APA NPC ’24 – Chillin’ in Minnesota – The Aftermath

Minneapolis can rest at ease, the herd of planning nerds has left. They have left the APA National Planning Conference (NPC ’24) excited to improve their communities through what they’ve learned. Just give them a little time to recuperate first…

Ah, the morning migration of planning nerds in their natural habitat. A beautiful sight. #NPC24 pic.twitter.com/98sJRBrBo4

— Rural Resurrection (@ruralresurrect) April 15, 2024

APA CEO Joel Albizo (@JoelAlbizo) and APA Board President Angela Brooks (@ADBrooksFAICP) welcomed everyone to the event. Angela energetically danced her way into the event to a Prince song, apropos for the location of this year’s conference (and also her favorite musical artist).

The opening keynote was Lori Pace, CEO of Changing Places International. Lori had an impactful speech that encouraged those in attendance to make better connections with people and make a lasting difference with those around them.

Minneapolis as the Venue

I’ll have to admit, I was wary about Minneapolis as a venue for this year’s NPC. The land of 10,000 lakes is not typically warm during the month of April. However, it was unseasonably warm for the majority of the visit to the Twin Cities. But for the last couple of days, it was quite cold and rainy. This offered a great excuse to explore the labyrinth of pathways that is the Minneapolis Skyway System, “…the largest contiguous system of enclosed, second-level bridges in the world—composed of 9.5 miles of pathways connecting 80 city blocks.” It went on forever!

Nicollet Mall

For those who ventured outside the maze that is the skywalk, there was the Nicollet Mall just a couple blocks from the conference center. Starting in the 1960s, the Nicollet Mall is a conversion of Nicollet Avenue into a pedestrian and transit mall spanning 12 blocks. It is full of plazas, public art, landscaping, and pedestrian amenities.

One of the spaces that drew my eye was Peavy Plaza. The space, designed by renowned landscape architect M. Paul Friedberg, opened in 1975. Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2013, architects are quick to point out the plaza’s modernist architecture and interaction with water. Unfortunately, it was April and the water valves hadn’t been opened yet. Check out the Green Minneapolis website for how it looks during the summer.

Loring Park

Heading west toward Loring Park, you are able to come across a set of historical narratives about the Loring Park area of Downtown Minneapolis. Mounted on the wall like framed art, these narratives provide a great deal of information in an interesting format along Grant Street.

The park itself is a beautiful, eclectic mix of amenities sprinkled into a very large park setting. Although it was initially created over 140 years ago, Loring Park is still quite eye-catching. But it is probably even better once it is in full foliage.

Minneapolis Sculpture Garden

Crossing over the Irene Hixon Whitney Bridge (and the 17 lanes of interstate traffic) from Loring Park, you enter the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. This expansive sculpture garden is sandwiched between the Walker Art Center and the Dunwoody College of Technology. It includes a wide variety of sculptures, walkways, and other park amenities.

Overall, the site impressed upon me the impact of public art on placemaking. Public art can have a profound effect on a visitor’s overall experience in your downtown, main transportation corridor, or community parks.

Always Something Good to Eat

Food was readily available throughout downtown, just a short walk from the conference center. As in the past, I’m lured into pubs wherever I go, but especially when I’m at NPC. This year I visited Brit’s Pub and The Local, not once, but twice…each. Of course, I had to dig into their fish n’ chips as well as the shepherd’s pie at Brit’s. Both restaurants had classy old-world charm and plenty of TVs to watch sports.

I was also drawn to Hell’s Kitchen. No, this isn’t one of Gordon Ramsey’s joints, but it did provide a great mix of food, in an atmosphere that can easily be called “unique”. Below is the Triple C a “double smashed burger patties are topped with white cheddar, candied bacon, and a savory cream cheese blended with caramelized onions, garlic, and aromatic herbs.”

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to down a Juicy Lucy as I was targeting. Nor did I take in any Scandinavian treats. Not taking in either one was a massive failure for me.

Rural Planning at NPC

As mentioned in my pre-conference post on NPC ’24, there were a number of sessions that piqued my interest from a rural mindset.

Housing

Of the many sessions, there seemed to be an overwhelming theme throughout the conference about the affordable housing issue. It was a good area of discussion as we approached May and Affordable Housing Month. One session, Realizing Housing in Small Towns, piqued my interest as it included Bruce Meighen (@MeighenBruce), the CEO and President of Logan Simpson, a consulting firm in Fort Collins, Colorado. I had worked with Bruce previously on a comprehensive plan for La Vista, Nebraska.

Along with Bruce was Melissa Ruth and Michelle Groenevelt. Mellisa spoke about the exorbitant housing costs in Jackson and Teton County, WY. Housing has been an issue in that community for some time, but town leaders have worked hard to counteract the impacts of a tight housing market.  Michelle discussed the same housing struggles that the City of McCall, Idaho, was having and how that town was making strides to overcome them.

Good Design

Oddly enough, I didn’t see much on Wayzata, Minnesota, at this year’s conference as had been at other NPC events. I’ve posted about their past sessions and about their Panaway project on Rural Resurrection before. So I was looking forward to seeing more about this suburb of Minneapolis. But maybe I wasn’t looking closely enough.

One session that did have Wayzata staff in it was a session about Objective Design Standards. Although design standards haven’t been a topic that I’ve addressed yet on Rural Resurrection, it may be on the docket for a future post. One great thing about this session was the link to the full versions of the adopted design standards. Too many sessions leave this out and are essentially “show and tell” sessions with little implementable value.

Economic Incentives

One very good session was on North Dakota’s Renaissance Zone Program. This valuable economic incentive package is quite interesting. Representatives of Bismark, Fargo, and Williston broke down the basics of the Renaissance Zone Program and how the program had benefitted their community. This subject may just be worth a post in the future as well.

Getting to Hear Speech Speak

Rounding out the conference was Speech Thomas (@Speech__). This lead singer of the 90s hip hop group Arrested Development. A group that is known for songs like Tennessee, People Everyday, and Mr. Wendel. While his hip-hop group lost popularity after its short run in the 1990s, Speech has gone on to…well…do speeches.

But to say that he does speeches is an understatement. Speech warmed up the crowd with a mix of hip-hop before jumping into his presentation on Brave Leadership. What followed was an intrinsic look into Speech’s history and how it molded him into a leader. There was crowd interaction, laughs, emotion, and music…quite a bit of great music!

Provided below is just a short bit from his overall presentation. If you are able to take in his overall speech on Brave Leadership, I suggest you do!

A Brave Leader Can Change the Trajectory of the World – Speech Thomas from Upside Speakers on Vimeo.

In Summary

Minneapolis turned out to be a better event venue than I had envisioned. Although I wasn’t able to take in a Twins game, there was plenty to do. The other conference-goers that I talked to enjoyed NPC and felt Minneapolis was a great venue as well. Check out the Rural Resurrection Instagram account for more pictures from this year’s NPC.

As usual, I’m already looking forward to next year’s conference. In the spring of 2025, Denver residents will have to get used to the hordes of planning nerds trouncing through their community as well. Look out Denver