Analyzing Hometown's Plan & Environmental Issue in Urban & Regional Planning | Assignments Environmental Science

ESP 171 Urban and Regional Planning

Assignment 1: Hometown General Plan

City and Issue Memo Due Tuesday, 4/15

Paper Due Thursday, 4/24

Purpose

To get an idea of what general plans are all about by taking a close-up look at the general plan and land

development code for a particular city and to think critically about their effectiveness in addressing

environmental or social issues.

Background

A city’s “general plan” lays out goals and policies for development and serves as its guiding vision for the

future. A general plan reveals much about current conditions in the city, about anticipated changes and trends,

and about the values and priorities of its residents. The general plan is implemented through the city’s land

development code, which includes a zoning ordinance and a subdivision ordinance. In this assignment, you

will review the general plan for your hometown or another city of your choice, assess its effectiveness in

addressing a specific environmental (or social) issue, and examine the city’s land development code for

evidence of the implementation of the general plan with respect to the environmental or social issue.

Here’s the situation. You are working for a consulting firm that specializes in general plans. It just so happens

that the firm has an opportunity to compete for a contract with your hometown to work on the next general plan.

Knowing that you’ve got personal knowledge of this town, your boss asks you to write a 5-page memo that

gives her some background on the community, a description of a specific environmental or social issue this

community faces, an overview of the current general plan with respect to this issues and efforts to implement

the policies of the general plan, and an assessment of the city’s efforts on this issue. Remember that your

boss has some knowledge of planning (i.e. you do not need to explain what a general plan is) but little

knowledge of the city itself. Your boss will use your memo to prepare for the firm’s interview with the city,

required as a part of the selection process – to wow them with knowledge of the community and ideas about

how the plan can be improved.

Tasks

1. Think about your city and the environmental or social problems it faces now or is likely to face in the future.

You might want to do a little background research – check the city’s website, do a Lexis/Nexis search for

articles that mention your city. Pick one issue to focus on for this assignment.

2. Find the general plan. Most cities now make their plans available on-line – see if you can find yours (if not,

you will need to pick a different city). You will also need to find the city’s land development code; again, this is

usually available on-line. In addition, you might look for the environmental impact report (EIR) for the general

plan. These documents are long – I suggest browsing them on-line and printing only the key pages for Tasks

5 and 6.

3. Prepare a ½ page memo addressed to me that tells me which city you picked, gives the website for the

general plan and the year that it was adopted, gives the website for the land development code, and describes

in a few sentences the issue that you will focus on for your city. This memo is due Tuesday, April 15.

4. Complete the Census data exercise in section on April 15 (can be done on your own, if necessary) to

analyze demographic characteristics in your community, including a map of a least one characteristic by

census tract. If possible, pick characteristics to analyze that relate to your chosen issue. In these exercises

you will produce a table that compares your city to the state as a whole on a variety of characteristics, and a

map of one characteristic by census tract within the city. Pick characteristics with some connection to your

chosen environmental or social issue.

5. Review the plan. First, look for background information about the plan (when adopted, description of the

planning process, elements of the plan besides those required by law if any, timeline for updating the plan if

any, etc.). Second, look for goals, objectives, and policies that relate to your selected environmental or social

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ESP 171 Urban and Regional Planning

Assignment 1: Hometown General Plan City and Issue Memo Due Tuesday, 4/ Paper Due Thursday, 4/

Purpose To get an idea of what general plans are all about by taking a close-up look at the general plan and land development code for a particular city and to think critically about their effectiveness in addressing environmental or social issues.

Background A city’s “general plan” lays out goals and policies for development and serves as its guiding vision for the future. A general plan reveals much about current conditions in the city, about anticipated changes and trends, and about the values and priorities of its residents. The general plan is implemented through the city’s land development code, which includes a zoning ordinance and a subdivision ordinance. In this assignment, you will review the general plan for your hometown or another city of your choice, assess its effectiveness in addressing a specific environmental (or social) issue, and examine the city’s land development code for evidence of the implementation of the general plan with respect to the environmental or social issue.

Here’s the situation. You are working for a consulting firm that specializes in general plans. It just so happens that the firm has an opportunity to compete for a contract with your hometown to work on the next general plan. Knowing that you’ve got personal knowledge of this town, your boss asks you to write a 5-page memo that gives her some background on the community, a description of a specific environmental or social issue this community faces, an overview of the current general plan with respect to this issues and efforts to implement the policies of the general plan, and an assessment of the city’s efforts on this issue. Remember that your boss has some knowledge of planning (i.e. you do not need to explain what a general plan is) but little knowledge of the city itself. Your boss will use your memo to prepare for the firm’s interview with the city, required as a part of the selection process – to wow them with knowledge of the community and ideas about how the plan can be improved.

