With the rapid growth of solar energy, municipalities are scrambling to understand how to incorporate and regulate this resource. Representatives from PennFuture will provide a brief overview of the resources created for municipalities by the U.S. Department of Energy's Rooftop Solar Challenge Team in western Pennsylvania. Project consultant Andrew Schwartz, Managing Principal of Environmental Planning   …

PennDOT’s new handbook on “Improving Connectivity and System Function through Local Planning” provides guidance to municipalities on how to enhance vehicular, bicycle, and pedestrian connectivity.  This companion training offers an overview of the handbook and includes strategies to effectively regulate and manage a connected transportation network within a community including a review of connectivity index   …

When new development, infill development or redevelopment takes place, it can be more fiscally responsible, aesthetically pleasing, and memorable when the form is right.  A form-based code approach will offer the opportunity to create placse that become immediate assets.  The ABC's of form-based codes will address the history and evolution of form-based codes, a menu   …

Land uses influence the size of your local government, the types of services it offers, the types of equipment it must purchase, and the taxes and tax rates it must levy. These impacts are significant not only because they affect taxpayers and local residents but because they affect the ability of local government to respond   …