Having a good place to talk makes a bigger difference than you might think. The Center’s main room can accomodate large meetings. Guests sit at tables covered with butcher paper and markers, and are encouraged to leave their thoughts behind. The walls are covered in photographs and maps of every relevant topic: existing land uses, projected density, schools, political districts, etc. Most importantly, the main room doesn’t belong explicitly to any one entity or agency. The Center is a place for facilitating community preservation and planning.

The Center was formed to distill a nebulous sense that answers existed somewhere out there. A lot of research in the Center’s early years was aimed to understand if there was something to this planning thing, and if more money should be spent doing the analysis right. For many of these exploratory exercises, the Center turns to students.

For example, given the existing zoning and sewer capacity, how many people could squeeze into the county? To answer this, a former resident, then at MIT, made a simple spreadsheet.

• How many acres of land are zoned for each residential land use type? Subtract easements and undevelopable areas.
• What is the allowable development density for each residential land use type? Multiply the number of units per acre by the number of acres.
• What is the average household size for your area? Multiply by the number of units to find the number of people per land use type.
• Repeat for each land use type, and roll up to find the county total.

The alarming findings of this research motivated the governments to cooperate and pay a consultant to do a more rigorous analysis. The second study focused on the county’s water supply, rather than zoning, but supported the conclusion that density was needed to preserve quality of life.

Every community is a special place. When concerned residents began looking elsewhere for inspiration, they kept Newton County’s own charms and character in mind. Today, when the Center’s researchers present research for future building and neighborhood types, they lovingly comb the local community for examples.

Never underestimate the power of a group “Ah ha!” moment.

One of Kay’s greatest contributions to the Center is her skill as a facilitator. These are just a few of the successful exercises that have helped Newton County’s leaders focus on their common concerns.

• Look forward to looking back. Imagine that you’re a resident of your town in 2050. One on side of a piece of paper, describe what your town looks like now. As a facilitator, let everyone finish writing. Then, have them flip over the page, and describe what future residents are saying about the modern day leaders and their impact on the look and feel of the town. Encourage them to change their first answers.
• Allocate the density. Establish a reasonable, validated estimate for the community’s maximum population. Prepare large, gridded maps of the project area. Pass out colored paper tiles to represent different densities of people. Allow the participants to distribute the tiles as they like, and let them draw their own conclusion to the need for density.