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American Planning Association History and Organization The American Planning Association is a nonprofit public interest and research organization representing 39,000 practicing planners, officials, and citizens involved with urban and rural planning issues. Sixty-five percent of APA's members work for state and local government agencies. These members are involved, on a day-to-day basis, in formulating planning policies and preparing land-use regulations. APA's objective is to encourage planning that will meet the needs of people and society more effectively. APA resulted from a consolidation of the American Institute of Planners, founded in 1917, and the American Society of Planning Officials, established in 1934. The organization has 46 regional chapters and 19 divisions devoted to specialized planning interests. The American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) is APA's professional institute, certifying planners who have met specific educational and work criteria and passed the certification exam. A collection of historical papers about the organizations' beginnings resides at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Click here for a description of the collection. Offices/Departments Daniel Burnham Conference Center AICP & Professional Development Outreach and Policy The Public Information Office educates media and the public about the importance of planning and the role of planners in shaping our nation's communities. It also recognizes successful planning initiatives and efforts through the annual National Planning Awards. Research Publications Conferences and Education APA also produces audio conferences, manuals, training workshops, and video and audio recordings to promote education about planning.
As I talk with our members, customers and partners, I am occasionally asked about APA's history and the reasons that we have two offices. APA can trace its roots back to 1909 when the first National Conference on City Planning and Congestion Relief was convened in Washington, D.C. Other significant dates for APA are 1917, 1934, and 1978, the latter date representing the creation of APA through the consolidation of two predecessor organizations located in Washington, D.C., and Chicago. APA has continued this office arrangement, which allows us to maintain both a Washington presence, where the vast majority of our partners are located, and a presence in the nation's third-largest and rather centrally located city, Chicago. D.C. is home to the Outreach and Policy functions, including Legislative Affairs and Public Information, as well as the AICP & Professional Development functions. APA staff responsible for the latter functions have easy access to our professional partners in organizations such as ASLA, AIA, ICMA, and ULI. APA staff in the Outreach & Policy functions have easy access to myriad NGOs (non-governmental organizations) as well as Congress and the federal agencies. Chicago is home to the other functions: Research, Publications, Education, Conferences, Leadership and Council Programs, as well as Operations (membership, finance, human resources, and information services). This arrangement continues to serve APA quite well and I do not have any problem running an organization with offices in two locations. In fact, the many advantages far outweigh any disadvantages. Washington gives us the advantage of proximity to virtually all of our 50 or so closest partners. It's simply the home for almost all of the organizations serving the design professions and smart growth, preservation, transportation, housing, and economic and community development. We all know that planners are effective through close and effective collaboration with our partners — we accomplish little by ourselves and that is just as true for the planning movement as it is for planners in their own communities. A successful planning movement also requires collaboration with federal agencies and non-partisan collaboration with our elected officials. Not surprisingly, many of the nation's leading foundations that focus on the broad array of planning issues are also found in D.C. Our Washington office has been in the Dupont Circle area for several decades, an area that is home to many not-for-profit associations. Chicago is our nation's "second city" when it comes to associations. Home to the major concentration of medical associations in the nation, Chicago, along with Washington, has a wealth of association talent and offerings, and we draw on this talent pool for staff. While APA is America's leading authority on planning, it is also an association and must aspire to excellence in the way it functions as an association so that its members can achieve excellence in planning in their communities. Our Chicago office had its beginnings on the University of Chicago campus, in a building that we shared with many other public-interest organizations. We were the last to leave the campus when we moved to our current downtown Chicago location in 1995 in a building designed by Daniel Burnham. Many long-time APA staff have been joined by newcomers in both cities in our downtown offices that are convenient to transit, commuter rail, and hotels that serve our members and our leadership when meetings are held in our home cities. We have two very smart locations. Additionally, long-term leases provide quite favorable rental rates in both cities. Earlier this year, we converted to a single unified phone system. Now members' calls can be received in either city and easily transferred to staff without regard to their location. The system is fully digital and linked to our central computer system. Annual savings will pay for this investment in only four years. Very, very few functions are duplicated in the two offices and the new communications system allows further reduction in duplication. In terms of disaster-preparedness, the two offices provide some protection of human capital, information, and materials. (We also maintain data security through off-site locations.) As planners, we know that disaster-preparedness and recovery planning are critical for any responsibly run organization. I hope that this brief explanation provides information on both the historical reasons and benefits of two offices as well as the management initiatives that we are taking to provide cost-effective stewardship of APA's resources. Paul Farmer, FAICP
American Planning Association American Planning Association
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