APA PA Chapter News: August

posted on August 5th, 2025

The Latest News from PA Chapter of APA…

APA PA Conference Registration is Open! 

Get ready to connect, learn, and be inspired at the APA Pennsylvania Chapter’s Annual Conference — the largest annual gathering of planners! This is your opportunity to engage with peers, expand your knowledge, and help shape the future of planning in Pennsylvania and beyond.

What to Expect at the Conference:
There are 50+ educational sessions and 7 mobile workshops, with the opportunity to earn up to 11.5 CM credits, including required topics like Sustainability, Equity, Law, and Ethics. Main speakers include Sascha Meinrath and Jeff Siegler. There will also be a Housing panel which includes Morgan Boyd, Angela Brooks, and Phyllis Chamberlain. Check out the full program online.

APA PA Annual Conference 

Make Your Reservation:
Registration is open for the the APA PA Chapter Annual Conference: Planning the Keystone: Shaping a Resilient Future, which will take place from October 12 -14, 2025 at the Hilton Harrisburg. Reservations can be made for your stay at the Hilton Harrisburg! The easiest way to make a reservation is online. The room rate is good until September 21, please don’t wait to make your reservation. The chapter only has a certain number of rooms in our block and once it’s full, it’s FULL.

Still Time Sponsor, Exhibitor or Advertise:
Do you want to become a sponsor, exhibitor or advertiser. More information is available online. The APA PA Annual Conference provides a unique and effective opportunity to showcase your work and capabilities to planning professionals and policy makers from across the Commonwealth. It’s also one of the ways to support planning in Pennsylvania by providing valuable networking, education, and development for planners.

APA PA Elections

Pennsylvania Chapter and Southeast Section elections will be distributed, if you are a voting member you will receive an online ballot. 

APA has partnered with Survey & Ballot Systems (SBS) to administer the 2025 APA Consolidated Election. To ensure your election specific broadcast email arrives safely in your inbox, please add the following email address as an approved sender: noreply@directvote.net.   

Planning Webcast Series

Earn over 50 AICP CM credits each year online—at no cost to members of participating organizations that support the Planning Webcast Series. Webcasts take place live on Fridays from 1:00 – 2:30 PM ET and are worth 1.5 CM credits (for live viewing only) unless otherwise noted. More information is available online. 

Opportunities for Giving

Each year the Chapter offers a scholarship to support individuals seeking funds for academic degree programs, internships, and professional development activities. If anyone would like to contribute to the Chapters Scholarship fund donations can be made online. We accept all major credit cards, and you can also send a check. Please make your check payable to “PA Chapter of APA Scholarship Fund” and mail it to P.O. Box 4680, Harrisburg, PA 17111. 

Communication and Membership Committee

We are looking for volunteers to contribute articles for our monthly E-News. If you are interested or would like more information, please contact us. 

What’s in a Healthy Community?

By Riddhi Batra, AICP

Temple University Professor Liz Moore published a book in 2020 called Long Bright River. It followed the lives of two sisters who grew up in Kensington, a Philadelphia neighborhood struggling with the opioid crisis. I watched the TV adaptation last week and was struck by how little I knew of Kensington. Like many other parts of America, this northeast Philly neighborhood lost swaths of manufacturing jobs in the mid-20th century. The void of opportunity was filled with shuttered factories, vacant lots, cheap heroin, and inadequate policies—a combination that diminished the community’s health for generations.

Physical, social, and mental well-being are the building blocks of health. According to the American Planning Association’s Healthy Communities Policy Guide, a community is healthy when its people can access opportunities to live to their fullest potential, no matter their race, gender, income, age, or ability. If our neighbors must frequently worry about finding clean drinking water, nutritious food, or basic medical care; if they lack secure jobs, quality schools, or safe recreation spaces; they will likely find it harder to progress beyond what Abraham Maslow calls “physiological and safety needs.” Communities are thus unlikely to thrive without a built environment that is physically and socially secure. 

