Several recent RCP projects will be featured at this year's American Planning Association Minnesota Chapter conference, which will be held virtually September 22–24, 2021.
The sessions are described below, and include projects from our 2020–2021 partnerships with Carver County, the CIty of Woodbury, and the City of Little Canada. To view these sessions, you must be registered for the conference. We hope to see you there!
Minding the Gap - Assessing Transit Needs in Carver County
When: Thursday, September 23, 11:00-11:45 am
Carver County has several transit providers, all with different service levels, service types, and service areas, ranging from fixed-route commuter services to volunteer-based demand/response services, which creates a complicated system of options for transit users. The county’s population is growing, urbanizing, and aging, which likely means there is an increasing number of people who want or need to use transit. This session will describe a collaboration between Carver County and students at the University of Minnesota to identify unmet transit needs within the county. Attendees will learn about the complexities of evaluating transit needs in Carver County, which is partially rural and partially suburban, and the approach we are taking to do so. Presenters will discuss how local governments collaborating with interdisciplinary academic teams can bring new ideas and skills to projects, while providing students with valuable real-world experience.
Presenters: Adriana Atcheson, Carver County Planning and Water Management; Eric Wojchik, Metropolitan Council; Katherine Mueller, University of Minnesota
Branching Out – Equitable Engagement Approaches for Enhancing the Tree Canopy
When: Friday, September 24, 3:15-4:00 pm
You can’t see the forest through the trees. You also can’t see inequity in urban forestry without taking a step back to consider: How do we explain the importance of this topic to the public? How are people affected differently between different neighborhoods? How and where do we plant trees today that will be prominent in 20 years? This session will detail how one community collaborated with the U of M and Metropolitan Council to consider these questions—along with equitable engagement on a technical subject, the urban forest—to support a decennial process of updating a plan.
Presenters: Kristin Seaman, City of Woodbury; Eric Wojchik, Metropolitan Council; Kathryn Stower, University of Minnesota; Bill Baker, University of Minnesota
A Better Plan: How We Used Community Engagement to Inform the Master Planning Process from the Start
When: Friday, September 24, 3:15-4:00 pm
This session will detail the analytical process and procedural steps involved in the creation of the Little Canada Pioneer Park Master Plan. We will discuss the Fellowship team’s perspective and juxtapose that with that of the city staff. Emphasis will be placed on understanding how a more informed city staff and council can lead to a better master plan for public space.
Presenters: Corrin Wendell, City of Little Canada; Bryce Shearen, City of Little Canada; Gunnar Carlson, University of Minnesota and GLC Consulting