Charrettes for Community Planning

Achieving true citizen participation in community planning is always a challenge. Public hearings often are dominated by citizens who are opposed to a proposal. NIMBYs often have legitimate concerns, but the existing formats for citizen input often encourage only negative reactions rather than constructive suggestions on how a community should grow.  To address the need for a better participation process, communities and developers are turning to the charrette, a multi-day intensive planning workshop that includes all stakeholders in a community and results in a plan that can be implemented and built. 

Resources

Meaningful Public Involvement: Charrettes for Sustainable Communities-  This is a  presentation that was produced for the National Association of REALTORS® by the National Charrette Institute.  It can be used for self-instruction, or as a presentation to a REALTOR® association or community group.  It includes a slides and a script, describes charrettes and explains how they can be used to improve the planning process in your community.  (Download may take a minute.)

If you have additional questions about charrettes, please contact:

Joe Molinaro
Manager, Smart Growth Programs
National Association of REALTORS®
500 New Jersey Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20001-4507
Phone: 202/383-1175
Fax: 202/383-7580
E-mail: jmolinaro@realtors.org

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