A hitch in the plan

A hitch in the plan

by | Aug 12, 2016 | Planning

This guest essay appeared in Illinois Issues in 2006, shortly after the consolidation of the two regional agencies in Chicago. I argued that the underlying division remained and that regional planning would not become truly effective until there was internal...

Thoughts on farmland

by | Aug 12, 2016 | Planning

I was a young staff planner at NIPC working on the regional plan when, in winter 2003, I went up to McHenry County and asked the Farm Bureau to put a public meeting together to talk about farmland. We assembled a large group for that meeting, which occurred on a...
Local and sacred

Local and sacred

by | Aug 12, 2016 | People & Places

In late 2004 I received a Journalism Fellowship from the German Marshall Fund. Due to work responsibilities, however, I couldn’t leave until a couple years later. In autumn ’06 I traversed six European countries in search of local food, visiting farm...