What Can Planners Do?
As planners, our responsibility is to recognize and mitigate systemic inequities that exacerbate public health problems. For instance, heart disease was the leading cause of death among Pennsylvanians in 2022. A growing body of evidence shows that green, walkable urban neighborhoods along with policies that actively reduce pollution and prioritize access to fresh, nutritious foods can improve cardiovascular health and overall well-being. The APA emphasizes the need to address root causes of poverty to improve health. There are many ways we can achieve this through planning:

  1. Empower communities by sharing the value of healthy design and ensuring that members of the public have a seat at the table.
    • Clear and consistent communication can help people understand public health impacts on their daily lives. The CDC’s Healthy Community Design Checklist is a relatable tool for public engagement. Try it for your own neighborhood or community!
  1. Collaborate with local officials, policy makers, healthcare providers, schools, grassroots organizations, and other professionals who influence the built environment, such as public health practitioners, architects, landscape architects, and engineers.
  1. Integrate public health data, strategies, and outcomes in local planning documents, such as zoning ordinances, land development regulations, comprehensive plans, and plans for transportation, housing, open space, and economic development.
    • Health Impact Assessments (HIAs) are a tool that can be used at many stages of the planning process. They can shape a community’s vision, inform purpose and need, and provide a framework to measure progress. Use this Screening Worksheet to start an HIA for your next project!
    • Pennsylvania’s State Health Improvement Plan (SHIP)  provides a roadmap to improve public health outcomes through 2028.
  1. Design and plan places to support positive health outcomes, such as compact areas that encourage walking and biking; parks and public spaces that foster a sense of belonging; efficient and reliable public transit networks; a variety of housing and employment opportunities; and access to nutritious food, clean air/water, schools, and healthcare facilities.
    • Learn about the economic and social value of healthy community design in the Urban Land Institute (ULI) report, ‘Ten Principles for Building Healthy Places.’
    • Land use planning plays a critical role in reducing community vulnerability to extreme weather and existing environmental hazards. For instance, planners should consider floodplain extents and proximity to non-remediated brownfields when siting a healthcare facility. The APA also recommends emergency preparedness as a metric for community health; Pennsylvania’s Public Health Risk Assessment Tool can help understand risk to public health systems and prioritize strategies during disasters.
    • Joint Use Agreements (JUAs) can be a useful tool for schools and communities without recreation space to share municipal/county-owned fields, gymnasiums and swimming pools.

The story of Kensington echoes in many parts of the America, and in countries across the world. Every barrier to health becomes an obstacle for communities to overcome—with the burden often borne by subsequent generations. Planners can help move the needle by integrating healthy community principles in comprehensive plans, collaborating with public health practitioners, engaging with grassroots organizations, and building trust through continued engagement with community networks.

National Nonprofit Day

By Kate McMahon, AICP

National Nonprofit Day is celebrated on August 17 each year. This date coincides with the date of the signing of the Tariff Act of 1894, which authorized tax exemptions for nonprofit corporations and charitable institutions. National Nonprofit Day is an opportunity to raise awareness about the impact these organizations have every day. Nonprofit organizations enhance our communities by providing food assistance, medical care, educational opportunities and arts programming, to name a few.

National Nonprofit Day is also a day to recognize the dedication and hard work of millions of individuals who contribute to nonprofit efforts through their time and treasure. According to the National Council of Nonprofits, these organizations employ over 12 million people and create work opportunities many more through the services they provide. In addition, nonprofits add nearly $2 trillion annually to our national economy through salaries, goods and services.   According to the Pennsylvania Association of Nonprofit Organizations (PANO), there are 64,800 active nonprofit organizations in Pennsylvania, employing over 817,000 individuals. In 2022, these organizations drove $139.8 billion of PA’s economy.

Observing National Nonprofit Day can be as simple as making a donation, volunteering, or sharing the mission of your favorite nonprofit organization, APA PA!  It is a day to reflect on the power of the nonprofit sector and support those working to make the world a better place—often behind the scenes.

Mapping Wellness: Using Data to Design Healthier Places

By Betsy Logan, AICP

Across the country, public health advocates and planners are partnering to design healthier communities through access to parks, walkable neighborhoods, safe streets, clean air, and safe, affordable housing. Advances in mapping and public health research now link neighborhood-level data to health outcomes and the built environment. Some of the tools below can help pinpoint areas where wellness investment is needed most.

  • CDC PLACES Project: Provides census tract-level data on 29 chronic disease indicators, identifying disparities within neighborhoods to target specific blocks for park improvements, walkability audits, or health-focused redevelopment.
  • PA Health Equity Analysis Tool (HEAT): Explores health disparities across race, income, and geography. Interactive maps show access to care, disease burden, environmental risks, and more. Identifies gaps in green space, air quality improvements, or transit access.
  • PA Environmental Health Indicators Map: Displays environmental, social demographic, and public health data. Identifies manufacturing, extraction, waste, transportation, and other infrastructure locations with residents’ health near these environmental impacts.
  • AARP Livability Index: Scores communities’ livability impacts including housing, transportation, health, environment, and more. Offers the opportunity for livability grants and recommendations for improving livability in a community.

By integrating these data tools into the planning process, community health goals are grounded in evidence, equity, and place-based insight.