Planning-Related Links

Member Resource Links

• Virginia State Agencies
• Planning-Related Membership Organizations
• Federal Agencies Data Sites
• General Planning Sites 
• GIS/Mapping
• Historic Preservation
• Natural Resources / Sprawl / Sustainability

Virginia Agencies

• State of Virginia www.virginia.gov  The Virginia State site plays a variety of roles, depending on the needs of the user. The major areas features tourism information, government links, schools, an index of localities online, and weather. 
   
• Center for Public Service (University of Virginia)
   www.virginia.edu/~cpserv  The University of Virginia’s Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service is a research and training organization focused on the Commonwealth of Virginia. The Center provides objective information, data, research, technical assistance, and practical training to state and local officials, community leaders, and members of the general public.
• Virginia Legislature www.legis.state.va.us/ Users will find a wide array of legislative information contained in the Virginia General Assembly home pages. Included is general information about the legislative process and its participants as well as the full text, summaries, status history of bills and resolutions and schedules of activity. Several legislative agencies provide information about their organizations and topics of interest related to their function. Hot-links to other state legislative information systems on the Internet are also available.
   
• The Legislative Information Service (LIS): www.leg1.state.va.us/lis.htm
  The Legislative Information Service (LIS) provides text, history, sponsorship, and other information about pending legislation. Full text searching is also available for the Code of Virginia, Virginia Administrative Code and bills and resolutions.
   
• Virginia Institute of Government: www.institute.virginia.edu/
  Established in 1994 by the Virginia General Assembly, the Virginia Institute of Government is helping to lead the way into the future for Virginia’s local governments and the citizens they serve. The Institute’s efforts focus on expansion of training, technical assistance, and information resources available to Virginia local governments. Institute activities include on-site training programs and presentations, technical assistance, direct consulting, Internet development and hosting services, a long-term study of local government health, professional conferences and forums, one-of-a-kind publications, and much more.
   
• Virginia Center for Housing Research www.arch.vt.edu/vchr/vchr.html
  The Virginia Center for Housing Research, located at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, studies and provides information on housing issues.

Membership Organizations

• American Planning Association www.planning.org APA National's site includes information about APA's programs and services; details pertaining to AICP examination, membership and professional development; the upcoming APA National Planning Conference, including information on travel, lodging and registration; Planners' Bookstore; APA sponsored research including Growing Smart, the initiative to modernize state planning legislation; search the APA publications database; search for an APA department or APA/AICP member; resources for job seekers; information for and about consultants; Planners Advisory Service, APA's subscription answer service for planners; links to information on careers in planning, planning commissioner training, and professional development offerings. current issues in planning; resource guides on various topics including marketing your planning agency and preparing effective newsletters.

• National Capital Area Chapter
• Maryland Chapter
• North Carolina Chapter
• West Virginia Chapter
• APA Chapter List
   
• Virginia Association of Planning District Commissions
  www.institute.virginia.edu/vapdc/ The VAPDC World Wide Web Home Page provides information concerning the 21 Planning District Commissions in Virginia or in accessing other information about regionalism, Geographic Information Systems, the Virginia General Assembly, and other national, state, regional, and local government information in Virginia. This site also includes links to individual PDCs online. A "PDC locator" identifies the PDC of membership for Virginia localities.
   
• The Virginia Association of Zoning Officials (VAZO) http://www.vazo.org/ was organized 1990 to perpetuate an organized professional support community for the maintenance of active communication. The fundamental purpose of this Association is to: (A) Promote the interest and welfare of the zoning administration and enforcement agencies whose staff comprise its membership and to promote a closer, more informed relationship among those engaged in the profession of zoning code administration and enforcement; (B) Transmit in an organized and coordinated manner to local and state government or other appropriate agencies the desires of its members on matters relating to codes and regulations governing zoning administration and enforcement; and (C) Encourage and promote ethical administration and enforcement of land use laws.
   
