National Planning Month 2020

The month of October is National Community Planning Month. No, there’s not 31 days of planning gifts ranging from wayfinding signs to books written by Jane Jacobs. Unfortunately, there’s also no Planning Bunny dropping off eggs full of voting dots. Heck there aren’t even take a planner to lunch events…though I’ll keep campaigning for that custom each year!

However, it is a good time to sit back and contemplate the impact that planning can have on your community. As the American Planning Association’s website states:

“Planners work to improve the well-being of all people living in our communities by taking a comprehensive perspective. This approach leads to safer, resilient, more equitable, and more prosperous communities. We celebrate the role that planning plays in creating great communities in October with National Community Planning Month.“

This year’s theme is Planning Is Essential to Recovery, underscoring the critical role planning plays in leading communities to “equitable, resilient, and long-lasting recovery from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Learn more about National Community Planning Month at www.planning.org/ncpm.

Now, after you thank your local planner (preferably with chocolate, coffee, or….more chocolate), go to that bookcase and dust off your existing community plans. Take some time to read them. Don’t just look at the goals or the renderings of what could be, read it thoroughly to know it inside and out. You’ll have a better appreciation for the plan and will be in a better position to help make it a reality.

Rural Resurrection will do our part, providing a series of posts specifically dedicated to planning in October.