In this paper the nature and extent of local planning and evaluation practices and their impact on economic development policies are examined. Based on data from a survey of Canadian and US cities with populations over 10 000, several conclusions are drawn; (1) it appears that the extent of planning and evaluation of local economic development policies is limited in cities in both nations; (2) conditions which appear to be associated with planning and evaluation include expected growth in economic base, more land available for development, larger local budgets for economic development, and greater professionalism among economic development officials; and (3) although more planning and evaluation activity is related to an increased use of all types of economic development techniques, planning appears to interact with other local forces in a manner which may lead to more entrepreneurial, demand-side, or redistributive economic development policies.