James Rojas

Aug 6, 2024 | commonedge.org | James Rojas |John Kamp

For eight years, we’ve lived in a 350-square-foot apartment in a fourplex in Oakland, and we aren’t particularly interested in upsizing. When we tell people this, their jaws usually drop, and they follow with some variation on the theme of I’d kill my partner if we lived in such a small space; Where do you put all your stuff?; or Doesn’t it feel claustrophobic?

Jun 6, 2024 | strongtowns.org | James Rojas |John Kamp

When trying to make a walkable and vibrant street, urban planners often think in terms of hard infrastructure like road width and crosswalks. But soft infrastructure, specifically flowers and other colorful plant life, plays an important role as well.

Jun 5, 2024 | 1340wraw.iheart.com | James Rojas |John Kamp |Ron Wilson

Urban planners, designers, and civic leaders often think of the presence of certain kinds of hard infrastructure as influencing how walkable and vibrant a street or neighborhood is: wide sidewalks, narrow roadways, buildings with visually interesting ground floors, curb bulb-outs, crosswalks, stoplights, and so on.

May 28, 2024 | commonedge.org | James Rojas |John Kamp

Urban planners, designers, and civic leaders often think of the presence of certain kinds of hard infrastructure as influencing how walkable and vibrant a street or neighborhood is: wide sidewalks, narrow roadways, buildings with visually interesting ground floors, curb bulb-outs, crosswalks, stoplights, and so on.

Jun 12, 2023 | commonedge.org | James Rojas

For my recent trip to Charlotte, North Carolina, to attend the Strong Towns and Congress for New Urbanism convenings, I had planned on staying at an Airbnb in Uptown/Downtown. (The city’s central business district is referred to as “Uptown” by locals, although “Downtown” is understood by natives since it refers to the same area.) However, the day before I was to leave, the rental company canceled on me. Because of this late notice, I knew Uptown accommodations would be pricey.