The Camp Fire in California devasted the town of Paradise. As rebuilding progresses, local leaders are looking to protect the town using nature-based fire resilience strategies.

Laura Bliss reports on resiliency plans for Paradise, California, where in 2018 the Camp Fire destroyed the town, displaced 27,000 residents, and killed 85 people. Instead of the common managed retreat approach, Paradise is looking to prevention and mitigation strategies that assume people will live in areas vulnerable to wildfires.
The Paradise Recreation and Park District is starting to acquire land and develop a greenbelt that would surround Paradise. "If the nascent plan is fully realized, a moat of green acreage could provide space for respite and play. It would also serve as a fuel break, an unofficial urban growth boundary, and an access point for crews to manage the area with landscaping, prescribed burning, and fire containment for when the next blaze comes," writes Bliss.
The plan still faces many challenges, including a lack of clear leadership and regulations as well as the financial resources needed to acquire and replant the land. Greenbelts are also a less conventional way to address the threat of wildfires.
"That points to the importance of pooling different sources of knowledge for managing fire — including firefighters, planners, residents, and the Indigenous people who originally settled and managed this part of North America — to develop new strategies for living on the front lines of a warming planet," adds Bliss.
FULL STORY: The Price of Saving Paradise

Rethinking Redlining
For decades we have blamed 100-year-old maps for the patterns of spatial racial inequity that persist in American cities today. An esteemed researcher says: we’ve got it all wrong.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

California High-Speed Rail's Plan to Right Itself
The railroad's new CEO thinks he can get the project back on track. The stars will need to align this summer.

Santa Clara County Dedicates Over $28M to Affordable Housing
The county is funding over 600 new affordable housing units via revenue from a 2016 bond measure.

Why a Failed ‘Smart City’ Is Still Relevant
A Google-backed proposal to turn an underused section of Toronto waterfront into a tech hub holds relevant lessons about privacy and data.

When Sears Pioneered Modular Housing
Kit homes sold in catalogs like Sears and Montgomery Ward made homeownership affordable for midcentury Americans.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions