nels.city

Hello, I'm Nels Nelson, an urban planner living in the Boston area with my partner and our kids. I am a co-founder of CommunityScale, an urban planning firm. You can find my profiles on GitHub, Bsky, Mastodon, LinkedIn, and Google Scholar.

Recent microposts

https://claude.ai/directory/communityscale Our data connector is listed on Claude now, so you can add it for your housing data and forecast needs for any place in the US, let us know...
Black pencil. From ten chance points on the edges, lines a foot long straight in. Each end splits into two lines 6 to 9 tenths as long, turned 15 to...
https://snap.communityscale.io/question-7-lots/ very rough look at the Question 7 lots if it passes
Mount Cardigan
Find the best place to trick or treat in your state https://snap.communityscale.io/trick-or-treat/
Gray ink wash, wet enough to drip. Near the floor lay one loose brushstroke across part of the wall. Lay the next above it, and so on to the top,...
Two black pencil scribbles, each a single line never lifted, one twice as long as the other. Each is so dense at a chance point near its own corner that...
Sol LeWitt, prompt engineer, interpreted in p5.js https://nels.city/sol-says
Zoning, now in dark mode https://code.communityscale.io/lowell-ma/index.html
Winter Hill, Somerville

Articles

How CommunityScale 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)
(PDF) Barefoot Planning [PDF] (Charter Cities Institute, 2021)
(External) 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)
(External) Webinar Moderator: Global Panel on COVID-19 Responses in Vulnerable Urban Contexts [YouTube] (Stantec, 2020)
(External) 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)
(External) 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)
(PDF) 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

2013-Ongoing, Microposts (Twitter archive, social media mirror)
Ongoing, Public domain contributions including articles created and public domain images
Ongoing, Changelog and RSS
Ongoing, Durable digital library
Ongoing, Software recomendations
Ongoing, Sailing resources
2026, nelsoki, my take on Steph Ango’s Flexoki color scheme, with themes for VS Code and Sublime Text
2026, nontoxic future, a music discovery tool using DJ sets
2026, Now City, an experiment in urban planning for The Long Now
2026, Wikipedia Current Events word count, daily word counts on Wikipedia’s Portal:Current Events since 2002, with labeled spikes
2026, Fast Pattern, a quick-read viewer for all 253 patterns from A Pattern Language (1977)
2026, Sol Says, Sol LeWitt’s wall drawing instructions carried out in p5.js, beside photographs of the real installations
2026, Adventure time! Visualizations of periods of good surf at Nahant Beach and skiing at Cannon Mountain. Read more about this.
2021-2025, Work-from-home cities
2023, DIY solar-charged portable DC power station
2022-2023, Our home solar journey in Massachusetts
2020-2023, 15-minute cities
2019, Review of Bike City Amsterdam (2019)
2017, Review of Haussmann’s Paris: A Model’s Relevance
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.

2025, Downtown Syracuse Housing Study, Syracuse, NY, Project Manager
2025, Apex Affordable Housing Plan, Apex, NC, Planner
2025, Gardendale, AL HNA, Gardendale, AL, Planner
2025, MAPA Market Value Analysis, Omaha, NE, Planner
2025, Housing Needs Assessment, Stowe, VT, Planner
2025, Comprehensive Housing Plan, Muskogee, OK, Planner
2025, HUD Consolidated Plan, Pueblo, CO, Project Manager
2025, Waltham Rezoning, Waltham, MA, Project Manager
2024, Detailed Housing Market Analysis, Upper Arlington, OH, Project Manager
2024, Alexandria, VA Housing Needs, Alexandria, VA, Planner
2024, Barrington, RI HNA, Barrington, RI, Planner
2024, Fall River Housing Plan, Fall River, MA, Planner
2024, MACOG Housing Needs Assessment, Michiana Area, IN, Planner
2024, FRCOG Housing Communications, Franklin County, MA, Planner
2024, Greenfield Housing Plan, Greenfield, MA, Planner
2024, Honolulu, Honolulu County, HI, Planner
2024, Corridor Zoning, North Attleboro, MA, Project Manager
2024, Lynn ADU Zoning, Lynn, MA, Project Manager
2024, Northern Kentucky Housing Strategies, Northern Kentucky, KY, Project Manager
2024, Dedham 3A, Dedham, Project Manager
2024, Saugus 40B, , Project Manager
2024, Kennebunk, ME Housing Action Plan, Kennebunk, ME, Project Manager
2024, Lancaster, MA Housing Production Plan, Lancaster, MA, Project Manager
2024, Dedham 40B, Dedham, MA, Project Manager
2024, Melrose Rezoning, Melrose, MA, Project Manager
2024, North Attleboro 3A, North Attleboro, MA, Project Manager
2024, Saugus 3A, Saugus, MA, Project Manager
2024, Sherborn, MA MBTA Communities Zoning, Sherborn, MA, Project Manager
2024, Duxbury 3A, Duxbury, MA, Planner
2024, Malden 3A, Malden, MA, Planner
2024, Wakefield 3A Zoning and Communications, Wakefield, MA, Planner
2024, Rezoning, Lynn, MA, Project Manager
2023, Central Indiana Housing Study, Indiana, Planner
2023, Housing study, Middletown, RI, Planner
2023, Four-county housing needs assessment, Kentucky, Project Manager
2023, Rezoning, Everett, MA, Project Manager
2023, Mentor Housing Data Assessment, Mentor, OH, Project Manager
2023, Mesquite Housing Analysis, Mesquite, TX, Project Manager
2023, New Rochelle Climate Vulnerability Assessment, New Rochelle, NY, Project Manager
2023, NKADD Housing Data Analysis, Kentucky, Project Manager
2023, Housing Data Analysis, Wabasha, MN, Supporting planner
2023, Peabody Comprehensive Plan, Peabody, MA, Data Analyst
2023, Malden MBTA Communities Multifamily Zoning, Malden, MA, Project Manager/Planner
2023, ADU Compliance, Maywood, CA, Planner
2023, Global Mall Development Guidelines, Nashville, TN, Planner
2022, Taunton Whittenton Mills Urban Renewal Plan, Taunton, MA, Project Manager/Planner
2022, Downtown + Uptown Master Plan, El Paso, TX, Project Manager
2022, Zoning Overlay and Design Guidelines, North Attleborough, MA, Planner
2022, I-10 Deck Master Plan, El Paso, TX, 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, River Park (fka 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