KTGY Principal Ken Ryan to Speak on Sustainable Transportation Solutions, TODs & Community Building

Oct. 22, 2010 - PRLog -- IRVINE, CALIF.  - Award-winning KTGY Group, Inc., Architecture and Planning, is pleased to announce that Ken Ryan has been invited to participate as a speaker at Mobility 21's Ninth Annual Southern California Transportation Summit, "Delivering Sustainable Transportation Solutions: Strong Economy | Livable Communities | Efficient Networks," held on Friday, October 29, 2010 at the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim, Calif., from 8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. With over 25 years of experience, Ryan is a principal and head of KTGY’s Community Planning and Urban Design Studio. Ryan and his studio are actively involved in transit oriented development including the Corona High Speed Rail Transportation District, Duarte's Gold Line Transit Village and Anaheim's ARTIC Multimodal Transportation District, located next to Angel Stadium, which received the 2009 Gold Nugget Outstanding On-the-Boards Site Plan Grand Award and the 2010 Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) Compass Blueprint Award.

Ryan will be participating with a panel of experts in the session, "Reality Check: Practical Applications of Sustainability and Livability Goals; Sustainable Communities Planning for the Neighborhood of Tomorrow," which will address the issues and challenges of mandated regional planning for sustainable living. Once voluntary, a new process for developing our future communities has been incorporated in Senate Bill 375 (SB 375), a companion piece to California’s broad climate change law known as Assembly Bill 32 (AB 32). When SB 375 was passed, it was dubbed the “the anti-sprawl bill,” but what does it really mean for California? At its heart is an attempt to revolutionize California’s arcane processes of regional planning for transportation and housing – largely by mandating the creation of “sustainable” regional growth plans. Along the way it has the potential to change the Regional Housing Needs Assessment process and incentivize transit-oriented projects. Ryan will highlight TOD (transit-oriented development) examples, review lessons learned from initial ideas to the built environment, and offer insights regarding the challenges and opportunities for implementation. Attendees will be provided a handout summarizing key Design Guideline considerations, areas to avoid, and elements to embrace as part of TOD planning. His panel will start at 10:30 a.m.

“By sharing some of our work, we hope to engage and enlighten attendees to the possibilities of how TOD, particularly as it relates to the current High Speed Rail and Transit Planning efforts, provides a strong platform for addressing the issues of livability, affordability, sustainability and mobility in a deeper, more integrated way," Ryan says. “It’s more than reducing vehicle miles traveled (VMT); it’s about applying the fundamentals of great neighborhoods to an urban setting and allowing for compelling memorable places to emerge."

Ryan has served on numerous local, regional and national boards involving transportation and housing including: two-term past Mayor of the City of Yorba Linda; past two-term Chairman of the Foothill/Eastern Transportation Corridor Toll Road Agency; past Board Member of the Orange County/Riverside County Major Investment Study (MIS) Corridor Agency; past Board Member of the Transportation Corridor System (TCS) Orange County Toll Road Agency; and is currently an Advisory Board Member of Planning, Policy, and Design at U.C. Irvine. He has been selected numerous times in Builder and Developer's "Who Who in Homebuilding," and was recognized as one of the "25 Most Influential People" by North Orange County Magazine.

Founded in 2002 as a joint initiative of business and transportation providers in Los Angeles County, Mobility 21 has grown to become Southern California’s premier transportation advocacy organization. Representing six counties: Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego and Ventura, Mobility 21 brings together business and civic leaders, transportation providers and policy makers to bring about tangible improvements in our transportation network. Mobility 21 is comprised of 12 funding partners and 13 associate partners, the hosts of the 2010 Southern California Transportation Summit. Membership in the Coalition is free and open to the public. Funding for Mobility 21’s year-round advocacy is directly derived from the Annual Summit.

Mobility 21 seeks to educate the public and elected leaders at the local, state and federal levels about the benefits and urgency of increased investment in our transportation infrastructure. The Coalition tackles issues across modes of transportation from bicycling to buses, from moving goods to moving people, from highways to railways, from trucks to trains. Mobility 21 represents Southern California’s 21 million residents, championing solutions to transportation challenges facing the region, and is passionate about bringing funding to our region for transportation. For more information on Mobility 21, visit www.mobility21.com or contact Executive Director Marnie O’Brien Primmer at 949.288.6884 or register online for the event at http://www.mobility21.com/events/2010_summit.html

About KTGY Group, Inc.
Established in 1991, KTGY Group, Inc., Architecture and Planning, provides comprehensive planning and award-winning architectural design services for residential communities, retail, hospitality, mixed-use and related specialty developments. KTGY delivers innovative solutions that reflect clear understanding of development, marketing and financial performance and takes particular pride in its highly motivated and principal led studios. Serving clients worldwide, KTGY maintains offices in Irvine, Oakland and Santa Monica, Calif., Denver, Colo., and Tysons Corner, Va. See www.ktgy.com.