Ulicia Lawrence-Oladeinde

Unit 1: Neighborhood Planning. Learn about the history and evolution of planning in Philadelphia and how you can be involved in your neighborhood’s plan. A neighborhood plan emerges from a planning process that both engages all stakeholders in the community and reflects a collective vision for the future of that community. Your “Neighborhood Planning Workbook” outlines a DIY approach to doing a neighborhood plan. Another approach is to employ the services of a professional planning firm. Learn about methods of community engagement from a nationally recognized local firm and their experiences working on various Philadelphia neighborhood plans.

Unit 2: City scale planning. Positive change starts with a plan. How do Philadelphia’s city planners try to make sure that change is ‘positive’ for everyone? Learn about the role and relationships city planners have with city agencies that have budgets and how they try to balance many conflicting interests in the community, and citywide. In group work, you’ll work together to brainstorm projects and solutions to common neighborhood issues.

Unit 1: The Zoning Code

Understand the reasons why zoning has evolved as an important tool of planning. Zoning regulates land uses and the type, size, and height of buildings. Real projects will be used to demonstrate three methods of zoning “relief” from the zoning code: variances, special exceptions, and zoning remapping. Gain a better understanding of how to navigate the code and what the steps are to learn what can be built on a lot and what approvals a project needs. Learn the limitations of zoning, as well as the elements in the zoning code that help preserve neighborhood character.

Unit 2: Citizen Involvement

Registered Community Organizations play a big role in helping residents understand how they can participate in the development process. APM is a Latino-based health, human services, community and economic development non-profit organization and RCO, which has been serving its community since 1971. Learn about their “Community Connectors” model and how they keep neighbors informed and engaged.

How do real estate developers make decisions and complete projects?  Learn about the phases in the real estate development cycle – pre-development, construction, operations, disposition/re-position.  Understand how community input influences project progression and the best time to engage developers.  Learn about the different approaches taken by market-rate and affordable housing developers. 

John’s office is a first point of contact for large developers and will outline the steps to get projects built and the financial constraints all developers face. Angela brings the perspective of affordable housing development. The roles of various stakeholders impacting development will be discussed through a hypothetical housing development project. 

The Philadelphia Association of CDCs (PACDC) is a membership association that works to create an equitable city. Ellie will answer your questions about CDCs and talk about “Destination Frankford”, a project stimulated by the District planning process. It led to the transformation of a vacant lot into the Frankford Pause Park and the redevelopment of the Daral Building into a community hub. Frankford CDC has become a valuable advocate for the businesses and citizens of Frankford. 

“CPI-in-a-Box” is a custom educational and outreach set of tools for Citizen Planners to share with their communities. Thanks to a Pew Charitable Trust & Robert Wood Johnson grant, CPI will now be able to respond to alumni requests for a product like this. The Box will provide another level of capacity building for Citizen Planners who have gone through the eight-week course. Six Citizen Planners were selected to collaborate with a curriculum consultant to create this product. All the tools in the Box will also be in digital form on the CPI website. Spring cohort participants will be the first to receive the physical prototype, with distribution to the wider CPI community dependent on funding.

In this class, you’ll hear from our collaborators and get to test out some of the tools!

Development projects (new construction, expansion, or renovation) can affect us in many ways. In this class, members of the Design Advocacy Group will walk participants through a questionnaire they have created that can be used as a conversation tool to guide development projects towards making positive contributions to our city. You will leave with a basic understanding on how to read architectural drawings, key architectural terms, and practice negotiating design elements.

The Design Advocacy Group (DAG) is a public forum and advocate for design quality and equity in the planning, architecture, preservation and physical development of Philadelphia.

Community organizations often struggle to achieve a membership that is reflective of changing demographics. Inclusion is defined as a person’s ability to contribute to and fully participate in a space. How can your organization welcome and celebrate the uniqueness and gifts of all individuals?

You’ll learn about a trauma informed framework that means acknowledging the impact that traumas such as violence, poverty and racism, have on communities. When organizations use trauma informed tools, they can build trust with neighbors and help them participate in civic life. These efforts foster connections between residents, bolster community resilience and promote emotional intelligence. We shift our thinking from “What’s wrong with a person?” to “What happened to that person?”
We’ll talk about accessible and easy ways your organization can create more intentional engagement. Based on your pre-class input, we’ll cover practical strategies to diversify your organization and make it stronger. Learn from examples of organizations who have committed to genuine inclusion and best practices from your fellow classmates!

You give a 5-minute presentation on a project that you or your organization is working on–or a “wish” project– to get feedback from your fellow CPI participants and professional city planners. This meets the final paper or presentation requirement.

This is a low-stress way to get public speaking practice and have an networking opportunity with your classmates and professional city planners! Attendance is optional