GORHAM, ME (September 29, 2023) — October is National Community Planning Month. Planning is the process of envisioning, mapping, or otherwise conceiving of how a community will look, grow, and define itself, and much of what makes Gorham, Maine a special place has been the result of decades of careful planning. From where you live, to how you commute, to the type of home you live in, planning helps shape the community around us.

Did you know Gorham has many different plans? Thank you for your help in creating all of them! We couldn’t do it without you.

Ask The Planners Day

Please join us for sweet treats on October 12th, 2023, between 9:00am and 3:00pm, to ask the planners about the plans Gorham has in place.

We have a long history of community planning. Check out our planning history at the Town’s website.

Ways to participate in Community Planning Month

Ask the Planners Day! October 12th 9am – 3pm

Scavenger Hunt

BINGO

Crossword Puzzle

Word Search

Submit games and puzzles with name, email and phone number to the Planning Office to enter to win one of two gift bags!

Library Must Reads

Stop by the Baxter Memorial Library for the following planning must reads and great suggestions for your book club!

A Better Way to Zone by Donald Elliott

Changing Maine by Richard Barringer

Conservation Design for Subdivision by Randall Arendt

Design with Nature by Ian L. McHarg

Economic Development: What Works on the Local Level, National League of Cities

Growing Greener by Randall Arendt

Local Planning: Contemporary Principles and Practice edited by Gary Hack, et al.

Nature Friendly Ordinances by James McElfish, Jr.

People Habitat by F. Kaid Benfield

Planners on Planning by Bruce McClendon and Anthony Catanese

Rural by Design by Randall Arendt

Silent Spring by Rachel Carson

Smarter Land Use by Karl Kehde

The Death and Life of Great American Cities by Jane Jacobs

The Geography of Nowhere: The Rise and Decline of America’s Man-Made Landscape by James Howard Kunstler

The Next American Metropolis: Ecology, Community, and the American Dream by Peter Calthorpe

The Small Town Planning Handbook by Daniels, Keller and Lapping

The Smart Growth Manual by Duany, Speck Lydon

Walkable City by Jeff Speck

For Kids:

What do people do all day? By Richard Scarry

Metropolis by Benoit Tardif