something like “did I get that right?”) If you’re getting it right, but the other person isn’t, ask the person if you could clarify your remarks. (Don’t say anything like “Did you understand what I just said.” That can sound patronizing.)

• Understand the other person's logic and the reasons for their emotions. Too many professionals think that others reject their ideas because they don't understand them.  In other words, if the professional could "teach" opponents about a strategy, the opponents would agree with the planner.  The problem is sometimes the professional's education -- he or she hasn't learned enough about their audience's perspectives and mindsets.  Most reasonable people make rational decisions according to their own views of the world.

• Use a zipper strategy – find the areas of agreement and build up from there. In most communities and organizations, people want many of the same things. Talking about what they agree on can help opponents think of themselves more as collaborators than enemies, and build creative solutions that neither group thought of before.

• Acknowledge your areas of newfound agreement. You can do this formally in contracts, or informally through reminders in future conversations.

• Be confident, courageous and creative. There are times when avoiding an argument might be a good short-term strategy. But avoidance over time usually leads to frustration, and eventually more problems. Have the courage to both present your views and be willing to consider those of the other person. Be creative enough to collaborate with your opponent and see solutions that neither of you initially imagined.

• Give, and request to get, respect for your opponent's views. If you refuse to acknowledge another's views, you can not get to a point where you can understand the person.  (Hearing enough just to beat down an argument doesn't count.)  It's also important that you speak from a position of strength by asking others to understand your views.


All of the above assume that the participants are willing to listen to one another and are, for the most part, honest. Sometimes this isn’t the case. In those circumstances – and you should test your understandings to know if you’re in those circumstances – you might need to take more aggressive (but not violent) approaches. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., whose birthday we celebrate Monday, knew there were times when a loud demonstration worked better than a quiet conversation.

--Leonardo Vazquez, AICP/PP

Catalytic leaders need to be seen to be heard

Leaders don't need to stand on soapboxes, ride white horses, or be at the front of the line to be effective.  Good leaders use the quiet conversation and strategic questions as much, or even more than, the "big speech."  But one thing all leaders need is to be present.  Or more specifically, to be visible to their audiences.  Technology makes it easier for even the busiest people to be more visible leaders.

Leaders succeed when they convince others about the value of a goal and persuade them to act on those beliefs. The most successful leaders inspire and motivate audiences to commit their time and resources to a mission.  But you have to practice what you preach.  If you're not seen as being committed and willing to put in the same time and energy that you ask of others, you will lose credibility quickly.

You may have big ideas, but they have to hear them from you.  You may be working hard on a project, but they have to see you working hard.  If you're seen as invisible or out of touch, audiences lose their motivation quickly.

Audiences also get distracted easily.  A lot of things call for the attention of our audiences.  The busier your audiences are, the less space they have on their internal radar screens.  The leader who pops up a few times a year to give a motivational speech probably shouldn't even bother.

For most of his career, Edward Blakely has been one of the busiest urban planners in the United States. He is one of the leading thinkers on local economic development, an active land developer, and has been an advisor to presidents of the United States and big city mayors.  Yet, when he was Dean of a graduate school at The New School, he made time to attend the staff birthday and going away parties. His being at these events was a symbolic gesture to demonstrate that Ed cared about the staff.  In universities, where staff are often seen as second-class citizens, this is important.

Being more visible is especially important when you're building or revitalizing a community around a mission.  According to the Tuckman Theory of Group Development, people in the beginning look to a strong central leader for direction and guidance.  This is the time when the leader needs to be most visible.  If it means holding monthly meetings where the leader is sitting with one or two people, so be it.  Over time, people are more likely to see the visibility as a sign of commitment and consistency, and will be more likely to be involved  (if the mission is right for them.)

What are the best ways to become more visible?

• Sometimes you need to hold more meetings.  We're told that "everybody hates meetings."  But what most people hate are the meetings that are seen as time-wasters.  A meeting to present what someone can read in a report is a time-waster.  A "team building" exercise for a group that is working well together is a time waster.  The more people can get what they want out of a meeting, the more they will enjoy it.  What do people want?  Depending on the person or the circumstance, it could be getting solutions to problems, the chance to be heard, knowledge on something that will affect their jobs or lives, or opportunities to build connections with other busy people.  If you're trying to motivate staff, have meetings where more time is spent on brainstorming than reporting.  If you're trying to motivate volunteers, have guest speakers or discussion topics in the same meetings where you talk about projects.
• Also hold events.  Even in the most casual places, meetings often have formalities and protocols that can make some people uncomfortable.  One way to get audiences to connect with one another -- a key to building social action -- is to hold events that are fun and relaxed.  Turn one of the weekly breakfast meetings into an afternoon coffee hour.  
• Connect to your audiences through email at least once a month. Free group software and commercial email marketing providers (PDI uses Constant Contact) make it easier for you to stay connected with your audiences.  You don't need to be inspiring every time.  You can write about something in the news, and how it connects to your mission.  You can give kudos to someone who has gone above and beyond.  As long as what you write connects to the mission and values of your group, feel free to be creative.
• Try social networking. Blogs and social networking sites like Facebook and LinkedIn aren't just for narcissists and pundits.  They are a great way for people who are separated by time and distance to connect to one another.  When it is impractical for community members to be together in person often, social networking sites can help to hold a community together.

--Leonardo  Vazquez, AICP/PP

Would you like to build your leadership skills?  Become a Leading from the Middle Fellow.  Learn more here.