Renderings
These site plan renderings were designed to provide a clear, effective visualization of the proposed projects.
Master & Comprehensive Plan Samples
The corresponding images show a range of samples from master and comprehensive plans I have written and designed.
Sustainable Communities Guide and Workbook
The Sustainable Communities Guide & Workbook is a comprehensive and educational resource that I researched, wrote and designed for my master's thesis. It is designed to help people of all ages learn about sustainable, resilient, and healthier ways to relate to ourselves, others, and the natural environment. The workbooks encourage creative exploration of habitual thought patterns and pre-conceived ideas. Organized categories and simple, visual symbols help present the core concepts. Based on natural systems, structures, and processes, some of the topics in the workbooks and guides include:
Core Principles of Sustainable Communities and Aware Individuals
Behavioral Characteristics of Aware and Sustainability-Minded Individuals
Political Actions and Policies for Sustainable Communities
Infrastructural Components of a Sustainable and Resilient Community
Community Greenspace and Urban Agriculture Project
The goal of this project was to create an interactive, urban greenspace that helped create community by growing food and bringing people together. The urban lot was planned to be developed, however by creating urban gardens and partnering with local organizations to grow sunflowers for biofuels and bring awareness to the space, the lot was saved from development and is still operating to this day as a community space and local resource. Project included researching the location of the space, designing the layout, leading partnerships with other organizations, guiding community engagement and education, and helping with planting and finalizing the space by writing a sustainment plan.
Land Use Assessment for Urban Farm Potential and Greenspace Installation
The first project showcased to the right utilized statistical research and ArcMap GIS to complete a study of the potential for urban farms in blighted regions and food deserts of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The second project studied abandoned and blighted lots in a region in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to propose a greenway location for public use and habitat creation.
Urban Farm and Homestead Project
The goal of this project was to rehabilitate and compile multiple lots in an abandoned steel mill town outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in order to resell them as potential properties for urban farming. Each finished property included a fully remodeled home with a cleared lot ranging from a half acre to one acre. The community of urban farms would help the economic and environmental value of the region and would provide a model for localized food security and community growth. The project included outreach and creation of visual resources, background land use and spatial research through ArcMap GIS, and compiling potential properties through visual assessment.
Habitat Connectivity Assessment of the Sacramento Region
This project assessed current and historic land uses of the City of Sacramento, California, to inform planning decisions for green space and habitat re-establishment and development. A map of current land uses was created to analyze through chosen Fragstats metrics. This program helps to understand a landscape’s connectivity and composition. Following analysis of the current land uses in the city, the landscape was compared to the possible historical land use conditions for analysis on how far the landscape has deviated from the natural uses and to inform future conservation planning initiatives. Based on this analysis, a general plan of zones that focus on green space re-establishment is proposed.