Tasks

Think about your city and the environmental or social problems it faces now or is likely to face in the future. You might want to do a little background research – check the city’s website, do a Lexis/Nexis search for articles that mention your city. Pick one issue to focus on for this assignment.
Find the general plan. Most cities now make their plans available on-line – see if you can find yours (if not, you will need to pick a different city). You will also need to find the city’s land development code; again, this is usually available on-line. In addition, you might look for the environmental impact report (EIR) for the general plan. These documents are long – I suggest browsing them on-line and printing only the key pages for Tasks 5 and 6.
Prepare a ½ page memo addressed to me that tells me which city you picked, gives the website for the general plan and the year that it was adopted, gives the website for the land development code, and describes in a few sentences the issue that you will focus on for your city. This memo is due Tuesday, April 15.
Complete the Census data exercise in section on April 15 (can be done on your own, if necessary) to analyze demographic characteristics in your community, including a map of a least one characteristic by census tract. If possible, pick characteristics to analyze that relate to your chosen issue. In these exercises you will produce a table that compares your city to the state as a whole on a variety of characteristics, and a map of one characteristic by census tract within the city. Pick characteristics with some connection to your chosen environmental or social issue.
Review the plan. First, look for background information about the plan (when adopted, description of the planning process, elements of the plan besides those required by law if any, timeline for updating the plan if any, etc.). Second, look for goals, objectives, and policies that relate to your selected environmental or social

issue. You are likely to find environmental issues in the Land Use, Circulation, Open Space, and Conservation elements, but you might find them in other elements as well. Third, see what the plan says about how the city will implement the policies and achieve the stated goals. The EIR might be helpful, too.

Review the land development code (i.e. zoning ordinance and subdivision ordinance; these may be chapters within a larger “municipal code” or “city code”; if you have trouble finding these ordinances, ask for help – every city has them). Look for ways that the land development code addresses the goals, objectives, and policies of the plan with respect to your chosen issue. For example, if the plan talks about mixed-use development as a way of reducing automobile use, then see what the land development code allows in the way of mixed-use development. Does the land development code seem to be consistent with the general plan? Focus on two or three policies from the plan. It may not be obvious how the code relates to your issue, so put some effort into exploring the code and thinking about possible connections. You’ll find something.
Based on your review of the plan and the land development code, write a five-page memorandum (double- spaced, 12 point font; table and maps do not count within five-page limit) addressed to your boss (i.e. me) that does the following:
1. Describes a bit about the city (location, population, characteristics, etc.), including some analysis of census data (i.e. a table comparing city to the state on a variety of characteristics, a map showing the distribution of one characteristic by census tract), and the specific environmental or social problem it faces.
2. Gives basic information about the current general plan (adoption date, etc.) and summarizes the main goals, objectives and policies in the plan that relate to the specific environmental or social problem.
3. Summarizes how the city plans to implement these policies, including examples (good or bad) from the land development code.
4. Provides your own assessment of the city’s efforts to address the specific environmental or social problem through the general plan. Think about: What kind of priority do they give to this issue? Is the implementation approach realistic? Is the city likely to succeed?

Hints The purpose of the memo is to clearly and concisely convey the essential information in an orderly fashion. The memo should not be structured like an academic essay (with thesis statement and conclusions). Write this as you would a professional memo. Other hints: Go beyond simply presenting information. Sift through the information available and make conscious choices about what information is most important and most relevant to your discussion. Summarize, synthesize, and analyze for your reader! Comparisons are an important way to make your point! Rather than simply saying that housing prices are high or giving the median housing price, compare the median housing price to the median for the state or for neighboring communities. Be sure to include citations, even for factual kinds of information. This gives your work credibility and lets the reader know where to get the information herself. Make sure you are using an accepted citation format!!! Check this website: http://www.lib.ucdavis.edu/dept/instruc/research/cites.php Be sure to make it clear when you are relying on your own knowledge or observations. You are a legitimate source, but you have to cite yourself in some way. Use phrases like, “In my observation…” or “In my experience…”

Your boss is looking for… Good thinking: recognition of issues and connections; thinking beneath the surface of the plan; grasp of planning concepts; insightful. Good writing: sentences clear, correct, direct; paragraphs well formed with a single idea; structure presents a coherent logic flow; generally clear and polished. Good research: sources other than just General Plan and own knowledge; references and citations provided

Analyzing Hometown's Plan & Environmental Issue in Urban & Regional Planning, Assignments of Environmental Science

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