Jonathan Nettler has lived and practiced in Boston, Washington D.C., San Francisco, New York, and Los Angeles on a range of project types for major public, institutional, and private developer clients including: large scale planning and urban design, waterfront and brownfield redevelopment, transit-oriented development, urban infill, campus planning, historic preservation, zoning, and design guidelines.
Jonathan is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) and serves on the Board of Directors for the Los Angeles section of the American Planning Association (APA) as the Vice Director for Professional Development. He is also active in local volunteer organizations. Jonathan's interests include public participation in the planning and design process, the intersection between transportation, public health and land use, and the ways in which new ideas and best practices get developed, discussed, and dispersed.
Jonathan previously served as Managing Editor of Planetizen and Project Manager/Project Planner for Ehrenkrantz Eckstut & Kuhn (EE&K) Architects. He received a Master of Arts degree in Architecture from the University of California, Los Angeles and a Bachelor of Arts degree in History from Boston University.
Philly Establishes New Office for Civic Innovation
Following Boston's visionary lead, this week Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter formally created the city's Office of New Urban Mechanics, "a civic innovation tool for urban transformation.”
Can a Soccer Tournament Revive Cities Across Europe?
Henry Grabar celebrates the recent decision by UEFA, European soccer's governing body, to hold their 2020 tournament in cities across the continent, rather than in one or two countries as has been the tradition.
Using Brownfields to Heal Contaminated Communities
Ronda Kaysen reports on the growing trend in transforming brownfield sites in disadvantaged communities into health centers, "in essence taking a potential source of health problems for a community and turning it into a place for health care."

Revel in Outrageous Eastern Bloc Architecture
Anthony Paletta reviews the recent glut of art volumes devoted to communist architecture in the former Eastern bloc, and includes stunning photos of "sublime sci-fi" Soviet architecture largely unseen in the West.

Detroit Gives Go-Ahead to Controversial Urban Farm Project
By a narrow vote, Detroit's City Council has given approval for the city to sell 140 acres of vacant land to financial services business owner John Hantz for the creation of an urban agriculture project. Some are calling the deal a "land grab."