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UC to Host Community Forum on Smart Growth Strategies, Regional Planning
Peter Fleischer of Empire State Future to Keynote
Written By Abby Hansen '13, PR Intern
Event coordinated by UC's Pi Sigma Alpha, James Sherman Society and The Utica Center for Small City and Rural Studies
Contact - cleogrande@utica.edu
Utica, NY (04/09/2013) - Utica College’s Pi Sigma Alpha, The Sherman Society and The Center for Small City and Rural Studies will sponsor a forum on how sprawl, uncoordinated growth and the lack of regional planning have contributed to urban blight, loss of agricultural land and a lower quality of life.The event will take place on Monday, April 15 at 7 p.m. in the Economic Crime and Justice Studies and Cybersecurity Building in the Carbone Family Auditorium. The event is a part of The Sherman Society’s “Conversation Series,” which allows students, faculty and the community to discuss and exchange ideas about important public policy issues, it is free and open to the public.
The goal is to discuss the development of strategies to promote regional cooperation, smart growth and equitable development.
The keynote speaker is Peter B. Fleischer, executive director of Empire State Future (ESF), a not-for-profit coalition of 70 organizations seeking regionally appropriate sustainable and equitable community and economic revitalization of New York’s main streets, town centers and urban areas. ESF promotes the integration of smart growth principles in public and private sector land use, infrastructure and development decision making.
Fleischer became executive director of Empire State Future in 2008, holds a bachelor's degree from Harvard and an MBA from the Yale School of Management. He has served as senior vice president at the Empire State Development Corporation’s Governors Island subsidiary, was a transportation and environmental policy advisor to the New York City mayor’s office and also served as assistant commissioner for policy at the New York City Department of Transportation.
The moderator of the forum will be Dr. Polly J. Smith, associate professor of sociology at Utica College, and director of The Utica Center for Small City and Rural Studies.
Co-sponsors of the forum include the Landmarks Society of Greater Utica, Cooperative Extension of Oneida and Madison County, Rust to Green New York, Green local 175, Progressive Research and Action Center, Inc., Central New York Citizens in Action, Inc., Social Action Committee of the Unitarian-Universalist Church, NACCP Utica- Oneida Branch, NIA Group of Utica, Inc., and Cornhill Community for Change.
The Utica College National Political Science Honor Society is a chapter of Pi Sigma Alpha, which is the only honor society for college students of political science and government in the United States. Pi Sigma Alpha is a member of the Association of College Honor Societies (ACHS) and is designated as a "Specialized, Upper- Division" society by ACHS. The purpose of the Conversation Series is to promote civic engagement and discourse on public policy, politics, and government.
For more information on the forum, contact John Furman at 315-725-0974.
About Utica College – Utica College, founded in 1946, is a comprehensive private institution offering bachelors, masters and doctoral degrees. The College, located in upstate central New York, approximately 90 miles west of Albany and 50 miles east of Syracuse, currently enrolls over 3,700 students in 38 undergraduate majors, 29 minors, 20 graduate degree programs and a number of pre-professional and special programs.
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