News

Raimi + Associates featured in Green Building and Design (gb&d) Magazine!

Adapting LEED-ND to an Existing Neighborhood
Raimi + Associates applies existing development standards in a fresh way

JOB ANNOUNCEMENT: (This position has been filled.) 
Looking for a great Planner/Urban Designer for our Berkeley OR Riverside, CA office.
R+A would like to hire a talented and enthusiastic Planner/Urban Designer to work on a variety of planning, sustainability, and public health projects either from our Berkeley or Riverside, CA office. We are especially interested in applicants who have strong graphics/design skills, excellent writing skills, are fluent in Spanish, and have a commitment to social equity and sustainability through planning. To learn more and apply, please review the Planner/Urban Designer job description.

JOB ANNOUNCEMENTS: (These positions have been filled.)

We're Hiring TWO New Staff for the City of Los Angeles General Plan Framework Health Chapter Project!   
R+A recently began a working with the City of Los Angeles on a Health Chapter for their General Plan Framework. This is a multi-year project funded by the County Department of Public Health with Community Transformation Grant Funds from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. R+A is looking for two creative and motivated people to work together on the project. The LA Health Chapter project staff will work full-time in the City of Los Angeles City Planning Department to ensure the project has meaningful community engagement, cross sector collaboration, and solid technical health and planning policy and analysis. To learn more and apply, please review the Urban Planning and Public Health Specialist and the Outreach Coordinator job descriptions.

Berkeley Office Expansion
Great news! The Raimi + Associates' Berkeley location has just been expanded to nearly twice its original size. Matt capitalized on a great opportunity to absorb the neighboring office space, so we have three new work station, two new offices, and a much needed storage closet. Our office expansion came at a perfect time because we have just finished a handful of projects and acquired many more these past two months, so we were in desperate need of space. Expect R+A to host a holiday party in the near future.

New Addition to the Berkeley Headquarters
Raimi + Associates is welcoming a new member to their Berkeley headquarter, Eric Yurkovich. Eric will be serving as our newest Senior Planner. His work has been done to create sustainable communities that offer alternatives to the automobile, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, protect ecosystem habitat, and manage natural hazard risk. Eric specializes in community planning with an emphasis on climate change mitigation and adaptation, land use and transportation scenario modeling, and community engagement. He was previous employed at Calthorpe Associates where he served as a Senior Planner on regional-scale projects for clients across California and the country. Along with a background in city and regional planning, Eric also gained extensive knowledge and understanding of adaptation policy, climate change modeling, and vulnerability and impact assessments. He recently authored papers for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, and the Climate Action Reserve.
Eric received a master’s degree in urban planning from the University of California at Los Angeles and a bachelor’s degree in geography from Macalester College.

R+A Co-writing the LEED 2012 Reference Guide Throughout 2012
Following our previous work co-writing U.S. Green Building Council's 2009 and Pilot LEED for Neighborhood Development (LEED-ND) Reference Guide, Raimi + Associates is co-writing the LEED 2012 Reference Guide sections for all LEED Location and Transportation credits. The new Location and Transportation (LT) section of LEED is cross-cutting, including credits in LEED-NC, LEED-EBOM, LEED for Schools, and LEED for Healthcare in addition to LEED-ND. LEED's LT credits are strongly informed by the thinking that has gone into LEED-ND, making Raimi + Associates a natural fit to help integrate its key concepts - such as walking distance, smart development locations, transit access, connectivity, and urban design for walkable streets - into the rest of LEED. Raimi + Associates is working with frequent partners Criterion Planners and the Agora Group to complete the work for U.S. Green Building Council throughout the spring and summer of 2012. Raimi + Associates' team is tasked with providing step-by-step implementation guidance, resources, and best practices tips for a total of 37 different LT credits and prerequisites from LEED 2012. This complements work being done concurrently by other writing teams on LEED 2012's Sustainable Sites, Energy and Atmosphere, Materials and Resources, Water Efficiency, and Indoor Environmental Quality credits.

CDPH Publishes "Climate Action for Health"
R+A served as a technical reviewer for the California Department of Public Health's recently released guidance document about climate action and public health, Climate Action for Health: Integrating Public Health into Climate Action Planning, published in February 2012.

Incorporating Health Strategies in Regional Transportation Plans
In February 2012, the California Department of Public Health published the Creating Healthy Regional Transportation Plans written by Transform in collaboration with Raimi + Associates staff, who provided research and writing support for the document. The publication is a Primer for California's Public Health Community on Regional Transportation Plans and Sustainable Communities Strategies. Researchers have documented strong connections between the built environment – our streets, transit systems, houses, and parks – and a variety of health outcomes such as asthma, obesity, and traffic fatalities. The document focuses on Regional Transportation Plans (RTPs) because they are an instrumental tool shaping the built environment on a large scale and are tied to billions of dollars in state and federal transportation funds. This primer provides a user-friendly resource that helps explain and demystify key components and requirements of RTPs and identifies ways to incorporate health-promoting strategies into RTPs. The document presents a variety of case studies from all around California where RTPs could improve community health. This document is intended primarily for public health professionals and advocates, but can be used by transportation planning professionals, local government officials, and environmental and social equity advocacy groups. Please download the report here and let us know what you think!

Coachella Residents Envision a Healthier Future
On February 9, 2012 Coachella community members attended the Fiesta de la Salud #2; the second of three community workshops on the City's General Plan Community Health and Wellness Element. Raimi + Associates worked with the City, the Riverside County Health Department, the California Endowment and numerous community groups to put on the meeting. The purpose of this workshop was to encourage Coachella residents engage in interactive exercises designed to allow community members to help develop the City's General Plan Health Element. To learn more about the Fiesta de la Salud #2, please read the article or watch the video by Coachella Unincorporated.