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You are cordially invited to attend the

60th Anniversary Reunion
of the Department of City & Regional Planning
at The University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill

Beginning Friday, September 22, 2006, 3:00 pm with events lasting through Sunday, September 24, 12:00 Noon

Featuring:
Friday, 9/22, 7:30 pm Siler Distinguished Lecturer, Martin Eakes, CEO and founder of Self-Help (keynote speaker)
Saturday, 9/23, 6:30 pm Cocktail Party followed by dinner at 8:00 pm
Sunday, 9/24, 9:00 am Alumni Association Meeting/Brunch

See Chapel Hill, tour campus, re-connect with old friends and colleagues, meet our new faculty members.
Additional activities are planned, more details to come!



2005 Tar Heel of the Year - Self-Help's Martin Eakes
News Observer (Raliegh)
Jim Nesbitt, Staff Writer

At the heart of Martin Eakes' quarter-century quest to lift folks out of poverty is a stubborn
faith forged by basketball and the mothers of his boyhood friends.  Eakes was a scrawny,
red-headed kid in the mid-1960s whose buddies lived a far poorer life in Marytown, a rural
hamlet on the southwestern outskirts of Greensboro.

In an era of electric racial tension, he and the fellas could be found making another furious
salt-and-pepper run of half- court hoops in the white-washed barn behind his house.  On
those after-school afternoons, race seemed irrelevant…


But poverty was another matter.  Eakes, co-founder and chief executive officer of the Durham-based nonprofit empire
known as Self-Help, was keenly aware of the line between haves and hungries, between himself and his buddies.

…The deepest impression was made by the hard-working grit of a buddy's mother, her determination to keep a roof
over the heads of her children -- despite the absence of a husband, regardless of odds lengthened by skin color and
very little money.  This enduring image convinced Eakes, the scrappy son of a self-made businessman, that lending
money to the working poor so they could buy a house or start a small business wasn't as risky as bankers feared.

"To this very day, I'll make the argument that poor people are better borrowers than rich people," said Eakes.  "If I have
to choose where to put my faith and Self-Help's money, I'll put it with a person who knows how to work rather than a
person with paper credentials."

Call it faith, gambler's luck or a mulish refusal to accept conventional financial wisdom, but this belief is the foundation
of the outfit Eakes commands, including the Self-Help Credit Union and the Center for Community Self-Help. Self-Help
touts itself as the nation's largest nonprofit community lender, making Eakes one of the leading experts on loaning
money to people most bankers would rather not trust.

But faith in the working poor fires Eakes, a passionate do-gooder with a banker's cold eye for the bottom line and a
Main Street cure for poverty straight out of the Jimmy Stewart movie "It's a Wonderful Life."  Handout mentality?
Not exactly.  Eakes gives his borrowers a slim entree into the American dream -- which must be repaid, with interest.
Or else.  "I always called myself a bleeding heart conservative," Eakes said.  "We will meet you exactly halfway -- not
one step further or beyond.  The most important part of this agreement was that you must pay the loan back or we
will foreclose on you faster than any bank."

Complete article: http://www.newsobserver.com/689/story/379454.html

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Urban Land Use Planning fifth edition
Berke, Godschalk, and Kaiser, with Rodríguez

Urban Land Use Planning provides authoritative answers to the perennial
question in urban planning: How can we create a livable, sustainable future?

This fifth edition of the “bible” of urban planning presents a complete,
up-to-date, and holistic methodology for creating and enacting plans to
reach those goals, deftly balancing the definitive discussion of current
practices with a vision of what land use planning should become.

“The 5th Edition continues and updates the long tradition of ULUP in
DCRP with the new plan-making practices that utilize sustainable
development and livable communities approaches," says Phil Berke.
"We want to express our deep gratitude to all the alumni who took the
course as students, constantly challenging us to improve methodology
and explore new methods.”


For more book information and how to order

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Moreau appointed to the Committee on New Orleans
Regional Hurricane Protection Projects

Hurricane Katrina and the subsequent flooding of much of the New
Orleans metro area prompted many questions about the performance
of the city’s hurricane protection system.  To help provide credible
scientific and engineering answers regarding the performance of this
system, the Committee on New Orleans Regional Hurricane Protection
Projects has been convened to review data gathered by the U.S Army
Corps of Engineers and the American Society of Civil Engineers.

