APA Utah Fall Conference Speaker

Youth Voices, Real Choices: Engagement in Action + Fishbowl Discussion »

Youth are not just the future — they are key voices in today’s planning decisions. This interactive session, led by Meagan Booth and Jake Young, will highlight practical, tested methods for involving young people in planning processes that matter to them and their communities. Following this, participants will join a live Fishbowl Discussion The heart of the session is a Fishbowl Discussion — but this time, it's planner-to-planner. Attendees will hear directly from their peers about what’s worked, what’s been challenging, and how they’re building meaningful youth relationships in their communities. The format encourages open sharing and leaves attendees with concrete ideas to adapt in their work.

TBD: American West Heritage Center »

Critical City Design Elements to Know for Planning Commissioners »

Planning Commissioners play a critical role in shaping growth, land development, neighborhoods, and downtowns. This session will cover the most important elements of planning and design for cities and land development. Every planning commissioner should be familiar with these areas and planning/design principles. The rapid fire presentations will be given by multiple professionals from various backgrounds. Topics to include: historic patterns, centers, active transportation, street networks, housing choices, parks, transect methodology, densities in the right place, walkability, and water wise design.

Is Your City Missing Middle Housing? »

Middle housing building types play a critical role in the housing market and yet they’re underrepresented in the Utah market. This session will cover: what is Missing Middle Housing (MMH), availability in current housing stock, role of MMH for growth and attainability/affordability, and best practices. This session will include time for cities to share their MMH experiences and Q/A.

Integrating Water and Land Use »

Water is essential to quality of life, economy, and our beautiful natural environment in Utah. Historically water and land use planning have occurred separately with land development expecting the tap to run after lots are built and plumbing is installed. The purpose of this session is to cover the absolute essentials of why and how integrating water and land use planning occurs, including some case studies and best practices, with a focus for land use planners. Attendees will come away with specific action items they may be able to implement within their own communities to better integrate water into the development process.