Jess Zimbabwe

Jess Zimbabwe is Executive Director of Environmental Works Community Design Center in Seattle

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19 years 10 months

Contributed 12 posts

Full Bio

Jess Zimbabwe is Executive Director of Environmental Works Community Design Center in Seattle, a nonprofit that plans, designs, and advocates for community-centered environments. Previously, she founded the consulting practice Plot Strategies and served as the founding Director of the Daniel Rose Center for Public Leadership, a partnership of the National League of Cities and the Urban Land Institute. Earlier, she led the Mayors’ Institute on City Design and was Community Design Director at Urban Ecology in Oakland. Jess serves on the boards of Futurewise, the National Main Street Center, Grow America, and Colloqate. She is a licensed architect, certified city planner, and LEED Accredited Professional, and teaches urban planning at the University of Washington.

A City that Takes its Planning Seriously (or Not)

Portland is a city that's often better known by the representations of it—like the television show Portlandia—than as an actual working city.

UK cities, mayoral powers, and "tall poppy syndrome"

This morning over at Atlantic Cities, <a href="http://www.theatlanticcities.com/politics/2012/08/has-london-mayors-office-been-too-successful/3024/">Richard Florida aptly refuted</a> an <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/the-northerner/2012/aug/16/abolish-london-mayor-boris-johnson">opinion piece by Kevin Meagher</a> that appeared in the Guardian last week advocating for doing away with the position of Mayor in London. Florida lays out several strong arguments in favor of a strong elected mayor who can act as an advocate for his or her city.

Liveblog: ULI Rose Center Kansas City Study Visit

I'm writing from the audience of a presentation this morning in the Hotel Phillips in Kansas City. The presentation will cover the initial observations and recommendations of a national team of experts who've been invited here by Mayor Sly James and his team of Daniel Rose Fellows. The Kansas City Daniel Rose Fellows:

What Yesterday’s Elections Results Mean for Cities and City Government Across the U.S.

If you can make it past rhetoric around healthcare, abortion, collective bargaining, and immigration, the November 8th election results tell a more cohesive and calming story about American’s political sentiment.

A foray by HUD into telling small towns how best to use their land

In April 2009, HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan spoke to the ULI Spring Council Forum in Atlanta; he stated that his administration’s goal was “to put the UD back in HUD,” and explained that HUD’s over-reliance on housing solutions wasn’t helping cities address their complex revitalization needs. Just over two years later, this small new funding program caught my eye on a list of new HUD announcements: *** HUD HOPE VI – $0.5 million Application Due: August 22, 2011 Eligible Entities: Local governments