by admin | Nov 5, 2024 | Activism, Books, Crime, Government, History, Immigration, Personal history, Political philosophy, Public policy, Public safety, Russia
Some time in 1997, I undertook a reading experiment I have never regretted, which was to begin to read, sequentially, biographies of U.S. presidents. I am not sure exactly when I picked up Cincinnatus: George Washington and the Enlightenment by Garry Wills, but it...
by admin | Oct 18, 2023 | Climate, Disaster, Disaster policy, Disaster Recovery, Emergency Management, Floodplain management, Floodplain management, Government, Hazard Mitigation, History, Iowa, Natural Hazards, Public safety, Resilience, Urban Planning, Weather
In the latter half of June 2008, it was hard to imagine Cedar Rapids as the city it had been just one month earlier. A massive flood along the Cedar River clobbered the city with a classic double whammy: About the time existing flood crests that had already swamped...
by admin | Sep 14, 2023 | Activism, Colorado, Disaster, Disaster Recovery, Emergency Management, Housing, Natural Hazards, Public safety, Urban Planning, Wildfire
The field production of Planning to Turn the Tide, the documentary film project of the American Planning Association’s Hazard Mitigation and Disaster Recovery (HMDR) Planning Division, has involved dozens of local volunteers and supporters in several states spread...
by admin | Aug 4, 2023 | Climate, Coastal Management, Disaster, Emergency Management, Floodplain management, Florida, Government, Hazard Mitigation, Infrastructure, Natural Hazards, Public safety, Resilience, Urban Planning, Weather
In last week’s post, I discussed on our video blog the interviews we had conducted for Planning to Turn the Tide in Sarasota County, Florida, during our mid-June trip through southwestern Florida. Today, we wrap up the Florida trip with a brief video blog about our...
by admin | Jun 28, 2023 | Climate, Coastal Management, Disaster, Disaster policy, Emergency Management, Florida, Government, Hazard Mitigation, Movies, Natural Hazards, Public safety, Resilience, Social Equity, Transportation, Urban Planning
In my last blog post, I discussed the origins of a current active film effort, Planning to Turn the Tide, which I have been leading on behalf of the APA Hazard Mitigation and Disaster Recovery Planning Division. This post, which includes the first of a series of blog...
by admin | Jun 21, 2023 | Activism, Blogging, Books, Careers, Climate, Coastal Management, Disaster, Disaster policy, Floodplain management, Florida, Hazard Mitigation, Journalism, Movies, Natural Hazards, Personal history, Philanthropy, Public policy, Public safety, Resilience, Travel, Urban Planning, Weather, Wildfire, Writing
One reason I have long loved being an urban planner is that, ultimately, planning is about imagining a better future. Or should be, anyway. Although I was in my early thirties before I returned to school for a pair of graduate degrees in Urban and Regional Planning...