Title

People Do Walk In Suburbia and They Want to Walk More

Time

1:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m

Location

1065 Kemper Hall, UC Davis

Abstract

Suburbia is typically thought of as a sprawling area comprised of single family households driving everywhere. Such an image is not only untrue of the modern suburb, but such mythology seems to even prevent the simplest planning for active transportation. Yet despite an often hostile urban design, there is a considerable amount of trip making by foot in suburbia and there seems to be a desire for even more. By building on natural urban nodes that exist throughout suburbia – strip malls and multi-family housing or schools, for example – there is a great potential to re-think the modern suburb as a prime location to substitute automobile trips with active transportation ones.

In this talk, Professor Nico Larco (Architecture) and Marc Schlossberg (Planning) of the University of Oregon will describe their applied research that seeks to increase active transportation trips in suburbia. Both are Associate Directors of the Sustainable Cities Initiative (SCI) that pulls together faculty across ten different disciplines to work on engaged research, education and policy related to sustainable built environments and community livability.

Biographical Sketch

Nico Larco, AIA
Nico Larco is an Assistant Professor of Architecture at the University of Oregon and is a Co-
Founder and Co-Director of the Sustainable Cities Initiative, a nationally and internationally
awarded multidisciplinary organization that focuses on sustainability issues as they relate to the
built environment. He is a licensed architect with over 10 years of professional experience in the
fields of Architecture, Urban Design, Planning, and Development. Professor Larco holds a
Bachelor of Architecture and a Bachelor of Arts in Cognitive Psychology from Cornell
University and a Master of Architecture and a Master of City Planning with a concentration in
Urban Design from the University of California in Berkeley. His work has been published in
journals such as the Journal of Urban Design, the Journal or Urbanism, and the Journal of
Architectural and Planning Studies. Professor Larco’s research focuses on the changing nature
of suburban form and development and he has lectured across the country and internationally on this topic

Marc Schlossberg, PhD
Marc Schlossberg is an Associate Professor of Planning, Public Policy & Management at the
University of Oregon; Associate Director of the Oregon Transportation Research and Education
Consortium (OTREC), and Co-Director of the Sustainable Cities Initiative (SCI). In 2009,
Professor Schlossberg was awarded one of only five Fulbright Scholarships to the United
Kingdom and focused his work on sustainable transportation. He holds a PhD from the
University of Michigan’s Urban, Technological and Environmental Planning program with a
certificate in Transportation Logistics Planning.

Professor Schlossberg’s research and teaching focus on sustainable community design with a
special emphasis on sustainable and active transportation. In particular, his work also focuses on
the use of GIS mapping in bottom-up, citizen-engaged planning. Professor Schlossberg is well
published in top academic journals on issues of walkability assessments, children’s journeys to
school, and participatory GIS.

Nico Larco, AIA

Nico Larco is an Assistant Professor of Architecture at the University of Oregon and is a Co-Founder and Co-Director of the Sustainable Cities Initiative, a nationally and internationally awarded multidisciplinary organization that focuses on sustainability issues as they relate to thebuilt environment. He is a licensed architect with over 10 years of professional experience in the fields of Architecture, Urban Design, Planning, and Development. Professor Larco holds a Bachelor of Architecture and a Bachelor of Arts in Cognitive Psychology from Cornell University and a Master of Architecture and a Master of City Planning with a concentration in Urban Design from the University of California in Berkeley. His work has been published in journals such as the Journal of Urban Design, the Journal or Urbanism, and the Journal of Architectural and Planning Studies. Professor Larco’s research focuses on the changing nature of suburban form and development and he has lectured across the country and internationally on this topic

Marc Schlossberg, PhD

Marc Schlossberg is an Associate Professor of Planning, Public Policy & Management at the University of Oregon; Associate Director of the Oregon Transportation Research and Education Consortium (OTREC), and Co-Director of the Sustainable Cities Initiative (SCI). In 2009, Professor Schlossberg was awarded one of only five Fulbright Scholarships to the United Kingdom and focused his work on sustainable transportation. He holds a PhD from the University of Michigan’s Urban, Technological and Environmental Planning program with a certificate in Transportation Logistics Planning. Professor Schlossberg’s research and teaching focus on sustainable community design with a special emphasis on sustainable and active transportation. In particular, his work also focuses on the use of GIS mapping in bottom-up, citizen-engaged planning. Professor Schlossberg is well published in top academic journals on issues of walkability assessments, children’s journeys to school, and participatory GIS.