Peace and Planning

Category: Two Cents

  • It’s time for The New York Times to get with the times

    I recently applied for a writing fellowship. The application required an original piece in response to something that had been published in mainstream media. As I whittle away at a conference paper, I figured one girl’s rejected application could be fodder for the same girl’s next blog post! Below is…

  • Using The Good Place to talk about our Bad Places

    I recently read this Planetizen piece and as a fan of the television show The Good Place, I thought it was a brilliant idea to use a fun pop culture reference to explore a serious social problem through the lens of moral philosophy (and I was happy to see that…

  • Digging deeper into surface-level surveys

    I recently read this article and though at first glance I was heartened by the message, when I dug a bit deeper into supporting studies I experienced the same frustration I always do when I encounter surveys of the general public. What did I wish these surveys asked instead? I…

  • My favorite McSweeney’s

    I assigned this oldie-but-goodie for my community engagement class to read for today. Very much looking forward to their perspectives on this…and if they pick up on any of these themes in the public meetings they will be evaluating. As someone interested in #transportation and making our #streets safe for…

  • Density ≠ Tall Buildings

    Yessss this article. I think one thing we misunderstand in the US is that density does not have to mean towering buildings. What it does mean is using the space we have *much* more efficiently. What does this look like? Building for mixed use, parting ways with our water-hungry lawns,…