FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What's it like to work with CZB? Over the years we've had plenty of questions about how we work. Here are some of our answers.
What kinds of communities and organizations does CZB work with?
CZB works with cities, towns, counties, public agencies, nonprofits, foundations, and other civic organizations working through complex questions about housing, neighborhoods, growth, development, and community change. We’ve worked in communities of very different sizes and circumstances across more than 40 states.
What matters most isn’t size or geography. It’s a willingness to understand what’s really happening, make choices, and act on what you learn.
What kinds of projects does CZB take on?
Our work includes housing strategies, neighborhood revitalization, comprehensive and small-area planning, market and demographic analysis, zoning and regulatory work, community engagement, organizational strategy, program design, and implementation support.
But we don’t start with a predetermined solution. The right scope depends on the problem you’re trying to solve. And sometimes discovering what the real problem is becomes an important part of the work.
How is CZB different from a traditional planning firm?
We believe planning is where the work starts, not where it stops.
Our job isn’t simply to produce a plan. We combine research, analysis, engagement, strategy, design, policy, and implementation thinking to help communities understand their circumstances and decide what they’re actually prepared to do about them.
That sometimes means challenging assumptions, narrowing priorities, or recommending a different path than the one everyone expected at the beginning. We’d rather help you make meaningful progress on the right things than produce an impressive document about everything.
Does CZB use a standard planning process?
No. There is no standard CZB playbook.
Every community has its own market conditions, political environment, history, capacity, resources, and challenges. We build each process around what we need to learn, the decisions that need to be made, and what the community is realistically capable of implementing.
Our methods may include data analysis, market research, fieldwork, mapping, stakeholder interviews, community engagement, workshops, regulatory analysis, and other tools—but the combination depends on the assignment.
How does CZB use data in its work?
A lot. But data is only useful when it helps people understand what’s actually happening.
We analyze demographic, economic, housing, real estate, market, property, and other relevant data—often at a much finer scale than conventional citywide statistics. We combine those findings with field observations and the lived experience of residents, staff, and stakeholders.
The goal isn’t more data. It’s better evidence for making decisions.
How does community engagement fit into your process?
Engagement isn’t something we add to a project after the “real work” is finished. It is one of the ways we learn.
Residents, elected officials, professional staff, community organizations, developers, institutions, and other stakeholders often understand things about a place that datasets alone cannot reveal. We design engagement around the questions a project needs to answer rather than using the same meeting format everywhere.
And we believe engagement should help communities work through real choices—not simply ask people what they want.
Will you tell us things we may not want to hear?
Yes.
Communities usually hire us because something important isn’t working, a difficult decision has been postponed, or the path forward isn’t clear. Finding clarity sometimes means questioning long-held assumptions or putting uncomfortable facts on the table.
We do that respectfully and with evidence, but we won’t avoid a difficult conclusion because it’s inconvenient. Honest analysis is one of the most valuable things an outside partner can provide.
What happens if your research changes the direction of the project?
Then the project should change.
We begin assignments with a scope and a set of questions, but good strategy requires being willing to follow the evidence. Sometimes research confirms what a community already suspects. Sometimes it reveals that the original problem was framed incorrectly.
We’ll talk through what we’re finding, what it means, and whether the work needs to evolve. The objective is to solve the right problem—not rigidly follow a process simply because it was written into the original scope.
How involved will our staff and leadership need to be?
Very.
We bring outside perspective, specialized expertise, analysis, facilitation, and experience from communities across the country. You bring something we cannot: deep knowledge of your community and responsibility for what happens after the project ends.
Our strongest projects are genuine partnerships. That means staff, leadership, and key stakeholders should expect to participate in working sessions, review findings, wrestle with choices, and help shape a strategy they can ultimately own.
What happens when a community isn’t ready to act on what it learns?
Adapting to changed circumstances is hard, particularly when the findings challenge long-held assumptions or expectations about the future. Resistance is normal, and it can show up in many ways—from shifting attention elsewhere to asking for more study before making a difficult choice.
We try to understand what is driving that hesitation rather than simply pushing past it. That means paying attention to what is being said, what may be going unsaid, and how history, power, and competing interests are shaping the conversation.
Sometimes we also need to adjust our own approach. If we have pushed too hard or moved too quickly, we slow down, reframe the questions, and create more room for people to work through what the findings mean.
Our aim is not just to deliver an answer. It is to help communities build the capacity to make difficult choices and put them into practice.
Do you stay involved after a plan or strategy is completed?
We can—and often do.
CZB offers post-project advisory services, staff training and coaching, board and leadership facilitation, progress reviews, and updates as conditions change.
Implementation ultimately belongs to the community, but that doesn’t mean you have to navigate it alone. When it makes sense, we stay involved to help clients turn recommendations into policies, programs, investments, regulations, and measurable progress.
How long does a typical CZB project take?
It depends on the assignment.
A focused analysis or strategic engagement may take a few months, while a comprehensive planning, housing, neighborhood, or implementation effort can extend over a year or more.
Rather than applying an arbitrary timeline, we structure the work around the research required, the decisions that need to be made, the engagement necessary to make them well, and your community’s capacity to participate.
How do we know if CZB is the right fit for our community?
Start with a conversation.
You don’t need to have the problem perfectly defined before contacting us. In fact, figuring out the right question may be part of what you need help with.
We’re a particularly good fit for communities that want more than another study on the shelf—communities willing to look closely at what’s happening, have candid conversations about their choices, and take meaningful action once the path becomes clear.
If that sounds like where you are, tell us what’s going on.
How does the CZB team work effectively across cultural and socioeconomic differences within cities?
We recognize that our team’s experiences do not encompass the experiences of every community we serve. That matters, and we do not pretend otherwise.
Our responsibility is to approach the work with humility, ask better questions, seek out perspectives that may be missing, make sure they’re part of the conversation, and remain willing to challenge our own assumptions. We listen closely to residents, staff, local leaders, and stakeholders whose experiences differ from ours—and we allow what we learn to shape the work.
Communities are rarely of one mind. People may see the same issue very differently based on their history, circumstances, and lived experience. Understanding those differences is essential to developing strategies that are credible, useful, and capable of earning support.
Trust is not something we assume. It is something we work to earn by listening carefully, making room for disagreement, and showing that what we hear can change our thinking.
Our commitment is to stay present, keep listening, and work through difficult choices with the people who will live with the consequences.