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About Us

"What inspires us...unique communities, a revitalized streetscape, a new trail, volunteering to build a natural outdoor play space or playground, and bringing committee members together to plan for their community."

Planning4Places is a woman-owned business specializing in community planning. Our planners not only provide our nearly four decades of combined planning expertise to our clients, we truly engage with the community and the project - we get out into the community to experience the work we are planning. Our certified planners also have both public and private sector experience - we have been on both sides of the table and understand the needs and expectations of everyone involved. Our firm's work, however, is only for the public sector, making us somewhat unique in this industry. 

Katherine Ember, AICP
Founding Principal
James Levy, AICP
Principal

In 2013, Jim joined Planning4Places helping to grow our transportation and land use planning practice. He has 25 years experience in both transportation and land use planning. He has worked with MPOs, DOTs, and municipalities on corridor planning, statewide planning, multi-municipal planning, bike and pedestrian planning, and freight planning studies. Jim is a member of his Town's Complete Streets Committee, past Vice Chair of the Schenectady County Environmental Advisory Committee for several years and past President of the NY Upstate Chapter of APA.

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Kathy has 23 years experience in community planning with expertise in developing and managing comprehensive plans, land use and transportation plans, land use regulations, design guidelines, open space plans, disaster preparedness and resiliency plans, and strategic and revitalization plans. She is a Board Member of the New York Planning Federation and a former Past President of a local community center.

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Our Philosophy
"Planning is more than a completed document...it is about the process... working with those who know their community or region best...and developing the best path forward. It isn't always easy and almost always requires compromise, but we strive to provide the best professional opinions, facts, and real-world experience to create an implementable and realistic plan for the future."
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