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University of Washington – Winter Quarter Lecture

Washington planners are invited to attend a lecture by Mitchell Silver, FAICP, Commissioner of the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation on January 29, 2020 (Architecture Hall, Room 147, on the UW campus, 3943 Stevens Way W, Seattle). To register, please click here.

Commissioner Silver oversees management, planning and operations of nearly 30,000 acres of parkland for the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. Commissioner Silver will be sharing insights from his 30-year career as a professional planner and as an international leader on contemporary planning issues. Mr. Silver served as the President of both the American Institute of Certified Planners and the American Planning Association.

The event is sponsored by the University of Washington Department of Urban Design & Planning (UDP) and the UDP Professionals Council. The lecture begins at 6:30 PM, but all are invited to attend a reception in the Architecture Hall lobby beginning at 5:30 PM.

Eastern WA University – Urban & Regional Planning Update from Professor Kerry Brooks

Some recent happenings and events in the Eastern Washington University Urban & Regional Planning Programs include the following:

  • We held another successful annual Planning Advisory Committee meeting in early November. Thank you to all of our wonderful and supportive PAC members!
  • Current students, faculty, alumni and friends of the programs enjoyed the 42nd Annual EWU Planning Chili Cook-Off also in November.
  • EWU Planning supported a “Cycle-Track Pop-up” in October, an outgrowth of a Bike Planning charrette we helped plan and host earlier in the year –based upon an initiative by Spokane City Councilman (and Council President-elect) Breean Beggs.  We will also host a second workshop planning for additional pop-ups in December.
  • The entire Urban & Regional Planning faculty attended the annual Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning Conference in Greenville SC in October and most presented papers there.
  • The Graduate Capstone studio is working with the Colville Confederate Tribes on a land use element for their comprehensive plan.
  • The Graduate Advanced Community Development class produced a report, “Where Shall We Breathe?” for the City of Spokane Community, Housing & Human Services Department, focused on planning for clear air shelters in case of poor air quality form wildfire or similar events.
  • This year, we are pleased to report that we are supporting nearly all of our MURP graduate students through funded research projects. We should also have funding available for MURP students in Fall 2020, and we are open for applications.  Several of the projects that our students (and faculty) are involved in are highlighted below:
    • We are completing year three of our project with the Washington Department of Transportation on Community Engagement for Placemaking around the North Spokane corridor. We also coordinate with the city of Spokane and other agencies on this project.  The project also involves community engagement on the route and character of the Children of the Sun Trail, a shared use path providing a north-south link for the Spokane region. We will discuss this project at the Washington Bike, Walk, Roll Summit being held in Spokane in late April, 2020.
    • We are entering year four of the EPA Regional 10 Environmental Finance Center project, in partnership with the Rural Communities’ Assistance Corp.  Through this project we have developed a mobile app to help small rural and tribal water systems map and inventory their infrastructure, in support of asset management plans.

Return to the November/December issue of the Washington Planner