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Friday, 7 February 2020 7:30 AM - 5:30 PM CST
500 West Las Colinas Boulevard, Irving, TX, 75039, United States
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This ticket type is for ELECTED & APPOINTED OFFICIALS. Three or more tickets for Elected & Appointed Officials must be purchased at once to receive the final price of $125/person. If there are attendees other than Elected & Appointed Officials from your group, they must register using the other ticket types, or your registration will be cancelled.
This ticket type is for SPEAKERS ONLY. Speakers have already been notified, and all other registrations must be completed using the other ticket types.
Irving Convention Center at Las Colinas, 500 West Las Colinas Boulevard, Irving, TX, 75039, United States.
The North Central Texas and the Midwest Section
of the American Planning Association
Announce the
9TH ANNUAL
FOCUS NORTH TEXAS
PLANNING SYMPOSIUM
THE 2019 EVENT SOLD OUT, SO GET YOUR TICKETS NOW!
REGISTRATION - CLOSES FEBRUARY 3
$150
Opening plenary: Homelessness and alternative housing choices
Keynote Luncheon:
Retrofitting suburbia for 21st century challenges
Ellen Burnham-Jones
How are dead malls, dying office parks, and other aging auto-oriented properties being redeveloped, reinhabited, or regreened to help their communities address climate change, the loneliness epidemic, income inequality, and other pressing challenges they were never designed for? Following up on Dunham-Jones' and June Williamson's 2009 book, Retrofitting Suburbia and drawing on the over 2000 projects in her database, Dunham-Jones will present successful examples from her and Williamson's forthcoming book, The Retrofitting Suburbia Case Studies.
Questions: Visit www.focusnorthtexas.com or contact Brooks Wilson.
Cancellation policy No refunds will be granted within one week of the event.
No refunds will be granted within one week of the event.
The 2020 Focus North Texas Conference is brought to you by the North Central Texas (NCT) Section and the Midwest Section of the Texas Chapter in the American Planning Association. Both are non-profit professional organizations for urban planners in the Dallas-Fort Worth region. The American Planning Association (APA) is a nonprofit public interest and research organization committed to urban, suburban, regional, and rural planning. APA and its professional institute, the American Institute of Certified Planner (AICP), advance the art and science of planning to meet the needs of people and society.
PLATINUM - Jackson Walker
PLATINUM - Stantec
GOLD - City of Celina
GOLD - The Colony
GOLD - Antero Group
GOLD - CityLab High School
GOLD - DTJ Design
GOLD - General Code
GOLD - Halff
GOLD - Ideation Planning
GOLD - Kimley-Horn
GOLD - Masterplan
GOLD - Mundo and Associates, Inc.
GOLD - Urban EcoPlan
GOLD - WilPLAN
GOLD - ULI North Texas
GOLD - ZoomGrants
SILVER - Civil Associates, Inc.
SILVER - Don Boren and Co, Inc.
SILVER - Gensler
SILVER - JHP Architecture/Urban Design
SILVER - Livable Plans and Codes
SILVER - McAdams
SILVER - Pacheco Koch
SILVER - Texas Masonry Council
SILVER - Tharp Planning Group
Discussion of homelessness, the societal cost of homelessness, and various alternative housing choices that might address this issue by a panel of experts in the field led by WFAA’s Kara Sewell.
President, PF Residential LLC
Vice President of Policy Development & Research, Dallas Housing Authority
Lecturer and Undergraduate Program Coordinator for Nonprofit Leadership, University of North Texas
Innovan Neighborhoods, LLC
WFAA
Housing is a central component to creating livable and sustainable communities. The location, quality, and quantity of housing influences the overall health and well-being of individuals relative to ease of walkability and access, the quality of life of our vulnerable populations, and the ability to remain in the community as needs and resources change. This session explores these important issues in the context of housing affordability. Session participants will review how two pieces of legislation recently adopted by the Texas Legislature impact the affordability of housing in the DFW region. Participants will discuss opportunities for innovations to reduce displacement and inequities to support emerging livability efforts. Finally, participants will discover emerging trends in the provision of housing affordability though neighborhood revitalization.
Assistant Planning Director, City of Allen
Visiting Professor, University of North Texas
Dense, walkable city centers are on the rise in North Texas and so is the challenge of parking cars in these places without compromising their design and function. It is essential to create appropriate parking strategies for walkable places to be a success. Insights will be shared from case studies to illustrate that managing parking was key to place-making. Parking management topics such as minimum requirements in code, shared parking, parking pricing, data collection methods, and other strategies relevant to city code and housing policy will be covered.
