Do you ever stay up at night Googling the difference between zoning and use variance petitions?

Are you really fun at parties?

You can apply to be part of the next People’s Planning Academy, a free urban planning education program put on by the city’s Department of Metropolitan Development.

Apply online here. Applications will close at 5 p.m. Sept. 14. Applicants will be notified of a decision by Sept. 21.

Be prepared to attend and participate in all six sessions in person if you apply.

Participants will meet 6-7 p.m. every Thursday from Oct. 1 through Nov. 5. Meetings are at Frederick Douglass Park, 1616 E. 25th St.

Here’s what you’ll learn

• Introductions and community engagement
• Land use and zoning
• Comprehensive plan and Regional Center guidelines
• Petition types and requests
• Development review and implementation
• Planning in action and career path

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Mirror Indy reporter Tyler Fenwick covers housing and labor. Contact him at 317-766-1406 or tyler.fenwick@mirrorindy.org. Follow him on X @ty_fenwick and Bluesky @tyfenwick.bsky.social.

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Indy’s free city planning course is open for applications

by Tyler Fenwick, Mirror Indy
September 8, 2026

<h1>Indy’s free city planning course is open for applications</h1> <p class="byline">by Tyler Fenwick, Mirror Indy <br />September 8, 2026</p> <p>Do you ever stay up at night Googling the difference between zoning and use variance petitions?</p> <p>Are you really fun at parties?</p> <p>You can apply to be part of the next <a href="https://www.indy.gov/activity/peoples-planning-academy" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">People’s Planning Academy</a>, a free urban planning education program put on by the city’s Department of Metropolitan Development.</p> <p><a href="https://forms.cloud.microsoft/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=jlBowETTe0mnGssbF9Fr6FBcNUEO7h9NndiXT9tlATxURDQ3NFZEVEVYNzhKS05JR0pOMVM3RzJSQy4u&amp;route=shorturl" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Apply online here</a>. Applications will close at 5 p.m. Sept. 14. Applicants will be notified of a decision by Sept. 21.</p> <p>Be prepared to attend and participate in all six sessions in person if you apply.</p> <p>Participants will meet 6-7 p.m. every Thursday from Oct. 1 through Nov. 5. Meetings are at Frederick Douglass Park, <a href="https://maps.app.goo.gl/cg4yVEYT5TCPKji27" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">1616 E. 25th St.</a></p> <p><strong>Here’s what you’ll learn</strong></p> <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>Introductions and community engagement</li> <li>Land use and zoning</li> <li>Comprehensive plan and Regional Center guidelines</li> <li>Petition types and requests</li> <li>Development review and implementation</li> <li>Planning in action and career path</li> </ul> <p>This &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://mirrorindy.org/indianapolis-city-planning-course-applications-open/&quot;&gt;article&lt;/a&gt; first appeared on &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://mirrorindy.org&quot;&gt;Mirror Indy&lt;/a&gt; and is republished here under a &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/&quot;&gt;Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;img src=&quot;https://i0.wp.com/mirrorindy.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/cropped-Mirror-Indy-square-logo-1.png?resize=150%2C150&amp;amp;ssl=1&quot; style=&quot;width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;&quot;&gt;</p> &lt;img id=&quot;republication-tracker-tool-source&quot; src=&quot;https://mirrorindy.org/?republication-pixel=true&amp;post=89903&amp;amp;ga4=G-X0R0QW371R&quot; style=&quot;width:1px;height:1px;&quot;&gt;&lt;script&gt; PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: function() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: &quot;https://mirrorindy.org/indianapolis-city-planning-course-applications-open/&quot;, urlref: window.location.href }); } } &lt;/script&gt; &lt;script id=&quot;parsely-cfg&quot; src=&quot;//cdn.parsely.com/keys/mirrorindy.org/p.js&quot;&gt;&lt;/script&gt;

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