Hello, I'm Nels Nelson, an urban planner and designer living in the Boston area with my partner and our kids. These days I'm focused on cities at Stantec Urban Places. You can find my profile on LinkedIn.
Articles
- How Stantec Measures Housing Attainability with Replica Data (ReplicaHQ, 2023)
- Five Lessons Learned Drafting an MBTA Communities Overlay for Lowell (APA-MA [PDF, page 3], 2022)
- So, you’ve committed to becoming a net zero community. How do you get there? (Stantec, 2022)
- Barefoot Planning [PDF] (Charter Cities Institute, 2021)
- Heat resilience in cities [Apple Podcasts] (Stantec, 2021)
- How smart cities can become resilient to extreme heat (Stantec, 2021)
- Lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic: Improving urban social equity and wellness (Stantec, 2021)
- Webinar Moderator: Global Panel on COVID-19 Responses in Vulnerable Urban Contexts [YouTube] (Stantec, 2020)
- A global view of design and urban planning post-COVID-19: Pandemic prevention (Stantec, 2020)
- Walking—our oldest mode of transportation—can inform the future of urban mobility (Stantec, 2020)
- Piecing together resilient cities (UNDP, 2018)
- Like People, Diseases Travel Fast These Days (CityLab, 2018)
- What if your neighborhood could make you healthier? (Stantec, 2018)
- Designing the World’s First WELL Community [PRESENTATION VIDEO] (Livable Cities, 2018)
- Boston's Guide to Placemaking for Mobility: Reclaiming streets for the people (Stantec, 2017)
- How good urban design can make city residents healthier (Stantec, 2016)
- Climate change, communities, and storytelling (Stantec, 2016)
- Cyclifiers: an investigation into actors that enable intra-urban metabolism [PDF] (Cyclifier.org, 2015)
- Decentralized utility provision management: Models for community-led infrastructure services (SASBE, 2012)
Notes
- Ongoing, Changelog and RSS
- 2023, Notes on creating a DIY solar-charged portable DC power station
- 2022-2023, Our home solar journey in Massachusetts
- 2021-Ongoing, Resources for work-from-home cities
- 2020-Ongoing, Resources for 15-minute cities
- 2019, Review of Bike City Amsterdam (2019)
- 2017, Review of Haussmann’s Paris: A Model’s Relevance
- 2013-2022, Twitter archive
- 2010, Review of Sense and Sanitation
- 2010, Thoughts on crowdfunded infrastructure
Project history
My professional project history listed by starting date, project name, location, and role. Apologies in advance for any dead external links.
- 2023, Housing Data Analysis, Wabasha, MN, Supporting planner
- 2022, 40B analysis, Nahant, MA, Project Manager/Planner
- 2022, Workforce Housing Analysis, Babcock Ranch, FL, Supporting planner
- 2022, Fort Wayne Design Guidelines, Fort Wayne, IN, Planner
- 2022, Taunton Whittenton Mills Urban Renewal Plan, Taunton, MA, Project Manager/Planner
- 2022, MBTA Communities Impact Analysis, Dedham, MA, Project Manager/Planner
- 2022, Lowell TOD Master Plan, Lowell, MA, Planner
- 2022, Zoning Overlay and Design Guidelines, North Attleborough, MA, Planner
- 2022, Downtown + Uptown Master Plan, El Paso, TX, Project Manager
- 2021, Zoning, Lebanon, TN, Project Manager/Planner
- 2021, Commercial Triangle High-Density Mixed-Use District Neighborhood Plan, Everett, MA, Project Manager/Planner
- 2021, Rapid Recovery Plan, Attleboro, MA, Planner
- 2021, Rental housing attainability inventory, Cape Cod, MA, Project Manager/Planner
- 2021, Reading Downtown Master Plan, Reading, PA, Planner
- 2021, Affordable housing analysis (40B GLAM), MA, Lead Planner.
