by John W. Olson | Oct 31, 2011 | Comprehensive Planning and Codes, Town Planning, Urban Planning and Design, Urbanism
Today is Halloween, which means that the evening streets are going to be full of little princesses, vampires, witches, ghosts, action heroes and pirates with dreams of candy and gum. As I reflect back on my former days of trick-or-treating, there were characteristics...
by John W. Olson | Oct 23, 2011 | Sustainability
The topic of Solar Canopies has come up many times in my presentations on sustainability in Southern Colorado. The idea behind a solar canopy is in maximizing the benefit of each photovoltaic panel. When most people think of photovoltaic panels, they consider them as...
by John W. Olson | Oct 20, 2011 | Landscape Architecture, Sustainability
In early October, it was my pleasure to take a tour of the new research building on the NREL (National Renewable Energy Laboratory) campus in Golden, Colorado. The tour was put together by the architecture and engineering company, EVstudio, where I provide landscape...
by John W. Olson | Oct 16, 2011 | Comprehensive Planning and Codes, Streetscapes, Town Planning, Urban Planning and Design
Road maintenance is a major line item that frustrates city budgets across the United States. It is also an item that is extremely noticeable to the general public and visitors of a city. As an example, it was stated in the 2011 Quality of Life Indicators report for...
by John W. Olson | Oct 13, 2011 | Comprehensive Planning and Codes, Town Planning, Urban Planning and Design
The Quality of Life Indicators Report was released last week in Colorado Springs, where I was honored to present the key points from the Built Environment Vision Council. The event was rich with concise presentations including one from the honorable Mayor of Colorado...