Senior Project Manager, WGI
City Manager, City of Fate
Senior Transportation Planner, NCTCOG
Senior Engineer - Traffic Engineering, City of Dallas
This exciting and pertinent session will discuss Place-Making and Community-Building Planning Strategies, Design Approaches along with best practice Urban Design examples used to create these environments. The successful application of these approaches and principles will be reviewed through the presentation of numerous built projects.
Director of Urban Design/Planning - Principal, JHP Architecture/Urban Design
Principal, Norris Design
How would your city go about prioritizing parcels of open space to preserve? How does a county set a strategic vision for open space preservation? Why is it important to plan for open space, just as we plan for housing, roads, and other infrastructure? What value does open space bring to our communities and North Texas? Through the lens of case studies from the City of Fort Worth, Rockwall County, and the Upper Trinity Regional Water District, these questions will be addressed and specific planning efforts of each entity will be shared. The goal of the session is to inform planners of the benefit and value of open space and provide examples of planning and implementation efforts underway to provide communities with a future plan for open space preservation.
Senior Program Manager, NCTCOG
Stormwater Program Manager, City of Fort Worth
County Commissioner, Rockwall County
Manager of Customer Contracts, Upper Trinity Regional Water District
Applicants, supervisors, or clients may invite a planner to a meeting, close the door, and then ask you to do something helpful to them but which sounds illegal or unethical to you. How do you respond? You need a strategy both to conclude the meeting and to determine your long-range course of action. How do you proceed? Whom do you consult? How will the AICP Code of Ethics help you decide? Practical advice on how to proceed will be offered by planners with extensive experience working in Texas.
Pro Bono Planner
Senior Resilience Planner, Halff Associates
Assistant City Manager, City of Wylie
This session will focus on why it is crucial to promote proactive planning versus reactive planning. The planning process in Celina takes advantage of the growth headed north from Frisco and Plano. The session will give examples of how Celina is becoming a desirable place to live and work, based on a purposeful and strategic approach by the city leadership.
Director of Economic Development, City of Celina
City Manager, City of Celina
Director of Development Services, City of Celina
As an elected or appointed official, your civic duty is to be aware of the issues and factors that influence each case that comes before the commission, council or board prior to its presentation. A basic understanding of zoning districts and the appropriate uses in each and a knowledge of the subdivision ordinance will make you a better leader in your community. The speakers will present a brief history of city planning and cover the key points necessary for the successful consideration of plans.
City of Lake Dallas
How are dead malls, dying office parks, and other aging auto-oriented properties being redeveloped, reinhabited, or regreened to help their communities address climate change, the loneliness epidemic, income inequality, and other pressing challenges they were never designed for? Following up on Dunham-Jones’ and June Williamson’s 2009 book, Retrofitting Suburbia and drawing on the over 2000 projects in her database, Dunham-Jones will present successful examples from her and Williamson’s forthcoming book, The Retrofitting Suburbia Case Studies.
Author of Retrofitting Suburbia
On any single night, more than 6,000 North Texans are literally homeless. One-third of those were unsheltered and living in places not meant for human habitation. Chronically homelessness poses special problems for communities, consuming significant levels of resources for police, EMS, and code enforcement, depressing real estate values and quality of life in communities where they are concentrated. This session will provide a thorough review of the challenges in addressing homelessness. Attendees will learn the characteristics and origins of homelessness, issues surrounding equity and housing, the impact on communities, and strategies for developing supportive housing. Successful public-private partnerships that develop supportive housing will be discussed as well as strategies for mitigating the community impact of un-sheltered homelessness.
City of Fort Worth
City of Fort Worth Police Department
The 1,200-acre industrial district surrounding the Arapaho Center DART Station has historically served as the building supply chain to Richardson’s Telecom Corridor. However, over the years this district has faced a number of challenges including vacancies, less desirable land uses, and aging infrastructure. In 2016, a study recommended rebranding the area into an Innovation District to encourage new incubators, accelerators, and small business development. One of the first implementation projects in this District was a road diet testing along a major six-lane thoroughfare. A grant from AARP’s Liveable Communities Initiative assisted the City with coordinating with the Better Block Foundation help the public to visualize the improvements. Attendees will hear from both a planner and engineer on the lessons learned throughout this testing phase and how they set the stage for a rezoning to ‘code the vision’ and align the regulatory framework with the post road-diet street types to further promote the City's new walkable, mixed-use transit-oriented vision.
