AI in local government isn't a philosophy problem. It's a workflow problem.

We're speaking at the LOC Spring Conference this week. Here's what we actually want to talk about, and why the most useful AI conversations in planning are the most boring ones.

Every few months, someone publishes a piece about how AI is going to transform local government. The framing is usually the same: enormous potential, significant risk, unclear timeline. The technology is evolving rapidly. More guidance is coming. The conclusions are split, but equally frightening on both ends. Either it's “There’s nothing to see here;” or it’s “We’re all toast.”

As usual, it’s somewhere in the middle. But what’s bad about those conclusions is that it’s also not very useful to a planner in a midsize city just trying to do their job well with lots of competing demands that are unique to that place, time, and personnel.

This week at the 2026 League of Oregon Cities Spring Conference, I'll be joining Mayor Tim Rosner of Sherwood and Brian Garcia from CompTIA for a session called "Unlocking the Potential of Artificial Intelligence in Your City." It’s this Friday at 8 am in Pendleton, Oregon. 

2026 Spring Conference :: League of Oregon Cities .We're going to try to make it actually useful.

The questions I actually hear from city staff

When I talk to planners and community development directors across Oregon, they're not asking about AI governance frameworks or large language model risk profiles. They're asking things like:

"We get dozens of calls a week asking what someone can build on their property. Every answer requires me to look it up manually. How can we do a better job serving our customers?"

Or:

"I have to use 4 different websites to find the information I need across several different maps. Can AI help with this?"

Those aren't philosophical questions. They're workflow questions. And in most cases, the answer isn't a cutting-edge AI system.

What this actually looks like in practice

UrbanForm was built around the premise that good, trustworthy information is the bedrock of any process. This is true of any AI system as well–in fact, anyone will learn quickly that without good information to feed AI, you cannot trust what it will give you. It cannot make judgement calls without the right context. In short: garbage in; garbage out. 

A good partner like UrbanForm can help to develop those processes to manage what the technology gives you; where guardrails are necessary and where things should just be out of bounds. UrbanForm gives planners and citizens parcel-level zoning data that's lightyears ahead of current systems; it’s our job to make sure what people need is right where they want it. A Community Development Clerk in Lafayette told us she opens it every morning alongside ORMAP to answer resident questions and review site plans. That's the version of "AI in planning" we find meaningful: not replacing judgment, but eliminating the repetitive lookup work that surrounds it.

The City of Boardman has taken it further, embedding UrbanForm directly in their city website so residents can answer their own zoning questions without calling the planning counter. Not a pilot. Not an experiment. Just the way zoning questions get answered now.

The broader point

Oregon cities are being asked to do more with the same resources - housing production mandates, UGB analyses, HAPO reporting, public engagement requirements. Technology won't resolve that structural pressure. But applied thoughtfully to specific, well-defined problems, it can meaningfully reduce the friction inside it.

That's the conversation we're hoping to have on Friday: practical, unglamorous, honest.

What's working in Oregon cities right now. Where technology helps and where it doesn't. What questions city leaders should be asking before they adopt anything new.

If you're in Pendleton this week, come find us. Again, it’s this Friday, April 24 at 8 am in Pendleton, Oregon. If you're not, we're always glad to compare notes on what you're working through.

Quang Truong is Co-Founder of UrbanForm. UrbanForm provides parcel-level zoning data for Oregon municipalities. Learn more at urbanform.us.