The Urban Collaborative’s Barry Gordon, Zoe Anton, and Don Rickman led a packed, high-energy workshop—“Building Communities: Form-Based Code Foundations”—at the joint Planning Conference hosted by the Oregon Chapter of the American Planning Association (OAPA), Western Planner (WP), and APA’s Tribal & Indigenous Planning Division (TIPD). More than 90 planners, designers, and community leaders filled the room, ready to roll up their sleeves for an interactive, hands-on dive into the power of form-based codes.
Over the course of the session, participants moved from fundamentals to application. They began with the history, theory, and purpose of form-based codes—development regulations that prioritize physical form over land use—and discussed why these visual, image-driven tools are gaining traction across U.S. municipalities to advance sustainable, efficient, and context-sensitive growth. The learning came to life through real-world examples from Eugene and Lowell, Oregon; Fort Lewis, Washington; and Emporia, Kansas, illustrating how codes can translate community vision into predictable, people-first places.
From there, the room turned into a studio. In small groups, participants set measurable planning objectives, then used scale models to design a mixed-use community that balanced housing, jobs, and public space. Teams developed the essential building blocks of a form-based code; an illustrative plan to communicate intent, a regulating plan to organize land and building form, and street standards rooted in complete street criteria to ensure safe, multimodal movement.
The capstone challenge asked each group to pressure-test its work using LEED-ND sustainability criteria. This final step connected design decisions to performance, reinforcing how thoughtful coding can drive lower emissions, healthier streets, and more resilient neighborhoods. By session’s end, attendees left with a toolkit of strategies—and the confidence—to craft codes that make better places possible.
