COVID-19: Coming Together While Apart
From the editor
As the world continues the fight against COVID-19, we recognize the importance of connecting with others in our profession for help and support as we work through this crisis and into recovery. As physical isolation continues for many of us, our communities struggle. A few months ago, it was business as usual: refreshing zoning ordinances, revising our general plans, attending evening public meetings. Today, many of us would love to host a public meeting—even one of the frustrating ones—just to be able to connect with our communities and feel a sense of normalcy. We want to know when life will get back to that normal.
I don’t think it will, and that’s okay. That’s not to say this pandemic and the resulting economic waves will continue forever: we will overcome this pandemic and we will ride through these economic struggles. However, these challenges will change us—individually, collectively, and perhaps systematically. We’ve been shaken; however, as with all challenges and struggles we’ve faced previously, we adapt and learn. We’ll gain new tools in our toolkit to engage with one another (Zoom, Hangouts, Teams); we’ll reexamine public engagement and public spaces; we’ll re-evaluate what really is essential both for our community and in our personal lives; while dealing with current emergencies, many of us are already pivoting, planning, and preparing for greater community resilience.
At the RMLUI conference, I attended recently, one of the session discussed resilience planning. The context was climate change, but the lessons universally apply. How can we “rebound, positively adapt to, or thrive amidst changing conditions or challenges?”
The answer to that question requires change. It demands hard decisions. It needs intelligent analysis. It pushes diligent planning. As planners, we are at the forefront of these efforts for our communities. We still face all the looming challenges we did previously: economic volatility, growth pressure—or lack thereof, impacts of climate change, overextended infrastructure, and political fracturing. Now as much as ever, we need to connect to each other, learn from each other, and help each other build our best community. This change won’t be easy and there will likely be more dark and challenging times ahead. Although you may be isolated now, you are not alone. We hope for the best during these trying times and will be here to help connect and share as we help build back up the West, together.
Below are links to various COVID-19 information sites with updates and resources.
STATE COVID-19 SITES
Alaska
Arizona
Colorado
Idaho
Montana
Nevada
New Mexico
North Dakota
Oregon
Washington
South Dakota
Utah
Wyoming
John Hopkins COVID-19 Dashboard
ICMA’s Compilation of COVID-19 Resources
APA’s Blog on 10 Things Planners Can Do Now