An Original Influencer

I’m thrilled to contribute to a booklet honoring the career of urban planning Professor Susan Fainstein, an influencer extraordinare and pioneer of the Just City framework. I had the honor of taking classes with her at Columbia and we’ve remained friends ever since. The booklet is more than a celebration of her career but also a wide-ranging discussion about planning over the past fifty years. She has greatly influenced the trajectory of the field by teaching thousands of students, advising on at least 40 PhD dissertations, as well as researched and written influential books and articles. The video interview that …

Thought Leadership in Urban Planning

  It was a pleasure crafting an article for Planning Magazine on behalf of Dan Marsh of NDC, Seth Pinsky of RXR Realty, and Luiz Aragon, Development Commissioner of New Rochelle. Titled “Skin in the Game,” the piece goes in-depth about an innovative, market-based planning process that is wildly successful for redeveloping downtown New Rochelle. This public-private-nonprofit collaboration is creating dense, transit-oriented development with significant community benefits baked into the process while protecting surrounding neighborhoods. This is exactly how cities will succeed economically, socially, environmentally. This planning process works. See the whole article (PDF): NEW ROCHELLE_1218-1  

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 …