Planning Projects Manager, City of Richardson
Mobility & Special Projects Manager, City of Richardson
Streets are public spaces and conduits of movement for human activities. However, they are often an auto-oriented environment that lacks cultural diversity and human vitality. Within this Arlington case study, approximately 80% of commuting choice is in a single occupied auto. This street pattern tends to nullify public space and weakens the sense of community. Through the study of successful main streets in other cities, the speakers formed several proposals to enhance walkable urban corridors in Arlington. Planners will learn how to maximize cultural place-making Streets are public spaces and conduits of movement for human activities. However, they are often an auto-oriented environment that lacks cultural diversity and human vitality. Within this Arlington case study, approximately 80% of commuting choice is in a single occupied auto. This street pattern tends to nullify public space and weakens the sense of community. Through the study of successful main streets in other cities, the speakers formed several proposals to enhance walkable urban corridors in Arlington. Planners will learn how to maximize cultural place-making
UTA
Assistant Professor in Architecture, University of Texas at Arlington
This session will focus on the legalities of economic development tools on development decisions including a discussion of how the building materials restrictions of Chapter 3000 of the Texas Government Code will affect planners and planning in the Metroplex.
Jackson Walker
Managing Partner, Nichols, Jackson, Dillard, Hagar & Smith, LLP
Economic development in North Texas must include a mixed of uses, including industrial. As the population swells, many communities are failing to recognize opportunities for manufacturing, logistics, and other industrial uses that offer ample employment and tax base. This session will discuss economic development and land use approaches that allow for preservation of key industrial corridors in a manner that complements the booming residential market growth our region is experiencing.
Principal, Antero Group
Senior Project Manager, Antero Group
Are you an early planning professional trying to find your way? Or even a “seasoned” planning professional but feeling less inspired? This session focuses on cultivating personal values and passions into real-life planning concepts/projects that can help change the way we plan and how we maintain happiness and inspiration in our careers. Each speaker will present their challenges upon entering the planning profession along with their successes as they found their own paths to break out of the box of “traditional planning.”
Planning Technician, City of Arlington
nsit Planner, City of Alexandria
Planning Technician, City of Lancaster
Transportation Planner, NCTCOG
Planning issues commonly involve a conflict of values and, often, there are large private interests at stake. These accentuate the necessity for the highest standards of fairness and honesty among all participants. Join city attorney Alan Lathrom for a session on the ethical and legal planning practices that elected & appointed officials face in their day-to-day careers. This training offers a thorough review of the standards of practice, ethics, and professional conduct involved in the planning process. This session also provides an overview of the Texas Open Meetings Act.
Brown & Hoffmeister
At a time when the DFW region is seeing exponential economic and population growth, it is also seeing a steady increase in the wealth gap between its poorest and richest citizens. Although steady and widespread, the new economic benefits have not been experienced equitably by all communities. The trending terms ‘equitable development’ and ‘inclusive growth’, in community and economic development, have been identified as effective tools to achieve this end. In this session we will help participants define these terms through an interactive discussion on how planning practitioners can embrace equitable development in their communities, be catalysts for inclusive growth, and effectively & thoughtfully balance varying community interests.
Founder & Chief Strategist, C-Suite Consulting
This session will focus on the economic benefit of mass transit, potential multimodal last-mile mobility solutions for riders, and the Mobility Toolkit that planners can apply to their own transportation issues. Using data from their A-Train case study, the speakers will discuss the fiscal impact of the A-train’s presence in the Metroplex. Working in North Texas and elsewhere, the Antero Group produced a toolkit that can be implemented in the Metroplex to identify transportation challenges and solutions. Planners will learn the methods for gathering and analyzing both spatial and non-spatial data and their economic impacts.
Senior Planner, Antero Group
Demographics show a bimodal distribution of Traditional Generation & Baby Boomers and their younger equally large cohort of Millennials. These generations are waging a fierce, if little understood, battle to define the state. Generational change is among the most understudied factors within the planning landscape. This conflict is often called the “Fourth Technological Revolution or Handheld Revolution.” This revolution, driven by Millennials, dates from 2007 and the rise of the iPhone and defines modern American, including planning and development. The retail world has experienced a seismic shift as a result of generational change and customer preference. The presentation will include first hand examples on a broad spectrum of development areas (student loans, voting patterns, restaurants and dining, marriage patterns, etc.). The presentation will be wide-ranging, amusing, and engage the audience in a meaningful way that creates discussion, disagreement, and collegiality.
CEO, Masterplan
This session presents the case study of how the UT Arlington's Institute of Urban Studies and the residents of Sonterra, Texas worked together to develop a Master Parks Plan with the constraints of most available park land being floodplain, utility easements, or detention basins. Topics covered are geospatial analysis of park and facility coverage, understanding the limitations and potentials of available land, and building consensus among disparate interests.
