CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The latest, greatest ideas for building better communities will be showcased March 4-5 at the 2004 Planning Institute, hosted by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign department of urban and regional planning.
And while the annual event – organized by the department’s Professional Development and Outreach Program – always draws plenty of participants from the academic, government and public service sectors, this year’s program includes a number of lectures, panels and workshops packed with appeal for all citizens interested in enhancing the quality of life in their neighborhoods and communities.
“The planning institute is a one-stop, efficient learning venue for both practitioners and citizen planners,” said event coordinator Pattsi Petrie. The theme of this year’s program is “Innovative Community Planning”; under that umbrella, featured speakers and panelists will present what Petrie describes as “high quality workshops on important statewide community planning topics.” Among them: renewable energies, traffic calming, green construction, sustainable design, farmland preservation, development of a community vision, co-housing and cooperative housing, and bicycling as an alternative mode of transportation.
Also on the program are guest lectures by nationally known authors Jim Bouton and Richard Florida, and Mary Kay Peck and Maxine Griffith, leading authorities from the planning profession. Other presenters include faculty members from Illinois and elsewhere, along with state and municipal officials, citizen planners and professionals from business and nonprofit organizations.
Most institute sessions will be held at the Illini Union, 1401 W. Green St., Urbana.
Kicking off the event will be a “pre-institute” talk by Bouton, at 4 p.m. on March 3 in Plym Auditorium, Temple Buell Hall, 611 E. Lorado Taft Drive, Champaign. The former New York Yankees pitcher and author of “Ball Four” will talk about his most recent book, “Foul Ball: My Life and Hard Times Trying to Save an Old Ballpark.” The book details the obstacles he and other citizens of Pittsfield, Mass., encountered when they initiated a grassroots campaign to save their beloved Wahconah Park and fight plans by city powerbrokers and their outside allies to force a new, $18.5 million stadium on the community.
Rob Olshanksy, professor and associate head of urban and regional planning, said he invited Bouton to present the pre-institute talk “because I was impressed by his story about historic preservation of an old ballpark in a local political environment that discourages citizen involvement.”
“His story has much to tell our students,” Olshansky said. “First, with the wave of ballpark-extortions sweeping the country, it is a cautionary tale.”
“I love the new ballparks,” said Olshansky, who describes himself as a baseball fan, “but they come at a price, and usually involve excessive amounts of taxpayer money.
“Second, his story shows how not to run participatory democracy. The power structure in Pittsfield controls all aspects of the town, including the timing and agenda of important public meetings.” Olshansky said Bouton’s tale also includes “lessons about the importance of strong, independent media.”
A book-signing, sponsored by the Illini Union Bookstore, will follow Bouton’s talk in the gallery adjacent to Plym Auditorium.
The planning institute gets under way the following day, with registration beginning at 7:30 a.m. in Room 406 Illini Union. At 8:30 a.m., following opening remarks by Olshansky, Peck will present the keynote address. Peck, an Illinois alumna, is president of the American Planning Association and a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners.
Concurrent morning and afternoon sessions are scheduled from 9:30 a.m. to 5:20 p.m., with a lunch break, in 314A Illini Union. The luncheon will feature welcoming remarks by Kathleen Conlin, the dean of the College of Fine and Applied Arts at Illinois.
That evening, the venues shift: From 5 to 7 p.m., a reception honoring Griffith, the executive director of the Philadelphia City Planning Commission, will be held at the department of urban and regional planning’s Community Design Center, 112 W. Main St., Urbana. Two futuristic planning tools will be exhibited – “the CUBE,” a virtual program that will display sprawl in Kane County, and “the smart board,” used to enhance decision making.
Griffith, who also is a member of the American Planning Association and American Institute of Certified Planners, will deliver the Louis B. Wetmore Planning Practice Lecture at 7:30 p.m. in Plym Auditorium, Temple Buell Hall. The talk is free and open to the public.
The Wetmore lecture is named in honor of emeritus professor Louis B. Wetmore, who in the 1950s and ’60s headed what was then known as the department of city planning and landscape architecture at Illinois.
The institute resumes on March 5 at the Illini Union, beginning at 7:30 a.m. with a coffee hour, registration and informal networking. Concurrent sessions run from 8:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.
Wrapping up the institute will be a free, public talk at 12:45 p.m. by Florida, in the lobby of the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, 500 S. Goodwin Ave., Urbana. Florida, the Heinz Professor of Economic Development at Carnegie Mellon University, is the author of the best-selling book “The Rise of the Creative Class: And How It’s Transforming Work, Leisure, Community and Everyday Life.” Among other points, Petrie said, Florida “will emphasize that there are other innovative, cultural, economic development options than building another big-box store to create a vibrant community.” Florida’s talk and visit to the campus is sponsored in part by the Office of the Provost and the Krannert Center.
Other co-sponsors of the institute include the University of Illinois at Chicago, the Illinois chapter of the American Planning Association, and the Illinois chapter of the American Association of Landscape Architects.
A complete program, as well as registration information and a fee schedule, is available on the Web or by contacting Petrie at 217-244-7424.
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