The Minds of Planners

I attended the Utah Chapter of the APA (American Planning Assoc.) spring meeting last week in lovely Springdale. Between the workshops I attended and the combined 8-hours of driving scenery down and back, I returned with some good ideas and random thoughts--some of which I'll share with you now:

1. Springdale is a nice place for an event.

2. Many of the towns along I-15 and other highways and biways are growing lots of new houses. Some look nice, others not so much.

3. Many of these same communities seem to have adopted leap frog development ordinances, or, more likley, they've done little to stop this type of expensive development.

4. Heard some good info about how communities can have more control on hillside developments.

5. Water issues are bigger than transportation issues. Many of you might already know this.

6. As land prices continue to increase, land that was once too pricy to develop is now starting to make sense from a profit standpoint. Whether or not it makes sense from an environmental and community standpoint of course is another issue.

7. Why are so many new homes--and more specifically those built in the context of unique natural scenery-- so ugly? Maybe it's time we do some training on aesthetics. Affordable housing does not need to look cheap.

8. Why is there a lighthouse next to the Wal-Mart in Cedar City?