Getting to know Galt, and heritage planning.

The CUSP class has had a few busy weeks of preparation for their proposals. The teams are well on their way to responding to the City of Cambridge’s RFP.

On October 4th, the class took a field trip to Galt to meet with City planners and to tour the study area. While the afternoon started off with a downpour, it ended up being a really informative visit. Dr. Sharpe led the students on a walking tour that passed by some key industrial and commercial properties that are being considered as additions to the Heritage Register.  Many of the students have little experience in Cambridge, so this tour allowed them to get to know the area and visualize what they will be working towards.

Galt walking tour

Setting the Stage

During the CUSP class on September 20th, we were fortunate to have retired professional planner and Laurier graduate, Paul Puopolo, from Polocorp, a local integrated land development company, come to speak to the class. He spoke about ‘Places to Grow', the growth plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe area, and what the implications are when planning for development of  heritage buildings. Paul stressed the importance of working with the Ontario Municipal Board  when there are development disputes. In addition to other valuable information he gave to the class, he recommended that they communicate with local stakeholders throughout the process and that they ensure their proposals are innovative and creative. 

Paul Puopolo

In the second half of the class, we worked further on our group development process. The students filled out leadership inventory forms to let the instructors know their individual leadership style that would be valuable to their consulting team. We also asked the students to consider what they were looking for in a group member and we had a group interview process where each student was able to talk with their classmates and determine who they would work well with. This was very helpful in formulating groups that are not only well balanced in terms of skills, but also have greater potential to be harmonious.