DVRPC Connections

Those zany folks at the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC) are like wackamole -- you never know where they'll pop up. According to their press release they were at the Camden waterfront today, announcing the release of their new long range planning document, "Connections -- the Regional Plan for a Sustainable Future."

Among those in attendance were Philly Mayor Michael Nutter, Chester Co Commissioner Carol Aichele, Montgomery County Commissioner Joe Hoeffel, and DVRPC executive director Barry Seymour, and an assortment of other elected officials.

There is a very attractive summary brief with a lot of fold out pictures and some nice statements like this:

The Connections plan puts forth a bold but achievable vision for the Greater Philadelphia region, a plan that will guide us in creating a vibrant and thriving region with improved opportunities for residents and businesses. The long-range plan is a blueprint that allows us to capitalize on our strengths and become a model of sustainability, prosperity, and productivity; a map to guide the growth and development of our region; a compass to help us find our way to a promising future.

The actual report is a 200+ page pdf. I skimmed it this evening and -- yowza!!! This is some interesting reading with some even more interesting graphs and pictures. If you are involved in planning of any kind in the greater Philadelphia area, you really need to take a look at this. There are some specific goals here -- like reducing carbon emissions by 50% by 2035, and some interesting maps showing the amount of greenhouse gas emissions per population and employment. The full report has other maps showing other environmental impact factors, greenways, percentage of developed land, and other items.

It's worth the time to at least skim through it. Those involved in planning need to take a closer look.