Annie Finkenbinder-Best

Biography: Annie Finkenbinder Director, Education and Advisory Group ULI – the Urban Land Institute Washington, DC Annie Finkenbinder is the Director for the Education and Advisory Group at ULI. Previously, she served as a Legislative Assistant on Capitol Hill working with local stakeholders to develop federal legislation to promote housing and infrastructure development in high-growth rural areas. She has also worked as a Program and Policy Associate in Reconnecting America and the Center for Transit-Oriented Development's Washington, DC office. Ms. Finkenbinder has authored papers for the Federal Transit Administration on best practices in regional planning and affordable housing focused on the connections between transportation and land use, and has experience working with policies and best practices surrounding tax increment finance districts and other innovative financing mechanisms. She has worked with communities around the country to develop TOD-supportive zoning districts, analyze development potential of key sites along transit corridors, perform analysis of existing and potential future conditions, and develop regional and state-wide policy recommendations to help communities meet their goals. Ms. Finkenbinder has presented this work at conferences and meetings both domestically and abroad. Previously, she was a Community Planner working on urban design and policy planning processes in Orlando, Florida in both neighborhood and tourist commercial corridors. Ms. Finkenbinder was involved in many aspects of local planning, including comprehensive plan amendments, corridor planning, small area studies, and development review. She has a Master's degree in Urban Design from Carnegie Mellon University, where she developed a form-based zoning approach to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in order to spur development in keeping with the community's character. May 2011