Latest
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Tracking how truly unaffordable housing has become in the US
For the first time in years, the median household income is not enough to afford a median-priced home – not even close! For most of the past decade, home prices and household incomes have…
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Win for affordable housing in court supported by our analysis
Nels Nelson and Sarabrent McCoy supported the proponent of affordable housing development in North Reading, Massachusetts. The case was in front of the State’s Housing Appeals Court, which recently decided in favor of the…
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El Paso Downtown + Uptown Master Plan while at Stantec
City of El Paso, Texas | 2022-2023 | Link While working at Stantec’s Urban Places, CommunityScale team members contributed to El Paso’s Downtown + Uptown master plan. El Paso’s uptown and downtown have not…
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Northern Kentucky Housing Data Analysis
Employment growth is surpassing the availability of workforce housing in the NKADD region. Our data-driven analysis suggests a substantial increase in the production of 1- and 2-bedroom units along with more income-aligned units. While…
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Bayside Master Plan while at Stantec
In a collaboration between urban planning, architecture, and landscape architecture teams, we created a master plan for Portland’s largest mixed-use development in a generation, located within the vibrant and historic Bayside neighborhood a few…
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Affordable Housing Developable Land Analysis while at Stantec
We have extensive experience with 40B General Land Area Minimum (GLAM) determinations, the Massachusetts State regulations for determining developability for affordable housing. Nels has appeared as a witness at the Housing Appeals Committee (HAC)…
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Five lessons learned drafting an MBTA Communities overlay for Lowell
MBTA Communities (also known as Section 3A) is an exciting and bold program that affordable housing proponents and lawmakers from across the country are closely watching to see what kind of impact can be…
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How good urban design can make city residents healthier
What makes us healthy? It’s not just hospitals. The biggest influence on our health is our physical environment and behavior. With most of the world’s population living in cities, urban design has a responsibility…
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Commercial Triangle Neighborhood Plan
The Commercial Triangle Neighborhood Plan is a comprehensive project designed to revitalize a rapidly evolving post-industrial urban area into a transit-oriented district through strategic planning and design in Everett, Massachusetts. The plan focuses on…
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How smart cities can become resilient to extreme heat
Extreme heat is the leading cause of climate change related death in the United States. It is more deadly than hurricanes, tornadoes, and flooding. And, as our planet warms, it is becoming more necessary to cool…
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Downtown Hammond, IN Master Plan (CNU award)
With the announcement of new commuter rail service to Chicago and the emergence of a surprisingly robust housing market demand, downtown Hammond is ready to punctuate a decades-long economic decline and jump-start its downtown…
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Riverside TOD Design Guidelines
Mark Development | Newton, MA | 2021 While at Stantec and in collaboration with Jeff Speck, we developed a package of design guidelines for Mark Development’s transformational transit-oriented development proposal adjacent to Newton’s Riverside…
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Everett Design Regulations
CommunityScale team members wrote the Everett Design Regulations working closely with Everett staff and the Everett Planning Board. Capitalizing on Everett’s increasing attractiveness in the market, the regulations help the City translate increasing development…
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Local Rapid Recovery Program
Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development | Multiple MA municipalities | 2021 While at Stantec, members of our team lead the development of strategic, implementation-focused Covid-recovery plans for downtowns in Leominster, Athol, and…
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Elkhart, IN River District Implementation Plan (CNU award)
Elkhart’s leaders knew their city, once reliant on manufacturing, needed to diversify its economy. The City’s appointed public/private River DistrictImplementation Team (RDIT) was formed to plan the River District, and work began on bringing…