October was National Community Planning Month. From where you live to how you get to work, your decisions are all influenced by planning. Many citizens do not realize the impact planning has on their daily life. In an effort to join the community with its local planners, various City of Fort Collins planning departments offered FREE tours of our great neighborhoods and streets. This was an opportunity to meet local planners and have one-on-one conversations about the many projects within the city, past and present. The tours highlighted various projects including recent urban design winners, South College Corridor Plan, and the evolution of neighborhood planning. This was an opportunity to recognize how planning shapes Fort Collins, and the work of planners and the planning profession in creating communities of lasting value. The City of Fort Collins encourages you to take advantage of this terrific occasion and be part of the next Plan Van tours in the Spring.
Join us as we travel through time from 1873 to 2007! City Planner, Clark Mapes will showcase the planning evolution of our neighborhoods and streets; starting in Old Town then traveling through the decades and ending with the Stargazing Observatory in Observatory Village.
As one of Fort Collins' recently annexed areas and a major travel corridor, the South College Corridor holds much interest for its local residents, businesses and the rest of the community. Beginning at Harmony Road and traveling south to Carpenter Road, Senior Planner Timothy Wilder will share key locations, issues, options and recommendations making up the backbone of the plan, which is still in progress. As an added bonus, you'll get a little lesson in planning and the public process, too! For more info on this plan, visit fcgov.com/southcollege.
Join us in promoting awareness of the importance of urban design, and its role in maintaining and enhancing the quality of life in our community. Senior Planner, Anne Aspen will highlight the winners of the biennial Urban Design Awards from the categories of architecture, urban fragment, civic improvement, green design, and more. Visit fcgov.com/urbandesignawards to learn more.
The affordable housing team wants you to see firsthand a variety of affordable housing designed for everyone from seniors to working families. You'll truly see opened doors to a new lease on life for many Fort Collins' most valuable citizens like teachers, clerks, firefighters and nurses. The journey concludes with a fascinating tour of the Food Bank of Larimer County. What is Planning? Planning is the process of envisioning, mapping or otherwise conceiving how a community will look, grow, and define itself—its characteristics, attributes, and identity. As our communities continue to change and grow, planners play an important role in ensuring that new developments are designed and built in harmony with existing surroundings. Planners must carefully balance the needs and desires of residents against the challenges presented by growth and change not just in the physical realm, but also economically and socially. Planning also strives to give residents choices. From the type of home an individual lives in, such as a condominium, apartment, town home or single family, to how an individual gets around, whether taking mass transit, walking, bicycling or driving, planning helps ensure communities address the needs of everyone. The Plan Van recently received a 2008 Colorado American Planners Association award for community engagement. |
