MassPlanners Listserv

by Chris Skelly, APA-MA Chapter, Board Administrator

Have a question about site plan review, permit tracking, advertising a public hearing or curious what TE soils really are?  While the rest of the world may be updating their status on Facebook, networking on LinkedIn or tweeting on Twitter, Massachusetts planners are online – on Massplanners.  Massplanners is an email listserve devoted just to planning here in Massachusetts.

Post a question on the listserve and your post goes out to all the other subscribers around the state.  Your question could be answered by a knowledgeable peer, by someone with recent experience in that area or your question might generate discussion with many differing opinions thrown into the mix.   As a result, your inbox may expand by the hour.  Whatever the outcome, the discussion on Massplanners is a valuable resource for all of us.  Communication and good planning go together.

From its beginnings in 2002, Massplanners has now grown to nearly 600 members.  A scan of the subscriber email list shows that users are largely professional planners including municipal planners, state agencies, regional planning agencies, non-profit agencies, consultant planners and student planners.  However, many of the recent subscribers are planning board members looking for a method of increasing their knowledge as citizen planners.

This being Massachusetts, the discussion on Massplanners certainly focuses on municipal planning.  While the basics of planning in Massachusetts such as the Zoning Act and the Subdivision Control Law are still best learned through personally reading state laws, reviewing relevant publications and attending workshops such as those through the Citizen Planner Training Collaborative, Massplanners offers a digital avenue for more in-depth professional discussion and clarification.

Hosted by the Computer Science Department at the University of Massachusetts-Boston, Massplanners is administered by Christopher Skelly.  Subscribing to the listserve is free.

If you would like to join, please follow the instructions at: http://mailman.cs.umb.edu/mailman/listinfo/massplanners.