Tampa, FL (October 24, 2006) – This week of October marks the final week in a month long celebration of National Community Planning Month.  This week we celebrate People Making Great Communities.

October marks the inaugural celebration of National Community Planning Month, an opportunity to celebrate planning in Hillsborough County, the planning profession, and the individuals who make Hillsborough County a desirable place to live, work, and recreate. This year’s theme of Making Great Communities Through Planning celebrates how communities are created.

Each week of October focuses on a specific aspect of planning.  October 1-7 focused on Our Legacy of Great Communities.  October 8-14 was able to spotlight Today’s Great Communities.  October 15-21 centered on Tomorrow’s Great Communities.  October 22-31 pays homage to the People Making Great Communities.

Daniel Burnham, Pierre Charles L'Enfant, Frederick Law Olmsted, Catherine Bauer, and many others were early planning pioneers with ideas that have helped shaped what our communities look like today.  Their spirit and ideas live on in planning today.  However, these visionaries and their successors are only a small part of planning.  It’s the citizens and officials who make planning successful.  It is these dedicated individuals who are honored this month.

“Many of the pioneers in planning were seen as visionaries; however none of their work could have been accomplished without citizen participation.  It’s the citizens who we celebrate this final week of National Community Planning Month as the ones who really make planning happen,” said Planning Commission Executive Director, Robert B. Hunter, FAICP.

Planning Commission Chairman Bruce Cury said, “Planners and citizens who participate in planning are a vital part of our community.  We honor all of those who dedicate their time and effort to making Hillsborough County a wonderful place to live.”

National Community Planning Month is sponsored by the American Planning Association in an effort to recognize the positive impacts that planners and planning have on America’s communities. The American Planning Association is the national association for planners that advocates for good planning practices in our communities.

The Planning Commission is the official Land Planning Agency for the four jurisdictions, the cities of Plant City, Tampa, Temple Terrace and Unincorporated Hillsborough County.  It also serves as staff to the Metropolitan Planning Organization and Hillsborough River Planning Board.

To learn more about National Community Planning Month, visit www.planning.org/ncpm or www.theplanningcommission.org.

Contact:         

Tony LaColla, Public Participation Coordinator

Hillsborough County City-County Planning Commission

Phone: 813-273-3774 ext. 350

FAX: 813-272-5557

lacollaa@plancom.org

www.theplanningcommission.org