Local Decision Maker (LDM) is a powerful decision support system for comprehensive planning.  LDM brings together the data, current research, analyses, mapping tools, and models to assist communities throughout the planning process.  If vexing issues such as too much growth, too little growth, loss of natural resources, poor employment outlook, or declining school populations have driven your community to the point that change is wanted, you will find LDM useful. LDM will help you assess existing conditions, develop a realistic vision of the future, identify future development strategies, and select a preferred strategy consistent with the community's economic, natural resource, social and cultural objectives and projected resource bases.  Conflicts are unavoidable given competing objectives.  Overall, we expect communities that use LDM will find ways to navigate through these conflicts and develop a comprehensive plan supported by the community. 

The site is designed for county planners, planning consultants and public officials.  If you are new to the comprehensive planning process, please spend some time in the Resources section.  In addition, we recently added the map to the right that summarizes existing planning efforts throughout Indiana.  Before starting a planning effort, you may want to visit some of the counties that have recently completed or updated their comprehensive plans.

Tutorials now Available!

Our short video tutorials demonstrate the features available in the interactive mapping tool. The tutorial topics cover everything from the basic layout and usage of the mapping tool to task based work flows and examples of how to use the maps in your comprehensive plan. The tutorials can be found in the GIS Maps section of this site.

Learning Module

Explore the LDM Learning Module featured at the 2009 Indiana State Fair! Learn how planning decisions can impact land use.