Middlebury, VT—The Orton Family Foundation is proud to announce the publication of The Planners Guide to CommunityViz: The Essential Tool for a New Generation of Planning, by Doug Walker and Tom Daniels. This richly illustrated, practical book describes how to use CommunityViz^® software—a GIS-based tool that combines 3-D visualization, data analysis and scenario building—to let planners and citizens “see” the future impacts of a plan or development.

The Planners Guide to CommunityViz is the first book to explain how to support planning projects with CommunityViz. More than 2000 communities around the world are using the software to communicate with decision-makers, professionals and the public about development proposals, future growth patterns and alternative outcomes of plans or developments.

Full of practical examples and case studies, the book shows how CommunityViz can enliven and improve the comprehensive planning process through visioning, public participation, values mapping and build-out analysis. Chapters detail how to use CommunityViz to analyze zoning regulations, to calculate the costs of community services, and to evaluate development proposals requiring design review. The book and software are also applicable to transportation planning, natural-resource planning, land-development suitability assessment and urban economic development analysis.

The Orton Family Foundation has used CommunityViz in its Heart & Soul Community Planning, with particular success in the Envision Victor project in Victor, Idaho. The tool originated with the Foundation and is now owned, maintained and licensed through Placeways, LLC.

About the Authors:

Doug Walker, president and principal of Placeways LLC, is nationally recognized for his expertise in planning technology and its applications. He teaches and lectures widely on CommunityViz, public engagement, decision-support, and visualization.

Tom Daniels is a professor in the Department of City and Regional Planning at the University of Pennsylvania. He is author, among other books, of The Small Town Planning Handbook, third edition (APA Planners Press). Daniels is a trustee of the Orton Family Foundation.

Praise for The Planners Guide to CommunityViz

“Vividly demonstrates the multi-purpose, multi-layered nature of the technology.”
—Jack Dangermond, Esri

“I’ve been waiting for this book for years and it’s all I hoped it would be…. This will be the cornerstone documentation for GIS-based planning decision support for years to come.”
—Scott N. Lieske, PhD, University of Wyoming

“… CommunityViz is a critical tool. This book tells our story and offers many other concrete examples of how CommunityViz can support thoughtful, comprehensive deliberation.”
—Holly St. Clair, Director of Data Services, Metropolitan Area Planning Council

Published by APA Planners Press and the Orton Family Foundation, ©2011
Paperback, 304 pages
ISBN 978-1-932364-93-4
List Price: $39.95
APA Member Price: $27.95

Order your copy from APA Planners Press