• Virginia Association of Counties www.vaco.org   The Virginia Association of Counties was established in 1934 as an independent, nonprofit instrument of Virginia county governments. Each of Virginia’s 95 counties is a member of the association. VACo exists to support county officials and to effectively represent, promote and protect the interests of counties to better serve the people of Virginia. The association also works cooperatively with its national counterpart, the National Association of Counties. VACo monitors state and national legislative activities for changes affecting local governments. VACo publishes a newsletter, County Connections, twice a month. VACo’s legislative bulletin, Capitol Contact, is published twice a week when the General Assembly is in session. In addition, VACo hosts two conferences per year for elected officials as well as educational seminars annually. The association is a resource for all county administrators and county supervisors throughout the year. 
   
• Virginia Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) www.vaasla.org The American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) is the only national organization for the profession of landscape architecture. The Virginia Chapter of the ASLA exists to more closely serve the needs of landscape architects in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Those who join the ASLA and are in Virginia are automatically made members of the Virginia Chapter.

• Virginia Municipal League www.vml.org  The Virginia Municipal League is a statewide, nonprofit, nonpartisan association of city, town and county governments established in 1905 to improve and assist local governments through legislative advocacy, research, education and other services.

Federal Agencies Data Sites

• US Department of Housing and Urban Development Clearinghouse (http://www.huduser.org/resources/sites.html).
• US Bureau of the Census www.census.gov
• US Department of Agriculture http://www.usda.gov
• US Department of Commerce www.doc.gov
• US Department of Education www.ed.gov
• US Department of Energy www.doe.gov
• US Department of Transportation www.dot.gov
• US Environmental Protection Agency: Envirofacts www.epa.gov/enviro/index.html
• US Fish and Wildlife Service www.fws.gov
• US Forest Service Sustainable Development Initiative www.fs.fed.us/land/sustain_dev
• US General Services Administration www.gsa.gov/default.htm
• US Geological Survey www.usgs.gov
• US Postal Service ZIP+4 Lookup www.usps.gov/ncsc/lookups/lookup_zip+4.html
• Centers for Disease Control www.cdc.gov
• Federal Emergency Management Agency www.fema.gov
• Internal Revenue Service www.irs.ustreas.gov/basic/cover.html
• National Biological Service www.nbs.gov
• National Institutes for Water Resources wrri.nmsu.edu
• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration www.noaa.gov
• National Park Service www.nps.gov
• Natural Resources Conservation Service www.nrcs.esda.gov
• NASA Spacelink www.spacelink.msfc.nasa.gov
• USGS Earth Resources Observation System (EROS) Data Center edcwww.cr.usgs.gov

General Planning Resources

• Cyburbia - Planning and Architecture Internet Resource Center (PAIRC) www.cyburbia.org Cyburbia (formerly called PAIRC - The Planning and Architecture Internet Resource Center) contains a comprehensive directory of Internet resources relevant to planning, architecture, urbanism and other topics related to the built environment. Cyburbia also contains information about architecture and planning related mailing lists and Usenet newsgroups, and hosts several interactive message areas.
   
• APA International Division www.planning.org/international The International Division is one of sixteen special interest divisions of APA, providing members an opportunity to join others who have similar interests and expertise. Our members include American planners with an interest in planning practice and urban development in other countries, planners living and working outside the U.S. who want to maintain contact with the American planning community, and others concerned with urban development worldwide.
   
• Planning Commissioners Journal: www.plannersweb.com  The PCJ is a quarterly publication designed for citizen planners, including (but certainly not limited to) members of local planning commissions and zoning boards. We make every effort to ensure that what we run is clear and understandable to non-professionals. We have also put considerable effort into ensuring that the PCJ is attractively designed and easy-to-read. The PCJ covers a wide range of planning issues -- including how citizen planners can work most effectively. Our regular columnists discuss topics such as: how do you deal with the media; the basics of putting together a comprehensive plan; conflicts of interest and ex-parte communications; running an effective meeting; developing good staff-commissioner relations -- and many, many more.
   
