In 2002 I got an idea that came out of a passion for helping people understand the maze of land use regulations in Tulsa. Our systems and processes are confusing and the available resources are not as accessible as they should be. Continue Reading »
Where have you been the past two years?
Over 6,000 individual Tulsans took their opportunity seriously when invited to attend numerous workshops and have their opinions heard openly during the past two years of PLANiTULSA. The result is a world class Comprehensive Plan proposal that an unprecedented number of people have helped create in a healthy, open, engaging, and democratic process. It has been inspiring and refreshing.
This process didn’t happen behind closed doors. Continue Reading »
A Word to TMAPC
March 10, 2010
Madam Chair, Members of TMAPC:
My name is Jim Beach. I have served on the PLANiTULSA Citizen’s Committee since its beginning. I work at Wallace Engineering as a land development consultant and have worked in this industry in Tulsa since 1980. Nine of those years were as an INCOG employee serving as staff to the Board of Adjustment and TMAPC. I’ve been a Tulsan since 3rd grade when my family moved here in 1962. I’m very excited about the possibilities PLANiTULSA offers.
PLANiTULSA is visionary and well conceived. It reflects the best work of over 6,000 passionate, involved Tulsans, many bright and dedicated City staff members and the leadership of a first rate consultant with experience creating first rate plans for cities of all sizes and cultures. PLANiTULSA has all the ingredients of a world class policy document. Please, adopt it substantially as written. Continue Reading »
How spatial are you?
In my work, if we talk about a project site in some detail and you bring it up a week later, I have to think a bit to get it fixed back in my head. Same with visiting a new city and driving to a project site using only written directions. I may have trouble finding it again later. But if I see a site plan or find a location on a map, it’s burned into my brain. I’m spatial.
Tulsa Online 2.0 will need excellent interactive maps Continue Reading »
Burdensome Rules or Administrators?
Land use regulations take away rights from land owners. There is a basic premise that says, as a land owner I have a right to use my property any way I see fit.
Zoning and other land use laws restrict my use of property. Such restrictions help protect against incompatible land uses occurring on adjacent properties or buildings being placed on one property in a way that negatively affects the use of adjacent properties. Property restrictions help maintain peace and harmony in a community of many different land owners.
But it’s a delicate balance Continue Reading »
Not Just a Web Page
I’ve heard it said that the results from the Land Use Education and Communication Task Force must be far reaching. It will take significant cultural changes, abandonment of dysfunctional mental models, and vast improvements in public notification systems to turn this ship in a positive direction.
It was mentioned at a recent task force meeting that a “web page” isn’t going to be the answer. Continue Reading »
Tulsa Online 2.0 Presentation
I was invited to present my ideas about online delivery of land development rules and processes to the Mayor’s Task Force this evening (4/13/09).
You can view the slides I used below. If you want a copy to keep in the bathroom, download a Power Point or PDF copy over on the right column under “Downloads – Land Use Education & Communication Task Force”.
Twidbits of Public Feedback
I saw an article in Planetizen today about Twitter and the variety of uses people are finding for it.
One woman tweeted for help after being mugged and 3 people immediately called 911 for her. Most of us have heard already that the first report of a plane landing in the Hudson River came from a guy who tweeted about it as he watched the landing unfold from a nearby ferry.
Twitter users have moved way beyond merely answering the question, “What are you doing?”
Of particular interest here at LandRules, the Planetizen article says, “… the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning has set up a Twitter feed to solicit input as part of their Go To 2040 planning initiative, posting tweets on topics like U.S. Census data and federal earmarks affecting Chicago.”
LandRules envisions a land use education and communication environment where we think creatively about ways to employ technologies like Twitter and others we don’t know about yet.
What’s this all about?
From some early LandRules musings when the idea looked to me more like an independent website….
Usable online development resources in Tulsa are missing or inadequate at best. Land regulations and processes are essential to many people across the country for a wide variety of reasons. Area residents need to make decisions about their real property and participate in their community. Business owners always perform due diligence research before starting a project in their own or any other city.
But we hide it, guard it, or present it merely as static, unsearchable documents that are unreliably updated on bloated, dull web pages. We must do a better job of presenting ourselves than we’ve ever done before as we progress to be the excellent City we envision ourselves to be. LandRules is one step in the right direction. Continue Reading »
Step 1: Information Architecture
Tulsa Development Online 2.0 must begin with a solid, well conceived information architecture road map.
Information Architecture is a distinct discipline of designing and organizing an information space to facilitate task completion and intuitive access to content. It is the combination of organization, labeling, and navigation schemes within an Continue Reading »
It’s Time for LandRules
The task force appointed by Mayor Taylor to study and make recommendations on planning and development processes had it’s first meeting March 11, 2009. It was an open meeting, although not very well publicized. I read about it in the Tulsa World and decided I’d go. Good Stuff, l-o-n-g overdue.
As I sat there listening it became clear that “LandRules” describes a conceptual approach to a much needed product that is a very close fit with this Task Force’s mission. Continue Reading »
