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Land use and economic development planning takes time and money—two things few cities and counties have in abundance. Thanks to an online resource, they don’t have to.
The Local Decision Maker (LDM) is a comprehensive planning tool that provides almost instant data for producing a socioeconomic and environmental community snapshot, as well as a portrait of how that community might someday appear.
Developed by Purdue University and the Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant, the Web-based resource allows government officials to get more bang out of taxpayers’ bucks, says Richard Farnsworth, professor of Forestry and Natural Resources and LDM project leader. “Rural communities and counties spend between 60-80 percent of their limited budgets on inventory and analysis, thus leaving very little for the actual project.”
Planners and government officials will be able to use the Local Decision Maker throughout the entire planning process, says Christine Nolan, chair of the Purdue Extension Land Use Team and an LDM team member.
Nolan described an example of how county planners might use the LDM. “Let’s say they need to determine the location for new schools. This resource will provide information on demographics, roads, taxes, land cover and sensitive areas, as well as aerial photographs. By having that data, planners can identify suitable sites.”
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