Category: Environmental
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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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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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Floods and Marathons: An Unexpected Race Experience
Even if you don’t know the actual mileage of the marathon, you probably know enough to know it’s a lot more than 6.6 miles. But that is all I was able to run during the Heartland Marathon this past Sunday. Having had a terrible race back in May due to the warm sunny weather I…
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Record Flooding in Nebraska: Causes and Impact
The flooding in Nebraska and surrounding states this past week looks like it will surpass the records set in 2011. A number of weather patterns over the past several months combined to form a perfect storm. We all felt the eighth coldest February on record in Nebraska (how could we forget the polar vortex) which meant…
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One Water: An Integrated Approach to Sustainable Water Management
One Water is a way to manage all water in an integrated, inclusive, and sustainable manner that will allow future generations to prosper. The way we currently manage water is very compartmentalized with stormwater engineers handling the runoff, water utility departments focusing on the supply, and solid waste departments undertaking the waste. Their are non-profits…
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Exploring Wildlife in Rocky Mountain National Park
Its been almost three months since I camped in Rocky Mountain National Park, but I’m finally getting around to writing about the trip. I’ve been camping before, but never in a national forest like Rocky Mountain. It was amazing to see a moose, elk, deer, and other animals going about their business unaffected set against…
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Lessons from Living in Minneapolis: Urban Planning Insights
I have lived in several cities in the past five years including Lubbock, Texas, Rochester and Columbia Heights, Minnesota, and most recently Minneapolis. Each city has imparted some lasting impressions and I taught me invaluable lessons about how cities function. But of all the cities, Minneapolis has taught me the most. Before I moved to…
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Greening our Cities
There were numerous ways to learn about how planners can have a positive effect on water at NPC18. One session in particular highlighted how Prince George County used a public private partnership to retrofit their community with green infrastructure. Presenters covered the history of the program from inception through completion of Phase I and adjustments…
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Maribou Water Garden: A Model for Sustainable Urban Design
Over 10 years later, New Orleans is still recovering from Hurricane Katrina and the devastating effects of the Levee failures. That disaster proved to the world that building walls and pumping out water is not a long term or permanent solution. Water must be managed on site, with features such as permeable pavement, rain gardens,…
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Discovering Minnesota’s Orbacle: Art and Climate Change Awareness
A few months back I was in the Commons (a new downtown Minneapolis park) having coffee with some friends when I noticed an interesting sculpture. I glanced at it briefly, long enough to find it unique, but then we continued walking. It wasn’t until this weekend that I finally realized what that sculpture was and its…
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The Planning Lady 