by admin | Aug 30, 2017 | Climate, Disaster, Disaster policy, Government, Infrastructure, Natural Hazards, Political philosophy, Public health, Public policy, Public safety, Resilience, Social Science, Urban Planning
A few days ago, in my last post, I wrote that Hurricane Harvey would last a few days, but the recovery would last years. However agonizingly long Harvey appears to be taking to inflict its misery on the Texas Gulf Coast, and now parts of southern Louisiana, it will go...
by admin | Aug 28, 2017 | Climate, Disaster, Natural Hazards, Public safety, Urban Planning, Water
For the people of the Texas Gulf Coast, the rain and winds of Hurricane Harvey are just the beginning of a long journey. The storm will last a few days. The recovery will last years. I am not there, so I can only surmise, based on the news coverage I have seen, the...
by admin | Jun 25, 2017 | Books, Disaster, Disaster policy, Natural Hazards, Public policy, Public safety, Urban Planning
As an urban planner, my entry into the world of disasters has been through the twin portals of public policy and planning practice—how we frame the priorities of government and how we carry out the tasks of community planning. One thing I have learned from years of...
by admin | Dec 4, 2016 | Disaster policy, Geography, Government, Natural Hazards, Public policy, Public safety, Science, Urban Planning
Nearly nine years ago, when I was invited to accept a three-week visiting fellowship in New Zealand with the Centre for Advanced Engineering in New Zealand (CAENZ) at the University of Canterbury, people began to ask me why the New Zealanders were so interested in me...
by admin | Sep 8, 2016 | Climate, Disaster policy, Floodplain management, Floodplain management, Government, Public policy, Public safety, Science, Technology, Urban Planning, Water
The American Planning Association has just posted today this article I wrote for its APA blog: https://www.planning.org/blog/blogpost/9111027/. Jim Schwab
by admin | Jul 9, 2016 | Activism, Adoption, Civil rights, Crime, Immigration, Personal history, Public safety, Racism
Our nation is suffering from a terrible social disease. It is not a sexually transmitted disease, though it can be spread orally, through the things we say to each other and over the Internet and the air waves. Since everything seems to need a name, I will call it BJ...