By Jimmy Shoemaker, Planner, Alta Planning + Design Earlier last fall, while Colin Harris and I were at Farnsworth Aerospace, a middle school on the east side of St. Paul, as part of the Minnesota Statewide Safe Routes to School planning assistance project, one of the teachers showed me a fleet of 29 bicycles in […]
by Jeff Knowles, Associate Planner, Alta Planning + Design Almost halfway between San Francisco and Los Angeles sits the small town of Coalinga (population 17,000). In many ways Coalinga is a typical Central Valley agricultural community — residents draw their livelihoods from nearby ranches, farms, and oil fields. Established as a coal refueling station for steam locomotives […]
“The City came into being to preserve life, it exists for the good life.” — Aristotle “Gotta Catch ’Em All” — Proverb By Michael Sampson and Marc Caswell, Alta Planning + Design Have you noticed that public plazas and sidewalks have been more busy lately — full of people wandering around looking at their phones (a little more than usual)? For […]
By Phil Goff, LEED AP, Senior Associate, Alta Planning + Design For many of us in the transportation planning and engineering field, nothing beats seeing a project implemented, especially benefiting your friends and neighbors. For me that project is the recent reconstruction of Massachusetts Avenue (Mass Ave.) through East Arlington, where I live. For decades, […]
by Jennifer Baldwin, Senior Planner at Alta Planning + Design Steering committees are often seen as a tough crowd. Too controlling. Too bureaucratic. Not engaged. It doesn’t have to be that way! Steering committees provide excellent insight into the needs of the community and often serve as a great conduit between the public and the […]
Turlock is a rural city of about 70,000 residents in California’s Central Valley. The temperate climate and short rainy season make walking and bicycling an attractive option for much of the year. Most destinations in Turlock are within reach by bicycle — the town is roughly a square about 5 miles across. Its gridded street system makes […]
by Beth Flanagan, Marketing Coordinator, Alta Planning + Design I mean BIG props — like maps that are 40’ x 25’ that people can walk and draw on. Maps that allow people to easily identify their favorite neighborhood destinations, their closest light rail stop, their homes, and the sidewalk and streets they regularly travel. Next, locate the […]
