While each Comprehensive Plan is developed to meet the unique needs of each client community, common elements include tools to effectively address needs, including:

• A vibrant local economy to provide jobs and wealth.
• A safe and healthy local environment with well-designed public and green spaces.
• Engagement and participation of residents, community groups, and businesses in the planning, design, and long-term stewardship of their community.
• Diversified business opportunities to capitalize on market driven opportunities.
• Good public transportation and other transportation infrastructure (i.e. sidewalks, streetscape, and state-of-the-art traffic control systems) both within the community and linked to the region.
• Buildings – both individually and collectively – that can meet different needs over time and that minimize the use of resources.
• A well-integrated mix of housing types to support a range of household sizes, ages, and incomes.
• Quality local public services, including recreation, education and training opportunities, health care, and community facilities.
• A diverse and vibrant local culture that encourages pride in the community and cohesion within it.
• A ‘sense of place.’

Understanding of Each Community’s Unique Character, Challenges, and Opportunities
A thorough, fact-based understanding of the community is critical to the development of an effective Comprehensive Plan. Laberge Group’s planning professionals begin by implementing thorough and proven strategies to gain an understanding of unique community characteristics and current conditions, including a professional assessment of housing options, economic climate, neighborhood vitality, cultural and environmental assets, land management, infrastructure, community resources, and much more.

Inclusive and Effective Planning Process
Equally important to the planning process is an effective public engagement strategy that fosters inclusivity and maximizes participation. Robust participation ensures that the resulting plan represents the priorities of constituents including residents, businesses, developers, and other stakeholders, as well as elected officials. A well-executed public engagement process helps build the consensus that is critical to both establishing a unified vision and to generating support for implementing the Plan’s recommendations. Laberge Group partners with each client community to tailor and execute a custom public participation plan by selecting from a suite of proven engagement tools.

Focus on Innovation and Implementation
Laberge Group’s experienced planning professionals are adept at distilling this information, leveraging years of experience and best-practices knowledge, to develop an innovative and implementable plan that establishes a unified vision and identifies the strategies and projects necessary to achieve that vision. Each plan incorporates a detailed “Blueprint for Action” – an implementation matrix that stipulates specific projects and identifies the team members, resources, timeframes, performance measures, and potential funding sources required to bring these projects to fruition.