nels.city — home

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