Walkability may not be top of mind for the average Portland tourist like it is in New York City, but it's a clear benefit if you're staying on the Eastside of the river. Nearly every neighborhood on the Eastside of Portland features a wonderful new restaurant or neighborhood institution that anchors public thoroughfare — featuring a combination of lively walking culture with convenient corner markets and small local businesses cozily mixed in with commercial complexes, light industrial, and modern one-plus-five mid-rise apartments.

Whether Amazon is approaching this urban redevelopment project the right way or not, the conversation about rebuilding underutilized sections of a city is an important one that requires feedback from front-line citizens who have a vested interest in their neighborhoods, urban planners & policymakers who have a long term vision for the city, and developers, whose operational understanding of construction and cost make a plan a reality.

Asking 3 Why's is a memorable process that has helped me rationalize self-doubt and anxiety, address workplace conflicts, and consult on new ideas or business concepts. Asking yourself "why" 3 times will help you get to the root of your desires or the basis for interpersonal conflict.

Whether you've calculated your carbon footprint or joined the Climate Reality Project leadership, your action is making an indelible mark on the progress of this global movement to eliminate carbon emissions and become a more sustainable planet.

In 2019, 134 pedestrians were killed by drivers while walking in Los Angeles, a bustling city with a population of just under 4 million. By comparison, the Netherlands reported a total of 49 pedestrian road fatalities in 2019 in a population of more than 17 million. While any number of deaths is too much by any measure of success, it's safe to conclude that the Dutch are doing something far more effective than what's happening in one of the largest cities in the United States.

Despite growing pushback against carbon footprint calculators, I believe that the data behind our individual impact on the planet is valuable. Our personal emissions data does not absolve corporations from polluting but instead drives home a valuable message about the trifecta of reducing the cost of lifestyles, holding corporations accountable, and encouraging investment into environmentally friendly products.

Something happened over the last few years that changed my perspective on climate activism. I was never a conspiracist or non-believer in climate change, but just as bad, I was a passive global citizen and inactive participant in the fight to reduce carbon emissions.

Cities are never finished. Like good tech products, they require regular maintenance, periodic refactoring, and new features to meet the needs of a growing population.

Anthropology and social science uncover the questions that we need to answer with technology. Technology enhances our understanding of human behaviors through quantifiable data. Data improves our ability to communicate effectively through words, laws, and policy. Policy and planning enhance the lives of people in our cities.

Soft may not be as sexy as Smart, but it emphasizes the small details in a city and its buildings that make our lives easier, more enjoyable, and more efficient by prioritizing the people that live in it.

I want to be a better writer. I started a new habit on January 3 — write in public every day. The experimental habit started off well, with content on topics that I was truly interested in. But after only 2 weeks, I fell off the train, reducing my efforts to 3, then 2, and now only 1 time a week.

Although each side has a different POV on the ADU marketplace, as a housing product, the ADU is a celebrated vehicle for bringing more housing stock to the Bay Area (and beyond). Although non-confirming types of housing can be controversial, ADUs are widely regarded as a boon for homelessness mitigation, improving affordable housing, and improving homeowner equity. At the end of the day, the conversations always come down to price per square foot.

Willful daydreaming will never be a completely mindful practice. Feeling the Earth under our feet as we walk, noticing the pressure from the seat we’re sitting on, or the feel of the steering wheel in our hands while we’re driving is an important exercise in centering our minds and reducing anxiety (worrying about the future) and depression (thinking about the past). But allowing our bodies to fall into the very natural process of background thinking is a valuable habit and practicable skill in moderation.

I subscribe to the notion that the design of our cities is the driving force behind our choices and behaviors. Although I’m still working on a thesis to summarize my views on cities and climate change, my general hypothesis is this:

If our behaviors control how humanity impacts climate change, then our cities are the first and last battleground for defeating the global climate crisis.

I have an on-again, off-again relationship with meditation and mindfulness practice. Over the last few years, I've tried a fair share of meditation apps, programs, and podcasts to help practice mindfulness.

Yesterday, in under 30 seconds, "Buddhism TikTok" taught me the true meaning and purpose of mindfulness that I didn't know after years of exercise. It wasn’t about finding inner peace or calming nerves to help me work more proficiently. It was about presence.

Not only did Lacaton & Vassal beautify the building with a shining new glass facade that created more living space for its residents, but the project was less expensive and more environmentally sustainable.

Reframing the scope in the PD phase from rebuilding to remodeling reduced the amount of demolition, new material, and labor effort. With a modular-design, each terrace was was built as a minimalist, portable, and stackable unit, which made cost-effective prefabricated construction a viable option.

The thing is, although I'm drawn to the title of the book, I'm more interested in the contents within. I'm not interested in judging the book by its cover, I'm interested in the experiments that were conducted and what, if any, conclusions were drawn. Can I learn from them? Can they teach me? Can I share them easily with others?

So each chapter in my book would start with a hypothesis and each would learn from the last, resulting in more sophisticated hypotheses that learn from work, collective understanding, and our rapidly changing environments.

Your silence is loud. It delivers a message of willful acceptance and pulls a sheet over our voice. We've never felt so invisible.

If you see my Instagram posts or my Tweets about things you can do to help the AAPI community, don't scroll/swipe/tap past it. If you can't donate, share it. If you're too worried about disturbing your brand with a share, then just read it. Maybe something will stick and you'll try harder next time.

After reflecting on the experience, I realized that by providing myself with the space for mental preparation, I was able to handle urgent requests and messages with greater acuity. It's true, you might say I could take a few minutes to compose myself when I log in, but I'd argue that creating your digital workspace every morning is just like keeping a productive physical workspace. Set yourself for success.

This is not to say that carbon offsets are the endgame for the climate crisis — far from it. I like to think of carbon offsets as a form of climate activism, where your donation dollars are signaling where change should happen.

Carbon offsets mean nothing if there aren't enough projects that aim to reduce GHG emissions or if the volume of carbon reduction is not significant enough.

Reinvention is simply the product of learning and growth. The trickier, less common part of reinvention is applying it not only to our personal lives, but our work