Current Issue

Spring 2008

Streets as Building Blocks of Community
The Winter 2008 issues of The Commissioner focused on creating a great neighborhood. This issues looks at what characteristics distinguish an ordinary street from a great street.

The Americans with Disabilities Act: Six Key Points for Planning Officials
The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) is a civil rights law of expansive scope prohibiting discrimination based on disability. It ensures equal opportunity for persons with disabilities in employment, state and local government services, public accommodations, commercial facilities and transportation.

A Brief Respite for Klamath Falls Planning Commission
They’re catching their breath at the City of Klamath Falls Planning Commission, awaiting the growth that will inevitably come their way.

Youth Engagement in Planning
What empowers a community – where ordinary people create better places, transform their own and others’ lives while solving the public problems of the day? Inclusive planning, for starters. In recent years planning has made great strides in mobilizing broad participation, incorporating a diversity of interests and stakeholder groups of different cultural and economic backgrounds and ages. Youth provide a unique and fresh voice to the dialogue. In a growing number of circumstances, children and youth are taking a more active role in shaping their communities.

Resource Finder: Universal Design and the ADA
The Americans with Disabilities Act provides an opportunity to enhance accessibility in your community through universal design, zoning and building codes, transportation, and community involvement.

Commissioner's Voice
Can you imagine a crowd applauding a land development ordinance? It happened in Jackson County, Oregon, and is an indicator of success in developing ways to increase and promote citizen participation.

Mason: Early Company Towns and Master Planning
While company towns represent some of the earliest and most comprehensive planning efforts in the United States, some company towns were planned for industrial expediency rather than as aesthetically pleasing or physically comfortable residential enclaves. The last company town in Michigan’s Copper Country, just now being sold to non-company owners, is evidence of that.