Author: The Planning Lady
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Streets for People
This morning my husband and I went out for a walk with our dogs at about 8 am, followed at about 9 am with my daily run. During the walk we were pleasantly surprised with the lack of traffic, both pedestrian and vehicular, but my run was filled with random turns, running in the grass,…
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Eco-Friendly Deodorants: How to Go Green
Last fall while at a Husker tailgate I was talking with friends about alternatives to the standard stick deodorant. We discussed different options, mostly refillable deodorant sticks that cut down on the amount of waste generated. The following week I did a some research into different products and read reviews but was never really satisfied…
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Designers’ Role in Combating Climate Change
My company is updating employee bios and sent out a questionnaire to help craft the text. One question in particular spurred this blog post—What role do you think designers / planners play in addressing climate change? My answer in a nutshell was—a very important one. In 2017 the U.S. EPA estimated commercial and residential markets…
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Socially Distanced Public Engagement
Public engagement has been evolving rapidly to keep up with our growing reliance on technology. Already city governments and advocacy groups use Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube to keep their constituents informed. The benefits of digital engagement include removing time constraints, providing a new and interactive way to engage, and bringing new voices to the…
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Reducing Plastic in the Kitchen
A few years ago I was sitting in a Master Water Steward class learning how to be a better steward of the water resources in my community. The topic of plastic sandwich bags and whether washing and reusing them was more sustainable than throwing them away came up. On the one hand, you use quite…
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8 Key Benefits of Historic Preservation for Communities
I have long been an advocate for historic preservation. My passion began when I was young, walking among beautiful old buildings. I loved the extensive details they had, especially in the Queen Anne houses, and was drawn to the field of architecture as a result. It took me until the end of my bachelors degree…
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How Older Neighborhoods Promote Healthier Lifestyles
At one point in time, older neighborhoods, particularly urban centers, would not have been considered healthy. In the 1800s they were quite the opposite with squalid conditions leading to a rise in disease and death. By packing several families into one dimly lit, often damp apartment, public health was bound to decline. Row after row…
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The Hidden Health Benefits of Living in Older Homes
The most comprehensive list for why old places matters was developed by Tom Mayes and includes topics you would typically think of such as identity, memory, continuity, and beauty as well as some more broad topics such as economic impact, sustainability, and community. What I have yet to come across is health as a reason…
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Reviving the Great Plains: A New Future for Small Towns
As is the theme with anything related to reading or writing lately, I’m a little behind on my Planning Magazine subscriptions. Its the beginning of December and I’m just getting to the heart of the October issue. Nonetheless, when I came to the article titled “After the Dust Settles: Revisiting the Buffalo Commons 30 Year…
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Bureau Men Settlement Women: Constructing Public Administration in the Progressive Era
Book Review Today’s field of public administration is shaped largely by the events that transpired during the progressive era, a time when social justice and improving the lives of city dwellers began. This was also the era when rationalizing and regulating societal processes took hold. The field of public administration began as the former and…
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The Planning Lady 