Taking Sides? With Walkability, There’s No Need

As advocates of walkable, livable places, we’ve been involved in urban design discussions around the country and worldwide, observing, learning and understanding firsthand the key steps to successfully creating walkable places—and supporting existing ones.

How to Get By-Right Zoning Right

By-Right Zoning is getting a lot of buzz these days as a needed tool to help solve the affordable housing crisis many communities are facing.

Alphabet Soup for Zoning? No Thanks, I’ll Have It Form-Based

With our goals of strengthening communities and improving lives, Opticos Design has developed and refined Form-Based Coding as a highly effective zoning tool to reinforce the character and quality of a place. Below, Tony Perez, Opticos’ Director of Form-Based Coding, responds to a recent piece by David Walters highlighting the need for clarity and local relevance in zoning.

Opticos in Action: Plan Downtown Oakland

This week, Opticos is in the middle of a 10-day charrette process in Oakland, California as part of a dynamite team led by Dover Kohl.

Opticos’s Cailin Shannon Demonstrates Her Superb Sketching Skills at ICAA Event

Senior Designer Cailin Shannon honed her drawing skills as a classical architecture student at the University of Notre Dame, where she was awarded the Andrew F. Kervick Award for excellence in freehand drawing. In addition to her project management responsibilities, ...