2015 Our Upstate Vision Forum:

 "Growing Economic Vibrancy in Downtowns and Rural Communities " 

Keynote Speaker: Ed McMahon, Urban Land Institute 

REGISTRATION FOR THIS EVENT IS NOW CLOSED

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO ATTEND, PLEASE EMAIL TTATE@TENATTHETOP.ORG. WALK UP REGISTRATIONS WILL ALSO BE ACCEPTED AT THE EVENT.

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Join Ten at the Top for the third Our Upstate Vision Forum of 2015 as we welcome Urban Land Institute fellow Ed McMahon. McMahon's presentation "The Economics of Uniqueness" will focus on the idea that communities who are not able to differentiate and distinguish themselves from others have no competitive advantage.

This forum is a part of the Shaping Our Future Speaker Series in partnership with Upstate Forever, Ten at the Top, the Riley Institute at Furman University, the Greater Greenville Association of Realtors and the Upstate SC Alliance. The goal of the series is to inspire dialogue regarding the connections between land use decisions, transportation options, housing choices and quality of life. This is also the third event in Upstate Forever's 2015 Active Living Event Series sponsored primarily by the Mary Black Foundation. The series is designed to encourage community dialog about policies and infrastructure to support active, healthy communities.

The event will be held: 

3:00-5:00 p.m. on September 22, 2015

USC Upstate, Sansbury Campus Life Center

A networking reception will follow

Greenlink Transit will also provide complimentary transportation for guests from Greenville to USC Upstate. The bus will depart from Greenville County Square (301 University Ridge, Greenville SC) at 2pm and return around 6:30pm.

This event has been approved by the South Carolina Planning Education Advisory Committee for one hour of continuing education for professional planners. A sign in sheet will be provided at the registration table for attendees who wish to receive an attendance certificate.

Cost to attend is $10* and advance registration is required. 

 

About Ed McMahon: As the Senior Fellow for Sustainable Development, Ed McMahon leads ULI’s worldwide efforts to conduct research and educational activities related to environmentally sensitive development policies and practices. He is also a senior staff adviser for ULI’s Building Healthy Places Initiative, and is a sought-after speaker and thinker on health and real estate.

Before joining the Institute in 2004, McMahon spent 14 years as the vice president and director of land use planning for the Conservation Fund in Arlington County, Virginia, where he helped protect more than 5 million acres of land of historic or natural significance. McMahon is also the cofounder and former president of Scenic America, a national nonprofit organization devoted to protecting America’s scenic landscapes. Before that, he taught law and public policy at Georgetown University Law Center for nine years, and served in the U.S. Army, both at home and abroad.

McMahon is the author or coauthor of 15 books, including Conservation Communities: Creating Value with Nature, Open Space, and Agriculture; Better Models for Development in Virginia; Developing Sustainable Planned Communities; Green Infrastructure: Connecting Landscape and Communities; Land Conservation Finance; and Balancing Nature and Commerce in Gateway Communities.

He also writes regularly for Urban Land Magazine, Citiwire, Planning Commissioners Journal, and other periodicals.

Over the past 25 years, McMahon has helped communities in all 50 states with a wide variety of community planning and economic development issues. He serves on several advisory boards and commissions, including the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Preservation Maryland, the Governor’s Institute for Community Design, the Doris Duke Charitable Fund, and the Orton Family Foundation.

McMahon has an MA in urban studies from the University of Alabama at Birmingham and a JD from Georgetown University Law School. He and his wife live in Takoma Park, Maryland.