As a committee member, Dr. Moreau will focus his investigation on three primary topics: a) design capacity of
the hurricane protection system, b) forces exerted against the system and system response, and c) factors
that resulted in overtopping, breaching, or failure of levees and floodwalls.

Factors under review by the committee are: data collection and management (perishable, systems data, and
information management), interior drainage systems models, numerical models of the Hurricane Katrina surge
and wave environment, storm surge and wave physical modeling of hydrodynamic forces and centrifuge
breaching, geodetic vertical survey assessment, and the analysis of floodwall and levee performance.  The
committee will issue a comprehensive report (due in September 2006) that summarizes the structural
performance of New Orleans’ hurricane protection system.  

Dr. Moreau has research interests in the analysis, planning, financing, and evaluation of water and related
environmental programs.  His publications include work in systems analysis, planning and management of
urban water systems, management of water supplies during droughts, and planning and evaluation of
watershed management programs.

Learn more about Dr. Moreau’s research

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"Not Planned On: What I Wish I Had Known Before Planning"
A panel discussion on planning practice

Planners from a variety of fields recently met with DCRP students to reflect and discuss their professional
experience.  Panel members discussed their work responsibilities, what they enjoy about their job, and
how they found mentors.  "It was a very high-quality and engaging panel," says Zachary Shahan, 2007 MRP
Candidate.  "It was also just really useful to see varieties in style, while also seeing key points reinforced by
several of the panelists. In general, it's always really useful to get practitioners' perspectives on what we need
to do and be aware of in order to be prepared for a profession in planning."

Reoccurring themes were: don't be afraid to think outside-of-the-box, understand your community, and continually
educate yourself.  The panel discussion offered mentoring advice to students, discussed different career paths,
and various approaches to planning.

Speakers included:
Alysia Davis, Transportation Planner, City of Charlotte
John Hodges-Copple, Planning Director, Triangle J COG
Leigh Anne McDonald, Associate, Clarion Associates
Michelle Nance, AICP, Planner, City of Gastonia,& NCAPA President
Nancy Ross, Planning & GIS Specialist III, City of Gastonia
Mitch Silver, AICP Planning Director, City of Raleigh
Roger Waldon, FAICP, Senior Associate, Clarion Associates

The event was sponsored by the NC-APA

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"Land for Tomorrow: Preserving and Protecting North Carolina's Critical Land and Historic Places"
Marge Anders Limbert (MRP '02), Outreach Coordinator, Land for Tomorrow

Date: March 31, 2006
Time: 12:30 - 1:45 p.m.
Location: The Center for Urban and Regional Studies, Hickerson House, 108 Battle Lane  (directions)

Land for Tomorrow is a diverse partnership of businesses, conservationists, farmers, environmental groups,
health professionals, and community groups committed to protecting critical land and historic places in North
Carolina.  Last year, Land for Tomorrow released its report “Saving the Goodliest Land: A Five-Year Plan for
Investing in North Carolina’s Land, Water, History and Future.”   Marge Anders Limbert will examine how changes
in land use and ownership are creating economic, public health, ecological, and quality of life challenges
throughout North Carolina.  She will also discuss the Report’s recommendations for addressing these challenges.

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Alumnus awarded fellowship designed to improve political leadership
DCRP alumnus Conaway Haskins (MRP '02) has been named a 2006 Fellow of the
Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership at the University of Virginia. 

Since 2004, Conaway has been Program Officer with the Cameron Foundation,
a nonprofit regional grantmaker in the southern Virginia.  The Foundation supports
nonprofit and municipal agencies in the fields of health care, human services, education,
community & economic development, cultural enrichment, civic affairs, and historic
preservation and conservation.  To date, the Foundation has invested over $700,000 in
community & economic development projects.


The Thomas C. Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership seeks to improve political leadership in Virginia, by
preparing emerging leaders for public service as candidates for office, government officials and citizen activists.
The Institute accomplishes these goals through educational programs designed around ethics, public policy,
and practical politics.

Conaway also publishes a weblog on state and local politics called "South of the James".  "South of the James" is
an independent, nonpartisan web-journal offering a decidedly different perspective on culture & politics in Metro
Richmond, the Commonwealth of Virginia, and occasionally, the world beyond.

