Small moves. Real results. Launching a new public-facing tool is only half the work. The other half is making sure residents can find it. Three Oregon cities have done that especially well with UrbanForm and the approaches they took are worth sharing, because they're simple, replicable, and they work. Boardman: Give It Its Own Home The City of Boardman created a dedicated UrbanForm page under City Administration - its own destination with a plain-language description, a dire

There is a version of a parcel inquiry that goes smoothly. Someone calls or walks in, the planner pulls up the zoning, answers the question, and the conversation ends in under ten minutes. That version exists, and it happens every day. But there is another version - the more common one - where zoning is only part of what someone needs to know. A developer wants to understand the history of a site before investing in due diligence. A contractor is trying to reconcile what the

There’s a lot of energy right now around AI in local government. And honestly, most of it is well-placed. The technology is genuinely impressive, the potential applications for planning and community development are real, and cities are paying attention. But there’s a question that doesn’t get asked enough in those conversations: what has to be there before AI can do its job? Because the planning departments we see getting the most out of new technology aren’t necessarily th

Resources are available to support comprehensive planning efforts Oregon planning departments are managing significant workloads, including housing production targets, HAPO deadlines, and addressing post-pandemic growth with existing staff resources. The DLCD offers the UGB Expansion Area Planning Grants as a practical resource to support cities. There is $500,000 available to help cities complete comprehensive planning for unannexed land within their UGBs. Applications are