APA NPC23 – Look Out Philly!

      Comments Off on APA NPC23 – Look Out Philly!
Share This Article

These lyrics keep bouncing around in my mind…

In West Philadelphia born and raised. On the playground is where I spent most of my days.”

Why do I have the opening lyrics to the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air theme song in my head? I’m going to Philly!

Each year my excitement for the upcoming APA National Planning Conference (NPC23) starts to build in January. That’s when registration has been opening and I start planning for my time at the conference.

This year has extra intrigue because the conference is in Philadelphia. Although it’s most-common nickname is “City of Brotherly Love”, it’s also “The Birthplace of America”. Philly is rich in history with so many sites to see. But it also has some early community planning aspects sprinkled throughout.

Benjamin Franklin Parkway

Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Meihe Chen/Wikimedia, (CC BY 4.0)

NPC23 is Hybrid

Once again, this year’s conference is a hybrid event. For those who cannot attend in person, the American Planning Association has decided to offer online sessions as well. But I’m “All In” and ready to go.

Last year I saw an interesting uptick in rural planning sessions. However, that uptick was depressingly short-lived as the number of rural sessions in the program this year is relatively thin. There are a few that have piqued my interest, though they might not be based on rural communities, they may have aspects that could be helpful to us on the rural side:

  • Economic Gardening: A Planner and Farmer
  • Dollars and Sense: Building Publically Desired Amenities
  • Designing a Successful Small-Business and Entrepreneur Ecosystem
  • Words Drive Action: Storytelling for Resilient Communities
  • Agricultural Heritage Economy – Our Past is Our Future
  • Solar Development on Farmland – Are Agri-Voltaics the Solution?
  • Preserving Threatened Historic Properties Through Public/Private Partnerships
  • Data-Driven Grantmaking for Economic Empowerment
  • Alaska Rural and Tribal Communities: Economic Development Coalition
  • Land of 10,000 Plans: Waterfront Plans of Minnesota
  • Sparking Downtown Recovery Through the Public Realm
  • Making Infill Easy: Pattern Homes and Pre-Approved Plans
Love Park, Philadelphia

Love at Philadelphia / Love Park, JFK Plaza, Nakashi/Wikimedia, (CC BY 2.0)

Much like last year, I’ll do a follow-up post on what went down, what I learned, and what readers might see more about in the coming months due to the conference.

Looking forward to downing a genuine Philly cheesesteak and discussing some rural planning.

Be sure to follow Rural Resurrection on Twitter as I’ll likely post a few times during the event.