Prior to working at the Cameron Foundation, Conaway was a Research Associate with the Aspen Institute Economic
Opportunities Program in Washington, DC, where he worked for DCRP alumna Maureen Conway (MRP '91).

 

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Urban Sprawl Could Contribute To Obesity
Some Residents Of Spread-Out Suburbs Walk Less
WNCN-TV (NBC, Raleigh)

Some local researchers said that urban sprawl is another
reason more people are becoming obese.  The typical
American suburb is comprised of new homes on large lots
of land with no banks, markets or shops anywhere in sight.
Dr. Daniel Rodríguez, of the University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill, has been studying urban planning for more than
a decade and said that urban sprawl is part of America's
growing obesity problem.


..."If you think about how we live our lives, we wake up, we microwave our food, we get in our cars, we reach our
destinations, we type on our computers, we get in our cars, we go back home, microwave our food again and
we entertain looking at the television," Rodríguez said.  http://www.nbc17.com/news/7831704/detail.html


To learn more about Dr. Rodríguez research, visit Planning and Physical Activity -Testing associations
between physical activity and the urban built environment

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Personal Finance: Owning a home is good for you—and society
U.S. News & World Report

Owning a home is the classic American dream, and the economic benefits
of homeownership are immense.  Instead of paying rent to the man, you
are buying something of your own that, like fine wine, may appreciate in
value over the years.  But there's more to owning a home than just your
personal profit.

...there is some evidence that homeowners report higher self-esteem and
happiness than renters and even better physical health.  "Homeowners
tend to stay put longer, so they create more friendships and associations
in the local neighborhood," says William Rohe, professor of city and
regional planning at the University of North Carolina.  "People have more
extensive social support systems, and that has a potential positive impact
on health."


http://www.usnews.com/usnews/biztech/articles/060224/24homeowners_realestate.htm

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Market still keen on Hillsborough
Residents still want a Weaver Street location downtown
Lisa Hoppenjans
The News & Observer (Raleigh)

Sitting among lime green "I [heart] My Co-op" balloons, Hillsborough
residents sent up a cheer to reassurances that the Weaver Street Market
grocery cooperative still planned to open a store in Hillsborough, despite
the Board of Adjustment's recent denial of plans that would bring the
market to Churton Street.



 ...Tom Campanella, a member of the town's planning board and an assistant professor in city and regional planning
at UNC-Chapel Hill, said a market in Hillsborough "would be the crown jewel of downtown revival."   "If there's anything
we teach our students, it's the importance of sustaining our historic downtowns," Campanella said as he signed a credit
card receipt for a $100 founding share.  ...The co-op estimates it will cost $3.3 million to open in Hillsborough. It wants to
raise $700,000 from community members, with about $600,000 of that coming from interest-bearing loans.  The remaining
$100,000 will be raised through recruiting 500 new owners, who pay a refundable fee of $75 to $175 and receive a 5 percent
discount on most items.

http://www.newsobserver.com/664/story/401188.html

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Green high-rise deemed golden
Matt Dees
The News & Observer (Raleigh)

Chapel Hill residents often come to Town Hall to bury development
proposals, not to praise them.  The reverse was true Monday as
speakers at a public hearing heaped hurrahs on Greenbridge, a
condominium and retail high-rise slated for downtown.

...David Brower, a city and regional planning professor at UNC-
Chapel Hill, said he's been waiting 36 years for a project like this.
"And it's finally coming," he said with glee.  "If they can do two-thirds
of what they're talking about, it's going to be really exciting, even
monumental."



http://www.newsobserver.com/114/story/409894.html

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Hi-tech red lights to smooth traffic
The Herald-Sun (Durham)

Traffic in Durham could be flowing more smoothly by August if a new traffic synchronization
system lives up to its promise.  The system, which will be commanded from City Hall, is
being installed at 320 intersections throughout the Bull City.  It's safe to say that thousands
of road weary motorists can hardly wait.  


...An added benefit to signal synchronization is a reduction in vehicle emissions linked to asthma.  Although
synchronization doesn't reduce miles traveled, it does reduce emissions by allowing drivers to maintain speed,
says Asad Khattak, director of the Carolina Transportation Program at UNC Chapel Hill.