- 2021, MassHousing Hub Grant Analysis, Holyoke, MA, Lead Planner
- 2021, Rapid Recovery Plan, Leominster, MA, Planner
- 2021, Rapid recovery downtown plans data analysis, MA, Planner
- 2021, Affordable housing analysis (40B GLAM), Belmont, MA, Lead Planner
- 2020, Design Guidelines, Minden, NV, Planner
- 2020, Downtown Master Plan, Moorhead, MN, Planner
- 2020, Affordable housing analysis (40B GLAM), Medford, MA, Project Manager/Planner
- 2019, Transportation Demand Management Code, Everett, MA, Planner
- 2019, Affordable housing analysis (40B GLAM), Weston, MA, Project Manager/Planner
- 2019, Affordable housing analysis (40B GLAM), North Reading, MA, Project Manager/Planner
- 2019, Alewife Master Plan for MBTA properties, Cambridge, MA, Planner
- 2019, Bus Rapid Transit Design Guidelines, Suffolk County, NY, Project Manager/Planner
- 2019, OnMain Mixed Use Zoning, Dayton, OH, Planner
- 2019, Riverside District Development, Newton, MA, Planner
- 2019, Resilience Building Code Development, East Lyme, CT, Project Manager/Planner
- 2018, Flood Resilience Communication, Somerville, MA, Task Manager
- 2018, Resilience Community Visioning and Risk Assessment, Weymouth, MA, Project Manager/Planner
- 2017, River District Master Plan, Elkhart, IN, Planner
- 2017, Riverfront Industrial Area Plan, Kansas City, MO, Project Manager/Planner
- 2017, Design Regulations, Everett, MA, Project Manager/Planner
- 2017, Comprehensive Plan, Taunton, MA, Project Manager
- 2017, Public Realm Design Guidelines for A Better City, Boston, MA, Planner
- 2017, Neighborhood Resilience Study, Old Saybrook, CT, Project Manager/Planner
- 2017, Affordable Housing GIS Analysis and Expert Witness, Braintree, MA, Project Manager/Planner
- 2017, Harbor Garage Redevelopment Public Realm, Boston, MA, Project Manager/Planner
- 2017, Brooklyn Village Open Space Study, Charlotte, NC, Planner
- 2017, Green-Blue Streets Demographic Analysis, New Orleans, LA, Planner
- 2016, 100RC Platform Partnership, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Project Manager
- 2016, Unified Plan, Wellesley, MA, Planner
- 2016, citizenAR: Augmented Reality for Livable Cities Challenge, San Francisco, CA, Project Manager
- 2016, Exchange South End Design and Permitting, Boston, MA, Planner
- 2016, Route 419 Complete Streets Corridor Study, Roanoke, VA, Planner
- 2016, District Redevelopment Strategy and Vision Plan, Baton Rouge, LA, Planner
- 2016, Parcel 27 Disposition Redevelopment Studies, Boston, MA, Planner
- 2016, Project Catalyst District Redevelopment, Austin, TX, Planner
- 2016, Blatchford West Design Guidelines, Edmonton, Canada, Lead Planner
- 2015, One Charlestown Master Plan, Boston, MA, Planner
- 2015, Delhi Pike Plan, Delhi, OH, Planner
- 2015, Comprehensive Plan, Fontana, CA, Planner
- 2015, Union Square Redevelopment Master Plan, Somerville, MA, Planner
- 2015, Pawtucket Street Corridor, Lowell, MA, Project Manager/Planner
- 2015, Water Street Tampa, Tampa, FL, Planner
- 2015, Constructed Wetland Design and Construction, Bogota, Colombia, Designer
- 2014, Redding Gilbert and Bennett Industrial Site Reuse Study, Redding, CT, Planner
- 2014, Lee Northern Mills Areawide Brownfield Study, Lee, MA, Planner
- 2014, Ferry Terminal Planning and Design, Bridgeport, CT, Planner
- 2014, Downtown Revitalization Plan, Bridgewater, MA, Planner
- 2014, Kelly's Corner Improvement Initiative, Acton, MA, Planner
- 2013, Center Village Master Plan, Chelmsford, MA, Planner
- 2013, Hanscom Field Planning Report, Bedford, MA, Planner
- 2013, Corridor Zoning Study, Keene, NH, Planner
- 2013, Walnut Hill Historic Master Plan, New Britain, CT, Lead Planner
- 2013, Facilities Master Plan, Lexington, MA, Planner
- 2013, Transit Oriented Development Master Plan, Windsor, CT, Planner
- 2012, Carbon Neutral Coffee Supply Chain Study, Ethiopia, Planner
- 2011, Clean Development Mechanism Project Registration, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Project Manager
- 2011, Cyclifier, Rotterdam, NL, Researcher
- 2010, Functional Urban Green, Roosendaal, NL, Planner
- 2009, Erasmusveld Sustainable Implant Research, The Hague, NL, Researcher
- 2009, Renewable City 2040, Rotterdam, NL, Planner
Awards
- 2023, Merit Award, Congress for the New Urbanism, Downtown Hammond Master Plan
- 2020, Merit Award, Congress for the New Urbanism, Elkhart Master Plan
- 2017, Charter Award, Congress for the New Urbanism, Boston Public Realm Plan
- 2016, Urban Engagement and Sustainability Grant, US State Department
- 2011, Fulbright Fellowship, US State Department