In an era of increasing complexity, the majority of local land-use decisions in the United States are made by volunteer citizen planners. Often these elected or appointed volunteers enter their positions with a passion for their communities but without appropriate background training. The Michigan Citizen Planner Program was developed to address…

The Sheffield (England) City Council used an advisory group approach to solicit citizen participation in community planning. Two important lessons were: ensuring that all target groups are represented and providing training and information to prepare citizen representatives for their consulting role. (SK)

A survey of over 200 residents of a largely Hispanic census tract in Perth Amboy, NJ found that residents preferred recreation, cultural, and other community facilities be the aim of brownfield re-development. They were less interested in industry and business, the promoted aim of such re-development. Three-quarters of respondents indicated a…

Examines indigenous capacity for local community development. Examines new economic development initiatives by communities, nature of relationships between local and larger economies, and how relationships affect local capacity for new economic activities. Discusses benefits of spatial framework in rural development and planning. (TES)

The KIDS Consortium is a private, non-profit organization that seeks to promote, facilitate, and institutionalize the involvement of children and youth in their communities in Maine. Kids as Planners, the central program of the KIDS Consortium, gives students the opportunity to become apprentice citizens by working with adult citizens in hands-on…

Most city planners and governmental agencies are White and have a "laissez faire" attitude toward poor Blacks. Black citizens, professionals, city planners, and social change agents can and must play an active role in the Black community's self-planning efforts. (Author/MC)

This report describes the Colorado Rural Revitalization Project (CRRP) and the participant rural communities between 1988-1991. The CRRP, established in 1988, consists of a partnership among rural Colorado communities, Colorado State University, the University of Colorado, the Colorado Department of Local Affairs, and the W. K. Kellogg Foundation.…

This manual describes an educational program for helping rural, small community leaders, decision-makers, and residents analyze their communities, think about alternatives, and plan economic development action strategies. The program is an effort to help communities explore short- and long-term development strategies, gain a vision of their…

This book describes the mindshift that is the key to successful community capacity building and to the development of social and economic structures that nurture local sustainability. Its focus is how the development of community, through community capacity building, connects, animates, and informs citizens. Chapter I introduces community building…

This guide is an annotated listing of 121 resources which are not yet available through the usual distribution channels and which might be useful to Community Development Society (CDS) members and those involved in community development. Largely produced over the last 5 years, the materials include books, chapters of books, journal articles,…

In rural coastal communities, trade-offs between conserving and developing environmentally sensitive resources are acute. At the community level, part-time volunteers and citizen officials are asked to make complex decisions based on ambiguous and frequently contradictory "scientific" evidence of economic and environmental relationships.…

Land use controls are often a major point of conflict between recent migrants and long-term residents of rapidly growing communities. Such conflict was noted in a case study of a rural community undergoing rapid population growth. The revision of a comprehensive land use plan for the community provided the opportunity to evaluate citizen…

This discussion guide is designed to help people examine the state of work in their community, explore changes, and strategize about what they can do to forge creative solutions and improve the community's worklife. It is especially appropriate for use in a study circle setting. The discussion materials are arranged into four sessions: (1) the…

The Centralia 21st Century Visioning Project was undertaken by the city of Centralia, in Washington, and Centralia College to determine a vision for the city for the next century based on citizen and business input. In summer 1994, the college conducted a survey of 185 businesses from the city's downtown core to gather retailers' perceptions on…

This document identifies steps in organizing and conducting a community survey and provides materials for assembling a well-focused survey form. Planning and conducting a successful survey involves the organization of a planning group, selection of relevant topics and information to be collected on each topic, preparation of a survey form,…