Director, University of Texas at Arlington Institute of Urban Studies
Graduate Research Associate, University of Texas at Arlington Institute of Urban Studies
Graduate Research Associate, University of Texas at Arlington
Planners often find themselves at the mercy of the State Legislature when it comes to implementing local plans and administering regulations. Panelists will discuss the effects of recently passed legislation including limited places on local control, tax-related bills, attacks on home-rule authority, annexation, building materials, shot clocks, public hearings for residential replats, among others. Attendees will learn what local codes may have to be modified based on recent legislation enacted by the State.
Municipal Planning Consultant
The UNT Law Center recently took residence in the historic Dallas Municipal Court building. The speakers will discuss how the process of transforming a 100-year-old building into a LEED Gold center of higher education while maintaining its historic integrity had its challenges. These challenges were compounded by the multiple historic designations of the site and building. Discussion will focus on the design process, lessons learned, and the ongoing impact of the building.
Stantec
This session will explain the use of development agreements between landowners and cities. What rights do these agreements afford? How do the standards spelled out in a development agreement affect zoning? Two leaders in city government will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of these public/private partnerships.
WilPlan
Assistant City Manager, City of Frisco
This session will describe the inception and development of the Safe & Sound Housing Empowerment Program and the impact it has had on the community. Its mission is to provide housing support to families with children in Farmers Branch who are homeless or on the verge of homelessness by providing direct housing support in parallel with self-sufficiency services such as financial capability, employment coaching, and education/training.
CEO, Metrocrest Services
City of Farmers Branch
Focusing on the three W’s, Transportation Experts with TJKM will demonstrate transportation trends that have been popular over the years, highlighting successes and pitfalls from projects throughout the Bay area. Who was the agency that implemented the strategy? What was the strategy? Why was it successful or not successful?
TJKM
The 360 Plan is a comprehensive and strategic plan for Downtown Dallas that set forth a clear, cohesive vision for the downtown and its adjoining neighborhoods as “a place for everyone at the heart of the city.” Robust engagement shaped the vision and highlighted the need to focus on three key strategies: advancing urban mobility, building complete neighborhoods, and Place-making. This collaboration is helping Downtown Dallas achieve its vision of being a complete, connected, inclusive, robust, and unique City Center. The discussion will cover the planning efforts, implementation successes and struggles, and lessons learned along the way.
Manager, Urban Planning, Downtown Dallas, Inc.
Service Area Planning Manager, City of Dallas Planning and Urban Design Department
Chief Planner, City of Dallas Planning and Urban Design Department
Planners will learn fundamentals for understanding, engaging, communicating, and planning with historically marginalized communities to ensure equitable and sustainable neighborhood improvements and improve cooperation among residents, planners, and city officials. The speakers will describe how trust was lost and can be rebuilt in many marginalized communities. Attendees will learn how to actively listen when conducting community research and develop the capacity to integrate knowledge to manage effective public engagement and involvement in these communities.
Marketing Coordinator, RK&K
Better Bike Share Partnership Program Manager, City of Philadelphia
A solid understanding of the risks and benefits of preserving and protecting floodplains can result in great natural amenities within a community. Natural channel management can lead to the creation of successful developments. This session will describe options for identifying, regulating, and protecting natural channels through local and federal floodplain regulations. Alternative options will be presented for easement dedications, riparian corridor protection, and finished floor requirements. Material will be based on training curriculum from FEMA's National Flood Insurance Program floodplain management course and actual development projects. Case studies will be presented where the floodplain was identified, protected and utilized as an amenity and resource for proposed community development within the City of Cleburne.
Managing Director, Walter P. Moore
Director of Community Development, City of Cleburne
Participants will enjoy a lively discussion on Ethics – it is possible to enjoy ethics – using the AICP 2019 Ethics Case of the Year. The session will cover a series of ethical scenarios based on real-life planning issues. Ethics topics discussed include taking credit for work, withholding information, workplace harassment, disparaging comments, expert witness testimony, discrimination, political donations, and taking gifts.
Independent Architecture & Planning Professional
Cooper Consulting Company, Inc.
Built environment factors are believed to play an essential role in shaping the geography of crime rates. Neighborhoods with a higher proportion of commercial land uses are thought to be more vulnerable to crime because commercial facilities attract outsiders to the neighborhood, thereby increasing its exposure to potential offenders. However, advocates of compact, mixed-use neighborhoods suggest that by combining commercial and residential uses can reduce crime by increasing opportunities for human surveillance, encouraging social interaction, and promoting a sense of community among neighborhood members. This study investigates the relationship between crime and the neighborhood built environment characteristics and how to create safer communities through policy changes.
University of Texas at Arlington
Informal post-event gathering and networking. Drink tickets and light-appetizers will be provided.
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