About the Authors
DENNY PUKO
Denny Puko has been on a quest to create more practical and meaningful comprehensive plans. In 27 years of county planning, 15 years at the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, and 2 years as a self-employed consultant, he regularly sought new paths undertaking or providing help with comprehensive plans. Denny has an undergraduate planning degree from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. He developed and instructed many training courses for planners and local officials. He also taught a planning course at Thiel College. He is proud recipient of a 2004 Pennsylvania Governor’s Award for Local Government Excellence and a 2021 Distinguished Leadership Award from the Pennsylvania Chapter of the American Planning Association.
JIM PASHEK
Despite winning statewide awards for comprehensive plans, Jim Pashek wondered if the plans were making a difference. His design background trained him to explore alternatives, seek options, to think differently. This background allowed Jim to be open to seeking another way of planning communities.
Jim Pashek is founding partner of Pashek+MTR, a community planning and landscape architecture firm located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Landscape Architecture from Penn State University and a Masters of Business Administration from The University of Pittsburgh. Jim has conducted planning seminars for community groups throughout Pennsylvania. In 2013, he was invited along with Denny Puko to speak on Implementable Comprehensive Plans for the American Planning Association's annual meeting in Chicago. In 2015, Jim was awarded the 2015 Award for Planning Leadership by a Professional Planner by the Pennsylvania Chapter of the American Planning Association. Under Jim's leadership, Pashek+MTR has received numerous honors and awards including the Governor's Award for Outstanding Planning in Pennsylvania three times.