Introduction

CorPlan is a community-based planning model that estimates land development potential using prototypical community elements as its building blocks. The first version of CorPlan is developed in a Microsoft Excel© spreadsheet with links to the ARCVIEW© geographic information system (GIS) software. CorPlan is funded by a Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Transportation and Community and System Preservation (TCSP) grant for the Eastern Area Planning Initiative being conducted by the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission for the Charlottesville, Virginia region.

Model Structure

CorPlan relies on prototypical community definitions (community elements) to estimate land development potential and how that potential translates into the location of households and jobs. Each community element represents the development and infrastructure characteristics of a 31-acre area – the area of a circle with a quarter mile diameter. The quarter mile distance was chosen because it is the maximum distance most Americans will walk and walking distance is considered to be the appropriate scale for community elements. Each element reflects a unique existing or planned land development pattern. In Charlottesville, existing community elements include the historical downtown of Charlottesville, the University of Virginia, older residential areas surrounding downtown, newer cul-de-sac residential subdivisions, highway oriented shopping centers and small towns that ring the city. Each community element is illustrated with a plan graphic and photos to convey the look and feel of the element (Figure 1). Each element is also defined with land use, infrastructure and socioeconomic information used to estimate the development potential of an area (Figure 2).

Using the Model

Users estimate land development potential in CorPlan by assigning one of the community elements to a subarea (Figure 3). In Charlottesville, the downtown community element (referred to as urban mixed-use) is assigned to traffic analysis zones one through 11, and the University of Virginia element (urban institutional) is assigned to yet another set of traffic zones. CorPlan multiplies the land use, infrastructure and socioeconomic characteristics of the selected element by the total useable land in the subarea. Useable land includes developed and vacant land suitable for development. The model sums the development potential for all subareas to estimate the total development potential for the study area.

Users can quickly test alternative development scenarios by reassigning the community elements. In Charlottesville, the model initially tested a scenario that assumes the continuation of the suburban retail community element (shopping centers) along the US 29 corridor to determine how far this pattern would need to extend to meet future retail employment forecasts. CorPlan then tested an alternative scenario that assumed the creation of an urban-mixed use community element along the corridor to estimate the amount of land this pattern would need to meet the retail employment forecast.

Connecting with Other Planning Tools

CorPlan makes a direct connection between land development patterns and socioeconomic characteristics. As alternative land use scenarios are tested the model automatically generates socioeconomic inputs for travel demand models. Travel parameters for unique community elements are currently under development from a travel survey recently completed for Charlottesville. An upcoming survey in Gainesville, Florida will augmented the Charlottesville results. The unique travel parameters for each community element are incorporated into travel demand models so they can better reflect the influence of development patterns on travel characteristics.

CorPlan also connects regional land development patterns with site-specific development guidelines. The regional land use map identifies community element boundaries, and each assigned element has very specific land use, building and infrastructure guidelines.

Future versions of CorPlan will connect with financial software to determine the fiscal impacts of community elements and the location of patterns within a study area. The development potential estimated by the model easily translates into revenue potential and infrastructure needs simply translate into costs. The connection with financial software can integrate the element revenues and costs into a locality’s existing financial condition.

Another future enhancement to CorPlan is connecting with community assessment and quality of life index tools. The detailed information available for each community element is well suited for these tools and enables users to quickly assess the impacts of alternative development patterns over large areas.

Calibrating the Model

Users can calibrate CorPlan by comparing actual land use and socioeconomic totals with those estimated by the model. CorPlan is calibrated in one of three ways:

§ Adjusting the information in the community element inventories,

§ Changing assumptions about the community elements assigned to subareas and/or

§ Creating new community elements for those areas that defy the average characteristics of an existing element.

Linking with ARCVIEW

The initial version of CorPlan is currently in a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet with micros that can exchange information with ARCVIEW. The links to ARCVIEW help users map and spatially summarize the data but are not necessary to use the spreadsheet.

Contacts for More Information

For more information the Jefferson Area Eastern Planning Initiative, contact:

Harrison Rue, Executive Director, Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission

(434) 979-7310 email: hrue@tjpdc.org website www.tjpdc.org

For more information about the CorPlan software and methodology, contact:

Chris Sinclair AICP, President, Renaissance Planning Group

(407) 487-0061x11 email: csinclair@CitiesThatWork.com website www.citiesthatwork.com

About the FHWA Transportation & Community & System Preservation Program (a case study of the Jefferson Area project can also be found on this site)

Felicia Young, Federal Highway Administration TCSP Program

(202) 366-1263; Email: felicia.young@fhwa.dot.gov website: www.fhwa.dot.gov/tcsp

Downloading A Copy of the Model

A Beta version of the CorPlan model can be downloaded free of charge by anyone interested from the following site: ftp://citiesthatwork.com/outgoing/TJPDC/ce/ You should have Excel and, preferably, ArcView installed on your computer.