Speaking

Thoroughfare plans have long been the domain of engineers, often focused narrowly on traffic congestion, roadway widening and right-of-way (ROW) preservation. As a result, planners are frequently left to work around rigid designs and regulations that don't align with broader community goals for safety, equity, sustainability and sense of place. This status quo calls for a new frontier with a stronger planning voice in the thoroughfare planning process.

Rather than treating thoroughfare plans as technical, vehicle-centric documents, we developed an innovative approach that integrates land use, multimodal access and the character of surrounding areas into the planning process. In this session we will introduce the concepts of context classification and street typologies and demonstrate how they can be used to align roadway design more closely with land use and community goals. 

Through interactive, scenario-based exercises, participants will engage with real-world challenges commonly faced during the planning process, such as balancing public opinion, bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure, transit access, ROW constraints, traffic flow and safety outcomes. Through these scenarios participants will gain a deeper understanding of multimodal roadway design, integrated policy documents and inclusive public and stakeholder engagement. 

Attendees will learn practical tools and proactive strategies to create forward-thinking thoroughfare plans and gain a deeper understanding of how planner-led thoroughfare planning can shape livable, equitable and connected communities. 

Effective planning for housing affordability requires a deep understanding of the housing market and the economic principles and dynamics that dictate how it functions through various submarkets. This session is an interactive experience and will demonstrate to participants how the housing market operates and functions by experiencing it themselves.

This session will have attendees participate in housing market dynamics where different households attempt to find housing they can afford. Attendees will receive either a household persona card or a housing unit card. Household persona cards will include household makeup and income, budget information, and housing needs, while housing unit cards will include unit type details, mortgage or rent and neighborhood information. The goal for households will be to find a matching housing unit within their budget, while housing units will attempt to maximize their sale or rent price.

After participating in the presentation, attendees will be able to:

• Gain a better understanding of complex housing market dynamics, like supply and demand across different housing submarkets, through an interactive real-world experience
• Communicate the impacts that current housing market forces have on households of all income types to stakeholders, including the impacts of investor purchasing and housing value/income mismatches
• Plan more effectively through experiencing the impacts that potential housing policies—such as ADUs—might have on housing market dynamics