On June 24, 2025, the University of Delaware’s Institute for Public Administration (IPA) co-hosted a collaborative policy forum titled “Addressing Delaware’s Demographic Trends and Infrastructure Challenges: Models for Opportunity and Innovation.” This forum was coordinated and moderated by Julia O’Hanlon, health and aging policy services coordinator at IPA, in partnership with the Delaware Department of Transportation’s Division of Planning, Delaware Population Consortium and WILMAPCO. The keynote speaker, Todd Poole, president of 4ward Planning Inc., presented on the impact of commercial land-use trends, including mixed-income and multigenerational redevelopment. Dan Blevins, principal planner at WILMAPCO, provided a summary of recent demographic trends, projections and implications in Delaware. Mike Quaranta, president of the Delaware State Chamber of Commerce, and Robert Herrera, co-founder of 9th Street Development Company, discussed public-private perspectives and opportunities for Delaware. Todd Poole also joined the final session with Blevins and Dave Gula of WILMAPCO on suburban corridor planning. Discussions throughout the day focused on Delaware's housing and development challenges. Presenters and participants discussed ways to simplify approval processes and explore strategic partnerships to address the affordable housing shortage while updating regulations to better support community development needs.

Originally posted in UDaily's For the Record​​.​​​