IPA Policy Scientists Participate in National Planning Conference

​On Sunday, April 2, 2023, Sean O’Neill, policy scientist at the Institute for Public Administration (IPA), Matt Harris, IPA associate policy scientist, and Bianca Mers, community investment analyst at REACH Riverside, led a mobile tour for the National Planning Conference in Philadelphia, hosted by the American Planning Association (APA). Recently elected as the president of the Delaware Chapter of APA, O’Neill guided 30 professional planners through the city of Wilmington while providing insights into three unique approaches to revitalization taking place over the course of many years at REACH Riverside, the Wilmington Riverfront, and West Side Grows. Bianca Mers joined the group as they set off from the Philadelphia Convention Center for Wilmington for the daylong mobile workshop. Along the way, the group met with community leaders, including Logan Herring, CEO, and Dave Ford, chief community investment officer, REACH Riverside; Michael Purzycki, mayor of the city of Wilmington; Megan McGlinchey, executive director of Riverfront Development Corporation; Sarah Lester, president and CEO of Cornerstone West Community Development Corporation; Elder Emanuel DeShields, president of Be Ready CDC and Wilmington native who has been involved in the West Side Neighborhood improvement efforts. Harris used his 12 years of experience as a community planner for the city of Wilmington to provide additional context on the tour. The attendees included professional planners from across the nation, including the Florida Panhandle, Georgia, Massachusetts, Ohio, Indiana, Colorado, California, Oregon and New Jersey. The tour showed how revitalization efforts can help cities improve blighted and depressed neighborhoods for the benefit of its residents. Wilmington is showing that it takes a variety of approaches to address the challenges many cities face. The Institute for Public Administration is a research and public service center in the Joseph R. Biden, Jr. School of Public Policy and Administration. ​

Article by Sophonie Milord. Originally posted in UDaily's For the Record​.​​