Planning is in the Hot Seat

Perhaps as never before, this is a moment for planners to be thought leaders. Across the nation and state, the left and right are converging to promote solutions to the housing crisis. This is a critical opportunity to unlock housing policy that promotes quality of life and opportunity. Planners, uniquely, can shape a coordinated approach to housing, infrastructure, and economic development. But how?

The 2026 legislative session starts January 12. It is time to update our Policy Positions. If you are interested in shaping policy in infrastructure, land use, cityhood, resilience, or another subject, now is the time to join us. We meet Friday mornings at 10am during the session, but subcommittees meet as needed to address detailed issues. You belong here.

No matter where you live and work, you are a constituent. Stand up for planning. In early December, Policy and Advocacy Committee members joined APA partner Up for Growth for the Georgia Regional Pro-Housing Policy Forum. Up for Growth provides robust housing trend data that we use to tell the story of the critical jobs-housing mismatch in our state. It was an afternoon that brought planners together with developers, elected officials, advocates, and more partners to do what we do best – collaborate to find data-driven solutions to promote attainable housing. Thanks to the planners who showed up!

I’m in Utah for my fourth APA State Policy Summit. I’ll have an update at the next PAC meeting. Email to join us. 

Let’s get to work – Your voice matters.

Whitney Shephard, PE
Chair, GPA PAC
Member, APA Legislative and Policy Committee