• Planetizen: www.planetizen.com/ PLANetizen is a public-interest information exchange for the urban planning and development community. We provide a daily, one-stop source for urban planning news, job opportunities, commentary and events.
   
• Western Planner Online: www.westernplanner.org is the official website of the non profit organization Western Planning Resources, Inc. (WPR). It complements the Western Planner magazine that goes to 1350 subscribers in thirteen western states. The site provides an overview of the organization, information on the annual conference, a listing of current articles in the Western Planner, other relevant information.

• Planning Education @ a Distance (PED) www.knowlton.osu.edu/ped is an Internet based educational tool that provides planners and government officials with on-line urban and regional planning related continuing education opportunities. Through the integration of audio/video components, PowerPoint slides, and reading materials, PED provides participants with hands-on training to strengthen skills needed to both manage land development through planning and bring new planning techniques to your community.

GIS/Mapping

• Virginia County Interactive Mapper:
  ptolemy.gis.virginia.edu/gicdoc/mapper/tigermap.html The Virginia County Interactive Mapper makes customized maps of every Virginia county and independent city available on the World Wide Web. It is the first component of the Geographic Information Center’s continuing Virginia Atlas Project Initiative. Users may customize maps by choosing features to be displayed, zooming in to a desired level of detail, and selecting appropriate formats to download data. Users may download maps in a common binary image file format (gif) or as an ArcInfo interchange file, making the data available across platforms and accessible to users of MapInfo, Atlas GIS, and other popular GIS packages. Each map is generated "on the fly" after the user makes selections.
  

• Virginia Association for Mapping and Land Information Systems: www.vamlis.org/ During 1989, a group of individuals from throughout Virginia began meeting to lay the foundation for a statewide, nonprofit membership association. This group, realizing the need to bring people together the people and organizations who are involved and concerned with the mapping sciences (including cartography, geographic and land information systems, surveying, engineering, geography, photogrammetry and land records management), prepared a Constitution and Bylaws to form the Virginia Association for Mapping and Land Information Systems.

Historic Preservation

• Preservation Alliance of Virginia www.vapreservation.org
  The Preservation Alliance is Virginia's grassroots advocacy and information network for preservation. Working in partnership with our member organizations, historic property owners, businesses, local governments, and interested citizens, the Alliance protects, preserves, and promotes the cultural, architectural, historic, archaeological, and natural heritage of the Commonwealth. 
• National Trust for Historic Preservation www.nationaltrust.org The National Trust for Historic Preservation, chartered by Congress in 1949, is a private, nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting the irreplaceable. It fights to save historic buildings and the neighborhoods and landscapes they anchor.

Natural Resources / Sprawl / Sustainability

• Virginia Natural Heritage Information and Services
  www.dcr.state.va.us/dnh The Natural Heritage Program represents a comprehensive effort to inventory and preserve the animal, plant and natural community resources of the Commonwealth of Virginia. As part of the Natural Heritage Network and the Association for Biodiversity Information (ABI), the Virginia Natural Heritage Program contributes to an understanding of global biodiversity and helps to provide for the recovery of vanishing species and communities.   DCR's natural heritage inventory is the most comprehensive, statewide inventory documenting the location and ecological status of rare plant and animal species and natural communities. This ongoing inventory is conducted by staff ecologists, botanists and zoologists, contract staff, volunteers and cooperators. Inventory efforts focus on globally rare species and communities. Aerial photographs, geology, soil and topographic maps and a good understanding of the species and communities habitat requirements direct the scientists efforts. All work is conducted with the permission of the landowner.

• Sprawlwatch Clearinghouse www.sprawlwatch.org   National Trust for Historic Preservation, Department of Law and Public Policy has launched the Sprawlwatch Clearinghouse for those interested in the problems and issues associated with urban sprawl and smart growth.