Small Town and Rural Planning Division Small Town and Rural Planning Division
The Small Town and Rural Planning (STaR) Division of APA is a forum for the exchange of ideas and information of interest to professional and citizen planners in our smaller communities and rural areas.
Award Nominations closed January 23rd, 2026. Thank you to all of our wonderful members who submitted some great projects.
Join us at APA's 2026 National Planning Conference in Detroit and Online.
In addition to APA's packed schedule of sessions and mobile workshops, your Small Town & Rural Planning Division exec committee works each year to bring you bonus content at APA's National Planning Conference.
This year at NPC26 in Detroit, we have a couple special STaR events scheduled:
* Monday 4.27 @ Noon: STaR Awards Presentation
* Monday 4.27 starting at 6pm: Joint Divisions Reception at Detroit Beer Co. 1529 Broadway
We will be joining the APA Economic Development and Food Systems divisions, plus several chapters for a joint reception (ticketed event) at NPC26.
APA Community Engagement Interest Group
Check out our friends at the APA Community Engagement Interest Group
What is Small Town and Rural Planning?
We are a collaborative group of rural and small town planners, citizen planners, and allied professionals dedicated to the physical, social, and economic diversity of North America's non-metropolitan areas. As a division, we do our best to keep an eye on issues that challenge the ever changing face or "Small Town America" and share ideas and success stories from the rural heartland of the United States and abroad.
Members participate in the quarterly Small Town & Rural Planning newsletter. STaR is also active on social media, sharing our members stories and interesting ideas, trends, and hacks on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, TwitterX, BlueSky, etc. We conduct regular interviews with newspapers, radio, magazines, and other media resources, as well as traveling the world telling the planning story.
STaR's competitive annual awards program recognizes outstanding projects, programs, plans, and people who are working to make the future of small communities brighter. The division also sponsors sessions and workshops at national, regional, and state conferences in partnership with our members.
Let us know how you would like to pitch in for small town & rural planning, wherever you may be.
(Featured Image: Main Street's westview of Galena Illinois, (CC) Julien Scavini 2018)