MRSC Insight Blog

Posts for Planning Advisor

Third Promise of GMA Revisited: the New Urban Growth Area Guidebook

August 1, 2013 by Pat Dugan
Category: Comprehensive Planning-Growth Management , Planning Advisor

Too often, GMA Capital Facility Plans have been prepared as an afterthought, rather than as an integral part of the planning process. A particularly critical weakness of many Capital Facility Plans (CFP) has been the failure to demonstrate that designated Urban Growth Areas...

A Hybrid Approach to Form-Based Codes in the Northwest

March 1, 2012 by Bob Bengford
Category: Planning Advisor

Can form-based codes be applied to Northwest communities? Of course. Are they appropriate for your community? It depends. This post has some things to think about if you are considering updating your land use/design codes using a form-based approach.

Protecting Existing Neighborhoods from the Impacts of New Development

March 1, 2012 by John Owen and Rachel Miller
Category: Planning Advisor

This is the first of two articles discussing regulatory strategies to address two challenges to creating compatible and livable infill development. This article focuses on achieving compatibility between new multistory development and existing smaller-scale neighborhoods.

Shaping Growth: Using Capital Facilities to Implement Comprehensive Plans

March 1, 2012 by Pat Dugan
Category: Planning Advisor

This post explores the ways that capital facilities can be actively used to implement a comprehensive plan and the role that capital facility financing policies can play in that process by influencing when, where, and how much capital facilities will be developed.

Providing for Usable Open Space for Multifamily Developments

March 1, 2012 by Bob Bengford
Category: Planning Advisor

This blog post describes concepts for providing usable open space in new multifamily residences, as part of regulatory strategies to address challenges in creating compatible and livable infill development.

But What About Multiple Family Housing: Does it Pay for Itself?

March 1, 2012 by Pat Dugan
Category: Planning Advisor

There is a perception that multi-family housing is a drain on local government finances and is more costly to support than single-family residences. This, in turn, can affect local land use policies and cause officials to discourage multi-family development. But is this perception true?

Do Single-Family Dwellings Pay for Themselves?

March 1, 2012 by Pat Dugan
Category: Planning Advisor

The perception that single-family houses do not generate sufficient tax revenue to pay for local government services has caused many cities to encourage commercial development and discourage residential development, exerting significant influence over how cities are growing and developing. But it this perception true?