Thank you, Madame Architect!

It was an honor and a privilege to be featured in Madame Architect. Working in the urbanism world for 20+ years means I’ve accumulated a lot of knowledge that I don’t often get to share in such a personal way. Here’s is an excerpt: What did you learn about yourself in studying journalism and urban planning? What a great combination. I knew I was going to move to New York since the first time I visited when I was 18 years old. It took a little while to figure out how to make it happen, so doing the mid-career master’s …

Lessons Learned from PPP

I worked closely with the President of the National Development Council to craft this op-ed highlighting the extraordinary work that NDC did to get PPP loans to truly small businesses and nonprofits — with the vast majority of forgivable loans going to WMBEs and businesses in low- and moderate-income communities. When big banks failed, small lenders saved small businesses August 11, 2020 07:30 AM Daniel Marsh   On Aug. 8, the Paycheck Protection Program—the federal government’s flawed but necessary small-business emergency lending program—came to an end. The program, designed to keep people employed through the initial Covid-19 crisis that brought the economy to a …

An Impact Look Book

Every now and then I get to put my journalism skills to work for my clients. For the National Development Council, I conceived, crafted and project-managed the organization’s first-ever Impact Look Book. Because NDC works behind the scenes on every aspect of economic development, it’s not always clear how this work affects real people’s lives. The Look Book features three uniquely impactful stories. A single father with two teenage sons finds an affordable home in a family-friendly neighborhood in Gallatin TN, where the average housing price has risen from $150,000 to $350,000 in the last decade. An immigrant family in …

Changing the Narrative …

Communicating complex policy issues is hard. And sometimes it’s made all the more challenging when only one side of the story is dominating the narrative. This is what’s happening with Opportunity Zones — a new tax incentive program meant to benefit low-income communities that is yielding very mixed results thus far. But that’s not the whole story. Working with the National Development Council and the Washington State Department of Commerce, together we crafted an important op-ed published in the Seattle Times showing how the State of Washington is developing a model approach to guiding OZ investment where it’s needed most. Read …

Manufacturing in NYC is not dead. Here’s the blueprint

June 6, 2019 By Matthew Putman and Vincent Lee Crain’s recently reported two statistics that seem unrelated but taken together say something significant about New York City’s future as an engine of opportunity, innovation, and equity. The first was that manufacturing lost more jobs than initially estimated and now accounts for only 69,000 jobs in the city, or 1.5% of the total. The second was that information jobs grew by 6% to about 200,000. The combination of a shrinking manufacturing sector and a growing information economy has had a profound impact on New York and cities across the U.S.—driving diverging narratives of opportunity and stagnation. Is this bifurcation permanent? Only …

WXY receives distinguished AIA merits

  Co-founder and principal-in-charge Claire Weisz recently received an AIA New York Medal of Honor, its highest award to a member for distinction in the profession. The jury cited Claire’s “distinguished work and high professional standing.” Additionally, co-founder and principal Mark Yoes was recently elevated to Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, the national group’s highest honor recognizing “exceptional work and lasting contributions to architecture and society.” For more than 25 years, Claire and her partners – including Mark, Adam Lubinsky, PhD, AICP, and Layng Pew, AIA – have evolved WXY into a truly integrated interdisciplinary firm by working across architecture, …

Where Resiliency Hits the Road

I have a new piece in the Fall 2017 issue of Oculus: Should resilience officers focus on preparing for climate change? When it comes to this existential challenge, there’s not even a consensus on this seemingly basic question. “Where Resiliency Hits the Road:  How those at the forefront of adapting to climate change and natural disasters are implementing effective projects at scale.” “No other approach to design encompasses the existential concepts of time and space like resilient design. The response to climate change is necessary at all scales – from the one-acre public plaza to the regional oastline to the multi-state …

Lloyd DesBrisay on Modernist Preservation

It was a pleasure to work on this important piece by Lloyd DesBrisay, co-founder of DesBrisay & Smith Architects, about his work on the Yale University Art Gallery and its impact on modernist preservation for Common Edge Collaborative. How the Restoration of Louis Kahn’s Yale Art Gallery Helped Kickstart Modern Preservation 01.30.2017 By Lloyd DesBrisay I have a distinct memory from my days as an architecture student at the University of California Berkeley in the late ‘80s. During an architectural survey class taught by Spiro Kostof, Louis I Kahn’s Yale University Art Gallery popped up in the slide show. “Nice …