3.08.10 BalancedCommunity Attends the RMLUI Conference

The Rocky Mountain Land Use Institute's Annual Conference was March 4-5, 2010 in Denver. This years conference was titled "The New American Landscape". As President of BalancedCommunity, I feel it is important to stay up on current trends in land use planning and to continually challenge existing methodologies and approaches. I left the conference with some thoughts.

How does social interaction through technology affect the formula for physical space in a community and does it make densities previously considered to be “anti-human” human again? We are more connected today than we have ever been, yet current trends in planning are revisiting the development patterns of an age before broad mediums of communication existed, when spaces evolved organically around the needs of the population. Does our population today have the same needs? In basic human terms, yes, we still need to eat, learn, love and interact. However, the mediums through which we achieve these basic necessities have changed and we are at a pivotal time where we can influence the evolution of the urban form to reflect such progress. At BalancedCommunity I am excited to be developing tools and processes to help make this happen.