Planning Responses to the Pandemic
The current pandemic, with its devastating impact on the economy, required planners to adapt quickly to a crisis situation. We weren’t able to follow our normal long-range planning processes, followed by detailed implementation; instead, planners had to provide short-term assistance in any way they could. In Southeast Pennsylvania, a number of planning departments provided pandemic-related planning support to economic development agencies, local elected leaders, and municipal governments. Here are three examples.
Early in the pandemic, the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission leapt into action, providing guidance to local municipalities on retail strategies, remote meetings, and telework. They also pulled together timely transportation and economic data into one location. All of this information was consolidated on one webpage, https://www.dvrpc.org/COVID19resources/.
Patty Elkis, DVRPC’s director of planning notes that “DVRPC recognizes that there are many economic, transportation and work-related implications from the pandemic and is committed to helping our partners adapt to the new realities we find ourselves in. Our COVID-19 webpage tracks data on travel impacts, unemployment rates, and COVID related resources, and it hosts webinars on topics like best practices for teleworking, how to facilitate remote meetings, and guidance for Main Street retail recovery. We also initiated a Bike Match program that connects essential workers with donated bicycles. We’ve made about a dozen matches to date, but had over a hundred requests. If you have an unused bike sitting in your garage, please consider donating it by checking out Bike Match Network!”
In Chester County, the county commissioners created a task force to help businesses impacted by the government shutdown early in the pandemic. This task force, comprised of business and government leaders, provided small businesses and residents critical guidance on when they could reopen and how to do so safely. The Chester County Planning Commission provided technical support for this effort, including an analysis of the county’s economy pre-pandemic that could be used as a baseline for economic development recovery efforts. https://www.chescoplanning.org/pdf/EconomyReport082420.pdf
In the fall of 2020, the Restore Chester County task force worked with a consultant and the planning commission to identify best business practices in 21 industries for addressing changing customer behaviors and evolving economic forces. This effort included a series of action steps that local governments, economic development agencies, industry advocacy groups, and others could do to help small businesses to survive, recover, and thrive. https://restorechestercounty.org/EconomicAction.cfm
In Montgomery County, the planning commission produced guides for local decision makers in six general areas: economic and businesses; government and non-profits; transportation; housing; public meetings; and open space and recreation. Specific topics were explored through curated outside resources, MCPC-created content, stories or examples of success, and forums for public discussion. https://www.montcopa.org/3529/Restart-Montco
Scott France, the Executive Director of the Montgomery County Planning Commission, notes that “I won’t soon forget the early weeks and months of the pandemic and all of the professional and personal uncertainties it brought. It was a real credit to our staff that they dived into the issues that all of our communities were facing alongside us and worked in overdrive to produce guidance and resources in our RESTART Montco campaign.”
These three efforts by DVRPC, CCPC, and MCPC show how planning can adapt to a rapidly changing situation to provide concrete guidance and assistance to our leaders, businesses, and broader community. This resiliency and adaptability will need to continue as our communities respond to the long-term impacts and changes wrought by pandemic.
