For those of you intending to take the November AICP exam, the
application window will open later this month and close sometime in
July (exact dates not yet announced). This is a bit earlier than
usual to allow more time for the APA staff to review
applications. They have been running into the situation recently
with not being able to inform exam candidates that they are qualified
to sit for the exam until only 2-3 weeks before the exam.

Gary Taylor, J.D., AICP
Assistant Professor & Extension Specialist
Department of Community & Regional Planning
Iowa State University
286 College of Design
Ames, IA 50011
Ph: 515.294.2973
Fax: 515.294.5156

CM news from the APA conference in Minneapolis:

There are a number of opportunities coming up to pick up free CM
credits before the deadline at the end of the year. One is the
"Tuesdays at APA" podcasts that are available weekly. If you go to
APA’s webpage (www.planning.org), and scroll down until you find the
link to the Tuesdays at APA podcast on the lower left side you’ll be
able to access them. Each weekly session is worth one credit, so
it’s not likely you will be able to get 32 credits with just these.

Another opportunity that is just coming available is a series of
on-line courses from APA, the first being "Planning for Healthy
Places with Health Impact Assessments." It is worth 6 credits and
can be accessed at
http://www.planning.org/education/se…cted/index.htm . They will
be making more courses available in the future. I had the
opportunity to review and evaluate a planning law course that is
coming up. If you need to land a lot of credits and don’t have the
money to spend to attend a lot of conferences this may be a good
alternative. (Of course I’d still recommend the Iowa chapter
conference in October).

Finally, you should be aware that nationally nearly 30% of AICP
members have not yet logged in any CM credits, so Iowa members are
doing comparatively well. They suspect that a large number are
attending conferences but waiting until the end of the year to log
them. My advice to you: don’t wait until the last minute to log
your credits! It’s not hard to imagine APA’s server crashing if a
few thousand people are trying to log in on the last week of
December. Log your credits now and save the hassle!

Call/e-mail me if you have any questions.

Gary Taylor, J.D., AICP
Assistant Professor & Extension Specialist
Department of Community & Regional Planning
Iowa State University
APA-Iowa Chapter Professional Development Officer
286 College of Design
Ames, IA 50011
Ph: 515.294.2973
Fax: 515.294.5156

Hey all,

Recently accepted into the Community Development and Planning program at Clark University for Fall 2009, will more than likely be attending. Just curious if anyone around these forums attend Clark now or have already graduated with the MA from Clark and can provide me with their experiences.

Thanks, Nick

http://www.sanluisobispo.com/business/story/700785.html

I think JcPenney’s will be replacing where Circuit City and Linens N Things were, and I think TJ’Maxx might look into going into the Madonna Plaza. Or it might just be a competition between TJ Maxx and JcPenney’s.

I definately think Macy’s will replace the Gottschalks in San Luis Obispo, Visalia, Victorville, and Palmdale.

I heard that the rest of the Gottschalks are going to be taken over by Dillards, Belks, Kohl’s, JcPenney’s, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Forever 21, Burlington Coat Factory, Wal-Mart and Target.

Any thoughts on who might replace other old Gottschalks stores? Any thoughts on Macy’s going into San Luis Obispo?

My urban geography professor asked this question of my grad class this week. When we asked a local planner, they recommended reread chapter two in the green book but I was curious to see if everyone here had any additional thoughts on what makes a "good plan."

Thanks,

ldg