Jonathan Nettler has lived and practiced in Boston, Washington D.C., San Francisco, New York, and Los Angeles on a range of project types for major public, institutional, and private developer clients including: large scale planning and urban design, waterfront and brownfield redevelopment, transit-oriented development, urban infill, campus planning, historic preservation, zoning, and design guidelines.
Jonathan is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) and serves on the Board of Directors for the Los Angeles section of the American Planning Association (APA) as the Vice Director for Professional Development. He is also active in local volunteer organizations. Jonathan's interests include public participation in the planning and design process, the intersection between transportation, public health and land use, and the ways in which new ideas and best practices get developed, discussed, and dispersed.
Jonathan previously served as Managing Editor of Planetizen and Project Manager/Project Planner for Ehrenkrantz Eckstut & Kuhn (EE&K) Architects. He received a Master of Arts degree in Architecture from the University of California, Los Angeles and a Bachelor of Arts degree in History from Boston University.
Effort to Rein in Federal Flood Insurance Program Causing Alarm
As a 2012 law aimed reforming the "increasingly unsustainable" National Flood Insurance Program goes into effect, some homeowners in coastal areas are seeing dramatic increases in their insurance rates. Lawmakers are pondering how to ease the pain.
City Initiative Embraces Bottom-Up Placemaking in L.A.
The same week that the City of L.A. made a big splash with its "Great Streets Initiative", a new program that has the potential to have a sizable impact on city streets went less noticed. Damien Newton reports on the city's "People St" program.
Can Maryland Pull Off Its Risky Purple Line Partnership?
To finance and construct a new $2.2 billion light rail line in the D.C. suburbs, Maryland will seek to enter into a unique private sector partnership. The ambitious strategy is drawing concern from lawmakers.
Supreme Court to Consider EPA's Ability to Regulate Emissions Beyond Cars and Trucks
Though the U.S. Supreme Court turned aside a more aggressive challenge to the EPA's climate regulating authority, it has agreed to hear arguments on the agency's ability to limit emissions from stationary sources.

Why Suburban Sprawl is the Worst Idea America Has Ever Had
In a recent "TED Talk", Jeff Speck makes the case for creating a more walkable America based not on design arguments, but rather on the potential to create a more economically resilient, healthier, and environmentally sustainable country.