Highland Planning is Western New York's premier community development firm, based in Rochester, NY. We believe that life, work and play are made better when neighborhoods and commercial districts are thriving. Our achievements are backed by our track-record of success with projects statewide, in partnership with a host of visionary leaders and stakeholders. 

Highland Planning is a certified Woman Owned Business (WBE) and Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) in New York State.

Public Outreach

Public outreach is our passion. We develop an individual engagement process for each project, based on the input sought by the client, the level of involvement sought by the stakeholders, the geographic reach of the project, and even the time of year. Highland Planning prides itself on creating meaningful opportunities for input – through door-to-door outreach, one-on-one conversations, and reciprocal dialogue between designers and stakeholders. Our past and current focus areas include:
  • Comprehensive Plan Update (Brighton, NY)
  • Downtown Revitalization Initiative (Jamestown, NY)
  • North Union Street Transformation Project (Olean, NY)
  • Transit-Oriented Development Study (Buffalo, NY)
  • Dewey Avenue/Driving Park Road Realignment (Rochester, NY)
  • Mount Read Boulevard Corridor Study (Rochester, NY)
  • Parkside Neighborhood Traffic Study (Buffalo, NY)
  • Allen Street Extension Phase III (Buffalo, NY)
  • Rochester-Genesee Transportation Authority on-board surveys (Rochester, NY)
  • Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority bus shelter relocation project (Buffalo, NY)

Economic and market analysis

Evaluating aspects of a local economy, weighing the impacts of a potential policy decision, or forecasting future growth can be highly technical and bewildering tasks to many communities.  Don’t let your economic development plan or project fall into the dreaded “black box.” We can help the public better understand the data, leverage local knowledge and expertise, and ultimately broaden participation (and buy-in). Improving the economic well-being of a community starts with engaging and empowering the people that make up the economy. We offer rigorous technical analysis that can be combined with community engagement techniques to unlock the power of data and create long-lasting success. Below is a sample of technical services we offer:

  • Socio-economic and demographic analysis. Understand population growth trends, demographic characteristics (such as age, race, ethnicity, educational attainment, income trends, poverty trends, home ownership) and other socio-economic factors that will likely influence future growth and change in your community.
  • Housing inventory, assessment, and strategy. Assess the characteristics of the housing stock in your community or neighborhood (housing type, condition, value, and ownership) to help identify opportunities for rehabilitation, new construction, or demolition, as well as identify programs to increase homeownership and improve housing quality.
  • Retail gap analysis and opportunity assessment. Learn more about consumer spending potential in your community or within a certain distance of a neighborhood, block, or property.
  • Employment and industry trends analysis. Explore employment trends in your community and region (total employment, industry sectors, wages, labor force characteristics, change over time).
  • Evaluation of comparative advantages. Conduct a comprehensive evaluation of your community’s economic strengths, including natural resources, land supply, labor market, location, infrastructure and utilities, business clusters, quality of life factors, housing, and local government policy. 

Commercial District Revitalization

Highland Planning helps communities create a vision for progress and make it a reality. As both top-level project managers and active producers, we compile demographic and market data, write and administer grants, handle all aspects of fundraising, facilitate strategic planning and evaluate the impact and progress of the initiatives we work on. 

Highlights of accomplishments since 2007:
  • Facilitated the City of Rochester's highly successful Street Liaison Program, leading to more than $1 million in local private investment
  • Secured over $1.5 million for property owners in Rochester to improve commercial façades, renovate properties, construct mixed-use buildings and design and install streetscape improvements
  • Developed a cost/benefit analysis for a federal transportation funding application that brought $32M to the City of Buffalo to place cars back on Main Street
  • Organized the first and second annual Show On Monroe, attracting hundreds of visitors to one of Rochester's historical commercial districts
  • Helped small businesses, such as Yellow Haus Bicycles on Monroe Ave, find suitable commercial spaces in the City of Rochester
  • Expanded two merchant associations through outreach to business owners

Grant Writing

We have always been excited about getting projects designed and built. While it’s important for communities to have clear visions, a big part of getting things done is finding funding. We are proud of our grant writing track record, because it translates to tangible, positive changes in the communities and organizations with whom we work. Here are a few of our recent grant awards:
  • $18 million TIGER grant to the City of Buffalo, NY to place cars on Main Street (2015)
  • $75,000 USDA Rural Business Enterprise Grant for Headwater Foods, to study the feasibility of the relocation and expansion of the company's existing food hub (2014)
  • $50,000 grant from Farash Foundation to North East Area Development, Inc. (NEAD) to increase the capacity to serve the community at the Freedom Market through expanded food offerings and additional training for the market staff (2014) 
  • $50,000 Food Hub grant for a new refrigerated food truck for Headwater Foods, Inc. from the Wallace Center at Winrock International (2014)
  • $200,000 New York State Affordable Housing Corporation grant on behalf of NEAD to rehabilitate homes in the Beechwood neighborhood of Rochester, NY (2014)
  • $140,000 from the City of Rochester to NEAD to renovate the Freedom Market, a healthy community food market (2012)
  • $40,000 from a private company to support the work of a neighborhood preservation company in Rochester, NY (2012)
  • $15 million TIGER grant to the City of Buffalo, NY to place cars on Main Street (2011)
  • $200,000 New York Main Street grant on behalf of South East Area Coalition for South Clinton Avenue in Rochester, NY (2010)

Research & Program Management

Among our greatest strengths are meeting facilitation, project management, and attention to detail. We have been managing research projects on behalf of the National Academy of Sciences Transportation Research Board since 2011. We love this work because it allows us to contribute to the nation’s dialogue about the current state of practice in transportation. 
Some of the research projects we have managed include: