by admin | Aug 20, 2018 | Disaster, Disaster policy, Economics, Floodplain management, Government, Infrastructure, Natural Hazards, Resilience, Wildfire
I should have written this blog post six months ago, but better late than never. Last December, the National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS), Multihazard Mitigation Council, issued Natural Hazard Mitigation Saves: 2017 Interim Report, a welcome update of its...
by admin | Aug 7, 2018 | Business, Disaster, Government, Natural Hazards, Public safety, Resilience, Urban Planning
In two weeks, I will deliver my first online course with the Sustainable City Network (SCN), an organization I’ve become familiar with in recent years. Last October, I blogged about a keynote presentation by Kristin Baja at their annual conference in Dubuque....
by admin | Jul 31, 2018 | Activism, Books, Climate, Disaster, Floodplain management, Geography, History, Housing, Journalism, Natural Hazards, Racism, Water, Weather, Writing
It has always amazed me how much time and energy has been wasted, particularly in the U.S., on the denial of climate change in the face of so much scientific evidence. Sea level rise is a directly measurable phenomenon. So are changes in precipitation patterns over...
by admin | May 7, 2018 | Disaster, Disaster policy, Floodplain management, Government, Natural Hazards, Parks, Public policy, Public safety
There is that old saying that, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. To that, one might add that, if you’re thinking about fixing it anyway, you may want to clarify exactly how you wish to improve things and why you think the improvement will be better. In a February 27...
by admin | Mar 27, 2018 | Disaster, Natural Hazards, Public health, Public safety, Weather
Planning for long-term community recovery after a disaster has never been an easy task, but in larger communities with significant planning resources, it can be less daunting. For rural communities that may not have local planning staff or that may suffer from...
by admin | Feb 11, 2018 | Books, Careers, Disaster, Education, Environment, Natural Hazards, Personal history, Urban Planning
You tend to know when someone is a huge influence in his field. You can sense the gravitas when they speak, and you can find the books and articles, or major projects, that trace the impact of that person’s career. Urban planning lost such a person on January 27 when...