I had the pleasure of touring the Jefferson Davis corridor of southside Richmond with members of Richmond Cabinet. Before departing, the group more than 60 attendees was presented many issues relating to the area, including education, housing, transportation and the Richmond Marine Terminal.
Getting outside of my daily routine and opening my mind to other people’s walks of life has always been inspiring to me. This opportunity delivered. Continue reading
Filed under Urban Planning
The biking in 2017 was good. I met my commuting goals, made time for some fun rides and some good mountain biking too.
My resolution for 2018 will be to spend a little more time riding socially with others. I want to make time for my wife and children, my friends, my fellow trail building volunteers. I’m coming for you in 2018, thanks for waiting while I wrote my hiking book and outdoors guide (side gig). Continue reading
Filed under My life
Statistics can be an important tool. Understanding statistics can help you assess the quality of studies and the validity of their conclusions.
As a planner, statistics are vital to assessing areas of need. As a bike and pedestrian planner, it can be difficult to measure certain aspects of our infrastructure and how people navigate our transit networks. Giving policy makers factual statistics to enhance work study is commonplace. Continue reading
Filed under Urban Planning
I really got into biking in 2016. My effort was more than just fitness, I really wanted to replace automobile miles with biking miles. For an entire year, I worked to eliminate as many car trips as I could with a bike trip.
It worked out pretty well and I have the numbers to help tell the story. Continue reading
Filed under My life
Credit: Dana Carolyn
The November 2016 issue of Planning magazine had a detailed and well-written article entitled “Bikes Across America” about the efforts to build a national cycling network across the United States.
Now that I’m a transportation planner at the Richmond Regional Planning District Commission, I can see how much coordination and work is behind this type of tall task. A national bike network will take decades to complete, but each locality and region can help speed things up with incremental improvements. Continue reading
Filed under Urban Planning
For those who know me best, I have finally taken the long-awaited next big step in my career, one that will take me away from media and into urban planning.
I’ve accepted a position as a planner for the Richmond Regional Planning District Commission‘s Urban Transportation Planning Division. My primary focus will be biking and pedestrian planning, but I will be able to participate in many different areas of transportation planning for the Richmond region, which is exactly what I have been searching for. I could not be more fortunate and so grateful for this new opportunity. Continue reading
Filed under My life, Urban Planning
I attended the recent community update from the Capital Region Collaborative entitled “RVA Snapshot: A shared vision for the region.” It left me even more committed to helping make Richmond a better place for us all to live.
The report was as well-presented as the event was well-attended — the meeting room at J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College’s Workforce Development and Conference Center on East Parham Road was packed. It was also filled with hundreds of the Richmond region’s most influential and forward-thinking business leaders, politicians, planners, nonprofit organizations and community leaders.
Filed under Urban Planning
Phil Riggan 