Regional Exemplars

There is great work happening across the country when it comes to meaningfully integrating young people into the planning process! In this section, we take the opportunity to highlight the work of other local and national organizations. Click on a state to view projects happening within its borders.

California

San Mateo County, CA - Leaders organized a “Shared Vision 2025” process consisting of ten public forums in 2007 to get broad public input in plotting a course for future development in the County. This visioning process built on a long-range plan that had been collaboratively developed with community input in 1999. The county held a series of facilitated community meetings designed to reach out to a broad cross-section of residents and to define a vision of what people want from and for their county over the next 15 years. Organizers specifically targeted groups of people who were typically less likely to show up to public meetings, such as non-English speaking residents and teens. 125 teens from around the county gathered at a “Youth Town Hall” meeting. Participants worked in small groups, with each electing a spokesperson to report out their goals.

San Carlos, CA - The city formally included youth in city planning for the first time in 2006 by asking high-school students from the city’s Youth Advisory Council to take turns serving as voting members on the General Plan Advisory Committee. This committee organized a series of forums to generate input from the larger community. In 2008, as part of the City of San Carlos general plan update process, approximately sixty middle- and high-school students attended a youth workshop where they were asked to describe San Carlos as they would like it to be in the year 2030. They encouraged the city to zone more areas for commercial development to attract more youth-friendly entertainment options.

Santa Monica, CA - Through partnerships with public schools and local youth programs, the City of Santa Monica involved more than 500 local students of all ages in its General Plan update. City staff developed a youth planning toolkit with recommended activities to make it easy and fun for young residents to choose from a variety of issues to discuss and make recommendations.

Lafayette, CA - The Lafayette City Council invited a member of the city’s youth commission to serve on a citizens’ advisory committee that selected and advised a consultant for a two-year downtown planning process. The high-school student attended almost all of the 23 committee meetings and many of the ideas he contributed were reflected in the draft plan that was released in 2009.

Manhattan Beach, CA - The city created an Environmental Task Force composed of diverse residents and city officials tasked with developing recommendations to the city council to address a range of environmental challenges, including climate change and the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In order to assure those young people would be represented, two seats on the sixteen-person task force were set aside for youth members. An eighth-grader and a high school student were selected to serve alongside adult task force members. The group has made recommendations that were approved by the city council, including green building and water conservation measures.

San Carlos, CA - The city is currently developing a climate action plan that details steps the city will take to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The city held two community forums to invite residents to help prioritize possible actions that
the city could take to address climate change. One of the forums was held specifically to engage teens and pre-teens in the community. Seventy-five local youth participated in discussions and exercises that educated them about climate
change and allowed them to prioritize proposed actions.

El Dorado County, CA - The youth commission helped write a Green Resolution and supported its successful passage. The resolution sets goals to reduce the environmental footprint of county residents in areas including waste and energy
usage reduction, planning, construction, and air quality.

Fremont, CA - The city's Climate Action Plan project manager formed an eleven-member citizen’s advisory group that includes five high school students who are interested in encouraging the community to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. City staff asked students in an active high school environmental club to do a presentation on how to set up a recycling program at school. These young people invited their peers, and city staff arranged to provide required community service hours to students who attended.

Emeryville, CA - The city's high-school students have participated in a model of youth engagement in city planning, called Youth-Plan, Learn, Act, Now! (Y-PLAN), directed by the Center for Cities and Schools at the University of California, Berkeley. Under Y-PLAN, university mentors, local high-school students, and teachers partner with government agencies, the private sector, and other community organizations to work on real-world planning issues. Working in tandem with the Emeryville General Plan Update process, the students developed strategies for accessible community spaces, better housing opportunities, and vibrant street life. The students prepared a presentation to the city council that detailed their experiences and outlined their visions and strategies.

Lemon Grove, CA - The city launched the Lemon Grove Kids City Planning Program while preparing an update of the General Plan. Due to time constraints and limited resources, the city’s planning consultant focused activities on a single
fifth-grade class. Three consecutive sessions were conducted in consecutive weeks. The first session introduced city planning concepts to the students and afterward, the students constructed a variety of building types. The second
session focused on the type of land-use categories found in cities. The students then constructed a model of their ideal city. In the final session, students discussed what they liked most and least about their city. Many of the student’s ideas were adopted in the Lemon Grove General Plan.

Pleasanton, CA - The city has involved its young residents in the development of the city’s youth master plan. In 1998, the city launched an effort to determine the needs of residents under 22, which culminated in a youth master plan adopted
in 2001. In 2009, another generation of Pleasanton youth had different needs, prompting an update to the original plan. The city established a twenty-six-member Youth Master Plan Implementation Committee (YMPIC) that included nine middle and high school students. Pleasanton conducted 30 community focus groups as part of the plan update process, and YMPIC members participated in several facilitated discussions to identify their interests.

Palm Beach County, CA - An alliance of Palm Beach County community leaders released the Palm Beach County Youth Master Plan, a blueprint for setting priorities and taking action to improve the lives of children and youth in the county. The plan identified key data and workstreams that helped guide the planning process, such as community conversations, a youth survey, and an analysis of youth-serving programs currently available. The plan then shared key outcomes, action areas, and recommended next steps and initial priorities for the work.

Minnesota

White Bear Lake, MN - The city updated its 2040 Comprehensive Plan in 2018 and as part of their community engagement, reached out to the students at their local YMCA to include in the planning process by asking them what they envision within their community in the next 30 years. The city then incorporated their comments and thoughts within the Plan.

Ramsey, MN - The city, along with the assistance of YEP!, involved youth residents in an art-making project to assist with the vision of their 2040 Comprehensive Plan. The city hosted an event to gain community input, and the youth were provided an 8x8 canvas to draw and imagine what they would like to see in their community in the future. The canvases were then assembled together to form a mosaic art piece for the city and it has been included within the vision document.