California Itinerary
Chuck and I are extremely excited for our trip to the Golden State to spread the Strong Towns message. We'll be flying in this Wednesday, April 11, and staying through April 17. Our trip will include five Curbside Chats, a presentation at the National APA Conference, plenty of meetings and, of course, a visit/tour at Disneyland!
We begin our journey in the northern part of the state (Redding) and make our way to our final destination down south (San Diego). There will be a great deal of time spent in the vehicle so we've already made an agreement to split the radio time equally (his with audio books/podcasts, mine with modern bluegrass/folk music).
If you will be in California during our time there, we'd encourage you attend a Curbside Chat or meet up with us at the APA Conference. All of the Curbside Chats are free of charge and open to the general public. If you are attending the APA Conference, we're hosting a "pre-game" lunch at Lawry's Carvery (LA Live) at 11:00 AM- please join us!
And for those of you not near any of our destinations, I know Chuck is planning to do some blogging along with some audio and video from the road. I'm sure there will be some Facebook and Twitter updates as well, so stay connected.
Here's the full itinerary. Hope to see many of you.
Wednesday, April 11
CURBSIDE CHAT- REDDING
6:00- 8:00 PM
Sequoia Middle School- McLaughlin Auditorium
1805 Sequoia Street
Here's an article by Ron Reece previewing the Curbside Chat on the website Redding.com. Special thanks here to some private sponsors for supporting Strong Towns and giving us a place to stay.
Thursday, April 12
CURBSIDE CHAT- MODESTO
4:00-6:15 PM
Modesot Junior College (East Campus)- Forum Building, Rm 110
435 College Avenue
We are really excited to be speaking at the Valley Futures Forum, as well as connecting with our friends Cindy van Empel and George Osner, among others.
Friday, April 13
CURBSIDE CHAT- RANCHO CORDOVA
2:00-4:00 PM
Rancho Cordova City Hall
2729 Prospect Park Drive
This is our only Curbside Chat with a local unit of government. We're very grateful for this invitation and look forward to a great conversation.
Saturday, April 14
STRONG TOWNS AT DISNEYLAND
As a fundraiser for Strong Towns (and because Chuck has a not-so-secret Disney obsession), we are inviting a small group of people to have some fun with us at Disneyland.
We will be meeting outside the gates of Disneyland in Anaheim, CA, at 9:30 AM. Chuck plans to provide an informal tour of the park from a Strong Towns perspective. I've received this tour -- fun and very enlightening. The tour is going to take a couple of hours at least and then everyone is invited to have lunch then hang out with us the rest of the day. Warning: Chuck loves Space Mountain.
Admission to the park and lunch is included in the donation. Supporting Strong Towns is a great excuse to get out and enjoy the Happiest Place on Earth.
Click here for more details and to sign up.
Sunday April 15
STRONG TOWNS LUNCH GET TOGETHER
11 AM at Lawry's Carvery, LA Live
1011 S Figueroa St, Suite B115
We're going to be having an informal get together at Lawry's Carvery, which is a very short walk from the convention center. The place opens at 11 AM and, because there is a Lakers game nearby, we were cautioned to show up on time to get a table (they don't take reservations). They are going to try and seat us in a "quiet corner". If you are at APA and want to head over to have lunch with Chuck and I, we'd love to meet you.
Please sign up so we have a head count and know how many to expect.
APA NATIONAL CONFERENCE
2:30-3:45 PM- Economics of Land Use
Mitchell Silver, the president of APA, invited Chuck along with our friend Joe Minicozzi (the one that inspired this great article) to join him for this session. Here is how the APA website describes it:
Land use economics is effective in helping communities grow smarter. It also is a fiscally smart way to use land more wisely. Few communities consider the role the value of land plays in land use planning, zoning, place making, and capital improvement planning. Be prepared to change the way you think about cost of development, sprawl and the value of land.
I know that Chuck thinks very highly of Joe as well as Mitchell Silver, so this should be one of those "can't miss" sessions.
Monday, April 16
CURBSIDE CHAT- SANTA MONICA
Sadly, we just received word at the end of last week that this event has been canceled. That's very unfortunate as we were looking forward to it.
We know there were other places in the Los Angeles area or in the L.A. to San Diego corridor that were also interested in a Chat on this date. We now have it open and so, if you would like to throw together a last minute gathering, we're happy to talk logistics with you. If you are interested, email me ASAP at burslie@strongtowns.net.
Tuesday, April 17
CURBSIDE CHAT- SAN DIEGO
5:00-8:00 PM
Bamboo Lounge
1475 University Avenue
This is going to be a fantastic way to cap off the trip -- in the Bamboo Lounge in San Diego. This Chat event is being sponsored by Great Streets San Diego, Hillcrest Business Association, Place Makers and URB.EN. They have set up a Facebook group for the Chat so sign up if you plan to attend.
Thanks everyone. Keep doing what you can to build Strong Towns.