Site Maintenance

I just migrated this blog to a new host, please let me know if you notice anything that seems broken.

New Feed URL

I finally decided to move my RSS feed to Feedburner, so I can find out how many are reading that way. Starting today, the feed for this blog will be located at this URL. I’m activating a forwarding plugin, but I am not sure how it will work with all readers.

It also means I can offer an email subscription to my blog.

Announcements

I’m long overdue posting here about a couple big announcements in my life.

First and most importantly, last December, Libby and I got engaged. Longtime readers will know her from her occasional cameos among the wonkyness, or of course from real life! When we met at Michigan, we bonded over a shared interest in upside-down maps, and I was astonished to discover she had already read Jane Jacob’s The Death and Life of Great American Cities — in high school! To top it off, today she’s also an even more avid reader of Planning magazine than I am. Clearly, this was meant to be. Currently she is a law student at Harvard, and this summer worked as a legal intern for the ACLU of Michigan, among other things defending freedom of speech. Needless to say I’m extremely excited, and we’re already working on planning a wedding for August 2010 in her hometown of Lapeer, Michigan. I’m incredibly lucky to have found such a wonderful partner.

Second, today will mark my last day at the Boston Metropolitan Area Planning Council, which will be just a few weeks shy from my one-year anniversary there. Working at MAPC has been a fascinating experience, and allowed me to learn about the Boston region through planning data and mapping. Most of all, it let me work with and learn from a dynamic group of professionals, especially my data services colleagues: Holly St. Clair, Tim Reardon, Susan Brunton, and Mariana Arcaya.

I’m leaving to start the PhD program at the M.I.T. Department of Urban Studies and Planning, where I was accepted to the Urban Information Systems program group. I hope to advance my work researching the application of Internet tools to the planning process. DUSP is the largest planning program in the country, and well suited to my interests, so I’m looking forward to beginning my studies there in September.

Urban Planning Conference Sessions

I’ll be attending the American Planning Association 2009 National Planning Conference in Minneapolis next week. It’ll be only my second visit to Minneapolis so I’m excited to explore the city. However, that will have to fit around some of the conference sessions. Here’s a few that have caught my eye so far, including some sponsored by the group’s Technology Division.

• An Interactive GIS Tool: “Get an overview and online demonstration of Local Decision Maker, a GIS-based decision support system for comprehensive planning developed by Purdue University”
• Automated Land and Zoning Management: ‘See how planners … are using an automated system that manages land-use and zoning cases and provides access to numerous other data layers that can be seamlessly imported to provide additional decision support.”
• Using Motion and Touch Sensitive Applications: “This session provides live demonstrations of several motion-sensitive, touch-sensitive, and location-aware tools that can make the public participation side of planning more interesting and interactive.”
• Does Citizen Participation Matter?: “This session helps planners learn the differences so they can advise others about what citizen participation model fits the case at hand.”
• The 10 Best Free Web Applications: “Explore the leading Free Web 2.0 technologies that can be used immediately and freely to support planning.”
• Hiawatha Light Rail Line: “This session focuses on the technical and political factors that shaped the plan for the Hiawatha Light Rail and Central Corridor Transit Line, including the plan’s implementation and performance.”
• Community Indicators: “Learn to create a vibrant steering committee [that can] serve as the community touchstone for data prioritization and analysis of key comprehensive planning elements such as transportation, health, and housing.”

In addition to the sessions I’ll be attending some of the happy hours and receptions, including the Next American City reception on Monday 4/27 at 7:30 p.m. in the lobby of the Hotel Ivy.

What sessions are you attending?

Boston Work

I thought I would note here that I recently moved to Boston, and last week started work as a Research Analyst at the Boston Metropolitan Area Planning Council, a planning agency that represents 101 cities and towns in the metropolitan Boston region. I’ll be working in the agency’s Data Center, as well as on the interactive mapping website MetroBoston DataCommon they operate with several partner organizations.

Moving to Boston

I thought I would announce here I will be moving to Boston in September, as Saturday I signed a lease on a Cambridge apartment. My girlfriend Libby will be starting Harvard Law School and I am looking for planning work. Any assistance or advice regarding either endeavor is welcome.

Archives

I just revised my archives page, and created a new index by category and month.