Lead With Engagement
by Susan Hopkins and Tanya Zwahlen Before we became focused on community engagement, we were planners working on transportation, economic development, and community revitalization projects. We’ve done our fair share…
How To Avoid The Dreaded Lull
by Christopher Dunne It happens to every project: some meetings have been held, your existing conditions have been documented and your technical team is ready to roll up their sleeves,…
Housing Needs Analysis For Washington County
By Susan Hopkins AICP Service providers, elected officials, and members of the public meet to discuss housing needs and solutions in Washington County, NY. Last summer and fall, we teamed…
(I Can’t Get No) Satisfice-tion?
By Tanya Zwahlen As past blog posts suggest, I have a love of portmanteaus. Few are as useful as this one from the world of behavioral economics and management science: “satisficing.”…
Your Best (and Worst) Public Engagement Experiences
by Susan Hopkins, AICP A few days ago, I had a chance to unravel the pile of sticky notes we collected during a Cardstorming exercise we facilitated at the Upstate…
We’re Certifiable
by Christopher Dunne We’re excited to announce that we are officially certified as a Women-Owned Business Enterprise (WBE) in the great Commonwealth of Massachusetts! As some of you may know,…
Making It Sparkle at the Upstate APA 2018 Conference
By Susan Hopkins, AICP The Highland Team was out in full force last week at the 2018 New York Upstate Chapter American Planning Association (APA) Conference. The conference theme was “Upstate…
Documenting Neighborhood Memories
by Tanya Zwahlen This weekend, on behalf of the City of Rochester, we conducted outreach at the Bull's Head Community Fair. This engagement was part of the Bull's Head Brownfield Opportunity Area project,…
Strategic Planning With The Fellows
by Susan Hopkins Last week I had the opportunity to spend a day doing the kind of work that speaks to my heart and gets me out of bed in the morning:…
Public Meeting Design 101
by Tanya Zwahlen Last month, the City of Rochester called André and I for help with public engagement on a project related to the relocation of the police station in…