People
Raimi + Associates has a small but dedicated staff of professionals who are committed to making communities more livable and environmentally sustainable. Our work environment is highly collaborative and encourages the free-flowing, creative exchange of ideas.
Matt Raimi
Principal, AICP, LEED-AP
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Matt Raimi has over a dozen years of experience in planning and has managed numerous comprehensive plans, open space plans and site planning projects across California. He focuses on creating more livable and sustainable cities, and has spoken extensively on applying the principles of new urbanism to comprehensive plans, incorporating public health concerns into the planning process, and promoting sustainable development at the local level.
Prior to founding Raimi + Associates, Matt worked for the planning and urban design firms of Design, Community & Environment in Berkeley and SMWM (now Perkins + Will) in San Francisco. Previously, he worked as a policy analyst for the Natural Resources Defense Council. Matt is currently the co-chair of the Environment Task Force of the Congress for the New Urbanism, is a Senior Fellow with the Environmental Leadership Program, and is a member of the U.S. Green Building Council's Market Advisory Committee. He has also assisted with development of the LEED for Neighborhood Development Rating System and Reference Guide as a sub-consultant to the U.S. Green Building Council. Matt Raimi is the co-author of a seminal book on smart growth and the impact of sprawl titled Once There Were Greenfields: How Urban Sprawl is Undermining America's Environment, Economy and Social Fabric. He is also the author of several other publications, including Understanding the Relationship Between Public Health and the Built Environment (USGBC, 2006) and Five Years of Progress: 110 Communities Where ISTEA is Making a Difference (STPP, 1996).
Matt holds a master's degree in regional planning from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill a BA from the University of Rochester, and is a an AICP-certified planner.
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Aaron Welch
Senior Planner, LEED AP
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Aaron Welch has broad experience with neighborhood sustainability, comprehensive planning and site plans, planning for public health, green building, and bicycle/pedestrian issues. Aaron has contributed to general plans, neighborhood plans, vision plans, and transit-oriented development plans throughout California and the United States, including general plans for the Cities of West Hollywood, Mountain View, Santa Monica, Encinitas, South Gate, Murrieta, Coachella, El Monte and Redwood City. Many of his recent projects have involved development and implementation of the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED for Neighborhood Development (LEED-ND) Rating System. This has included direct assistance to the U.S. Green Building Council, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Aaron has also directed half a dozen LEED-ND development projects that are either certified or in the certification process, and with his leadership on other LEED-ND applications such as plan reviews or existing neighborhood assessments, has some of the most extensive LEED-ND qualifications in the country. Aaron also specializes in research and educational writing, and co-chairs the USGBC Northern California Chapter’s Sustainable Neighborhoods Committee.
Aaron's professional interest in planning and sustainability stems from around the time he traded his first car for a hand-made Italian racing bike, which he still commutes to work on. He provides an international perspective on land use and sustainability, having lived and worked in The United Kingdom and The Netherlands and having traveled extensively in Europe, Asia and New Zealand. Aaron has held previous positions at the Stockholm Environment Institute in York, England; at the Global Footprint Network; and as a post-graduate researcher in sociology at the University of California, Berkeley. He holds an M.A. from Berkeley and a B.A. from Oberlin College.
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Matthew Burris
Director of Southern California Operations, AICP, LEED-AP
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Mr. Burris was drawn to the field of planning by his interest in resource efficiency and sustainable communities. Mr. Burris specializes in the preparation of Climate Action Plans, green design programs, and the implementation of community-scale sustainability principles. With over a decade of experience, he has prepared more than 20 different climate studies, including Climate Action Plans for the Cities of Irvine and Encinitas, greenhouse gas (GHG) inventories, and GHG technical reports for public and private sector planning efforts. He has also directed the preparation of sustainability master plans, green design guidelines, and LEED credit submittals. Mr. Burris' environmental background, coupled with his work in planning, has given him a unique perspective on the interaction of the built and natural environments, especially in regard to how green design and sustainability are implemented in real world situations.
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Beth Altshuler
Public Health Planning Specialist, MPH / MCP
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Beth Altshuler focuses her energy on community food security, social and health equity, active transportation, and state and local environmental policy. With broad experience working in public agencies, planning and policy consultancies, and as an academic researcher, she provides expertise in parks and recreation, transportation, public health, sustainability, and strategic planning. She has extensive experience in designing and implementing innovative community involvement and visioning programs as well as qualitative (focus groups, stakeholder interviews, etc.) and quantitative (statistical modeling and GIS) analysis skills. At the forefront of the healthy communities discipline for almost ten years, Ms. Altshuler is committed to creating livable places, reducing health disparities, and engaging residents in the future of their communities.
After college, Beth created and directed a pilot youth employment program through the San Francisco Department of Public Works called SF-CRUE (San Francisco Communities Restoring Urban Environments). Before returning to graduate school, Beth worked as a planning associate at Moore Iacofano Goltsman (MIG) were she contributed to numerous parks, transportation, neighborhood, and general planning processes.
Beth holds master's degrees in City and Regional Planning and Public Health Epidemiology/Biostatistics from UC Berkeley and a BA in Sociology from Cornell University.
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Danielle (D.J.) Harris
Project Assistant
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Danielle (DJ) Harris contributes to a variety of Raimi + Associates’ projects, with a particular interest in urban design, transportation, and community participation. DJ is a recent graduate of Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, with a BA in City and Regional Planning, but her substantial professional experience already includes an impressive four years of interning with the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA). In fact, to date DJ holds the unofficial record as youngest longest-serving SFMTA intern! Her professional experience includes public sector planning, community-based planning and a wide-range of transportation planning projects. She has extensive quantitative analysis skills and knowledge of the California planning landscape. DJ has also worked on a number of planning projects interacting with diverse community groups throughout California, conducting community workshops, public surveys, and structured stakeholder interviews.