MPC: The Quarterly Newsletter

Planning Notes

Pew Grant
MPC along with UT’s Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy and the Knox County Election Commission has received $99,600 from the Pew Charitable Trusts’ Make Voting Work initiative to find a more convenient way for residents to vote, with a goal of increasing voter turnout and increasing the cost efficiency of elections. The grant is part of the $2.5 million initiative awarded to 16 projects nationwide. The organizations will conduct a multi-stage planning process that will study, design and evaluate Election Day voting centers to improve the way residents of Knox, Anderson and Loudon County vote. MPC was integral in writing the grant proposal and will participate in the development of an assessment tool for evaluating the viability of potential convenience voting locations. The Pew Center showed particular interest in the use of GIS-based location-allocation models to determine site locations for voting centers to maximize the number of voters within a specified travel distance from a selected location.

Development Activity Report
The total dollar value of new construction and renovations approached the $1 billion mark in 2007. Almost 4,300 new building units were approved in 2007, down two percent from last year’s total. Residential building activity dropped 5 percent from 2006 while non-residential construction was up 54 percent, driven primarily by commercial property development. More information >>

Congratulations
GIS Administrator Tim Kuhn and his wife, Jennifer, welcomed daughter Abigail Marie on March 18.

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