As someone new to the urban planning profession, I was often curious about the various types of jobs available to planners and asked extensively about this during my informational interviews with practitioners in the field. I learned that planners generally work either in government (public sector), consulting firms (private sector), or non-profit (advocacy) organizations. I … Continue reading Consulting vs. Public Sector Jobs in Planning
Urbanism
Wonky writings about urban planning
Conclusions from the Tech Remote Work Survey
This is the final post in a series about a study on the post-pandemic travel patterns of remote tech workers. See the original research proposal, a set of early findings, or the deeper statistical analysis that led to these takeaways and conclusions. You could also just watch a 3-minute condensed presentation of all of this, … Continue reading Conclusions from the Tech Remote Work Survey
Further Analysis from the Tech Remote Work Survey
Building on the early findings from a survey of over 900 tech industry employees, five key insights have been derived through a series of regression-based analyses. They answer long-standing questions such as "what will make workers finally return to the office?" and "is there really a mass exodus happening from Silicon Valley?". Warning: this post … Continue reading Further Analysis from the Tech Remote Work Survey
Roll out the red carpet for transit
Our best answer to the looming traffic congestion crisis Note: This op-ed won Honorable Mention in the Martin Wachs Memorial Essay Contest hosted by the Eno Center for Transportation. See the original published version as well as a brief summary video here: https://youtu.be/AZyzL13psFc As cities across the United States recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and … Continue reading Roll out the red carpet for transit
Early Findings from the Tech Remote Work Survey
Last month, I launched a survey for employees in the tech sector designed to illuminate trends in travel patterns during this era of widespread remote work. It asked participants to share details about their work and non-work trips, as well as potential interest in relocation. Here I will share some early findings, though keep in … Continue reading Early Findings from the Tech Remote Work Survey
Transit-Oriented Development at North Berkeley BART
This is an update and expansion on a site design proposal for redeveloping the area around the North Berkeley BART station, building upon a project from the UC Berkeley [IN]CITY program. Introduction Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) stations are distributed throughout the San Francisco Bay Area in a typical commuter rail configuration. These stations are … Continue reading Transit-Oriented Development at North Berkeley BART
How to Grow Transit Ridership
A definitive guide to attracting transit ridership in the post-pandemic era. Introduction As the COVID-19 pandemic led to widespread city lockdowns and shelter-in-place mandates throughout 2020, many knowledge workers quickly found themselves needing to adopt the practice of teleworking or telecommuting full-time. Subsequently, work trips made for commuting purposes were drastically reduced across the globe. … Continue reading How to Grow Transit Ridership
Tech Remote Work Study
If you work in tech (whether you're in the Bay Area or have moved on elsewhere!), please take this brief and anonymous survey about your new travel habits in the remote work era: https://sjsu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bkOb4L4LLfoAjVY Once you're finished, it would be greatly appreciated if you could also share the survey link with your coworkers! For reference, … Continue reading Tech Remote Work Study
Planning Muni’s 2022 Service Network with SFMTA
Background & Context Every Fall, service planners at the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) draft proposed modifications to the Muni (public transit) network for the upcoming year based on the city’s needs and resource availability. This annual exercise is typically uneventful, with minor changes to routes or service frequencies and limited public engagement. However, … Continue reading Planning Muni’s 2022 Service Network with SFMTA
Signs of Local Culture in the Built Environment
What makes a place unique or interesting? One might argue that local culture is the primary reason why people enjoy living in or visiting the neighborhoods they do, which suggests that uncovering what defines or exposes that culture is a valuable exercise. Hints of this can be found all over the built environment in cities. … Continue reading Signs of Local Culture in the Built Environment
Brisk Mobility 