Ariana McBride

Increasing public participation during a planning and design process is difficult, however, reaching the most representative sample of the community is downright challenging. This post highlights practical ways to engage groups who are typically underrepresented in community efforts to help you reach your whole community.

Crafting first-rate community outreach materials can catalyze support for your design project. In this post learn more about the tools and strategies you can use to make the most of your effort!

Public Participation is essential to a successful community project. However, spreading the word about your project can be challenging. Luckily, with the increasing number of online options combined with traditional methods, the challenge rests in selecting the most cost-effective communications alternative. In this article we give you seven tips to help you develop an effective communications strategy.

Much of community leadership is recognizing the big and small contributions of all people in making their city or town a better place. Perhaps the biggest challenge of community leadership is to understand what kind of leaders your town needs based on your unique local context.

If you live in a small town you are used to doing a lot with a little. Sometimes though, you need to raise cold, hard cash to make larger community design and development projects happen. Join us January 9 for an informative and lively call where our speakers will quite literally show you where the money is.

Visions are strongest when they reflect what people care most about in their towns – specific and widely-shared community values.

In a special guest post, the Orton Family Foundation's Ariana McBride answers the question: what can you do to help find a balance between community wisdom and design & planning professionals in your community’s rural design project?