Over the last 10 months, GOPC had the privilege to work with the City of Lakewood and the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy to do scenario planning in a small legacy city context.
What is Scenario Planning?
As the Lincoln Institute describes it, “Scenario planning is a practice through which communities plan for an uncertain future by exploring multiple possibilities of what might happen.” Scenario planning has historically been used to think about change at a regional level and in growing regions.
But the Lincoln Institute was eager to test a new toolkit intended to help legacy city leaders do scenario planning with guidance that was sensitive to the no/low growth realities.
City of Lakewood Piloted a new Planning Toolkit
The City of Lakewood, Ohio, was selected to pilot the LegacySP toolkit, developed by Arnab Chakraborty and Emma Walters. GOPC was brought on as a “coach” to the City. GOPC became a sounding board, accountability buddy, and research support to the City as staff worked through the toolkit activities.
The City was interested in starting to think seriously about housing affordability, which had become an issue at the top of mind for many Lakewood residents. The City was eager to develop responses and solutions to its growing housing crisis and thought the LegacySP process might facilitate that.
The Process
The LegacySP toolkit lays out four stages: Prepare, Envision, Plan, and Reflect. You can read about them in detail in the toolkit. GOPC helped City staff work through the various activities, including creating a focal question to guide the planning work. GOPC also helped facilitate an in-person workshop in January 2023, which collected critical feedback from stakeholders. From there, City staff took several months to draft a report and plan for housing.
The Results
In early June 2023, the city released the report/plan that documents the scenario planning process and charts next steps. And City staff, toolkit developer, GOPC, and Lincoln Institute held a webinar that described the process and reflected on its outcomes and lessons learned.
Moving Forward
As a result of the scenario planning process, the city of Lakewood accelerated its push to make targeted improvements in its zoning code, which will make it easier to do infill development. Even more significantly, the Planning Department, in consultation with other city departments, is re-thinking how it programs its CDBG and HOME funds. This critical assessment and re-alignment will better position the city to address any future it might face and the housing needs that accompany that future.
GOPC learned valuable skills as well and intends to incorporate elements of scenario planning in future mission-consistent consulting work it does with Ohio communities, especially those projects that include housing, development, and strategic planning.
GOPC was honored to work with talented staff at the City of Lakewood, the toolkit author, Arnab Chakraborty, and the staff at the Lincoln Institute! To learn more, check out the webinar or contact Alison Goebel, GOPC Executive Director for more information.