Quick. Think of walkable cities. Ready? Did Houston, TX make the list?

I didn't think so. Houston has plenty of wonderful things to offer, but as a frequent (albeit not recent) visitor, traffic rhythm seems to rule over life in the city - not to mention the sprawling suburbs. Yet, somehow, even in Houston, a version of the 15-minute city (more on that later) is quietly taking shape in the form of the proposed Walkable Places city ordinance. Houston might be the least obvious choice for walkability. Still, its mayor, Sylvester Turner, is far from alone in realizing that "more than ever, our citizens want walkable places that connect to parks and activity centers. Our city needs to grow and develop responsibly and efficiently". Baby steps in Houston but steps in the direction of building more Sustainable Cities and Communities by Design.

Melbourne | Features of a 20-Minute Neighborhood
(Image Credits: State Government of Victoria 2021)

December. It always feels very messy to me. It's my mental spring cleaning time. I take stock of what matters and of what does not. I create a shortlist of what I want to learn more about, do more about, and be more about. It's more art than science, but it serves as a north star in the upcoming year - personally and professionally. It's about having a destination but not the exact path - the freedom to experiment, make mistakes, and try again until I get there. 

November. I have been should-ing myself. I’ll explain shortly. For the past week, I’ve been waking up feeling nauseated. As a male, pregnancy is out of the question. So what’s going on?

October - is all a blur. I feel like I am emerging from 31 days spent in Las Vegas, having lost all sense of time (minus any of the entertainment). I wake up with my omnipresent sense of sarcasm set dangerously high and a nagging sense of urgency. The urgency of someone who can’t wait for 2021 to come around while realizing that they are not ready for it.

September. For many of us, it's the unofficial start of the new year. Back to school or back to work or both. Businesses and individuals alike only have a few months left to achieve what we set out to do when 2020 came around. With COVID-19 complicating everything, making sure that we solve for the right problem is more critical than ever. 

August. The dog days of summer are upon us. The weight of sitting at my desk on a sultry Louisiana afternoon feels much heavier than usual. It’s not like me to have difficulty concentrating, yet here I am, busying around with emails, Slack, etc. While I am fooling myself into thinking I am being productive and doing meaningful work, it quickly dawned on me that I have not taken a break in hours and that I have not had a summer break - not really anyway (Courtesy of running a business amid a pandemic, travel bans, a move, life, etc. I know you know what I mean.)

Words carry a lot of weight, yet some are thrown around so lightly that their meaning gets further diluted with each use. 

The words “disrupt” and “empower” come to mind. Each of these words holds bold promises, but “empower” is particularly tricky, in my opinion. It’s one of my pet-peeves (the list is long, but it’s in the top 100). Full disclosure, “empower” found its way into our vision statement as it has into many other vision statements. It’s also in the title of our upcoming Change by Design session: “Empowering Everyone Everywhere.” The irony is not lost on me, yet my gripe persists. I don’t believe anyone can empower anyone else (myself included in both cases).

If you could alleviate one health challenge in your community, which would it be? How would you choose only one?

Tough question, isn’t it? Choice architecture, a term borrowed from behavioral economics, has nothing to do with architecture, but it might help us answer this question. Choice architecture is about influencing choice by “organizing the context in which people make decisions.” A basic example is having healthy snacks on display in the breakroom or in the kitchen at home to increase the likelihood of making healthier choices.

Trauma comes in many forms: physical, emotional, psychological, spiritual or sexual abuse, neglect, discrimination, violence, etc. Trauma, much like mental health issues, is all too often invisible to others and exacerbated by past experiences.

July. The pursuit of Happiness. These few words in the United States’ Declaration of Independence have resonated with me long before I knew that I, too, one day, would join in that pursuit as a citizen of this spirited country.