KARIN MORRIS
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

AFFILIATION: Senior regional planner, Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission

AREA OF EXPERTISE: Transit-oriented development, regional planning, environmental justice, and density and design

BACKGROUND & EXPERIENCE: Karin has led several Philadelphia-area studies that link land use and transportation. A recent one is called “Realizing Density: Strategies for Compact Suburban Development,” which was intended for local municipal and township officials looking to enhance suburban communities through better design of higher densities. She has also written numerous transit-oriented development plans and worked on developing the commission’s environmental justice policy and research methodology. She has presented her work at national conferences, including the American Planning Association and the Transportation Research Board, and has served on the board of the Southeast Section of the Pennsylvania Planning Association. Her University of Michigan master’s thesis on a Detroit Neighborhood Plan won the Don Schon Award for Excellence in Learning from Practice from the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning. A native of Cleveland, she is interested in issues facing older industrial cities, particularly urban design, redevelopment, and placemaking.

RESEARCH INTEREST: Karin’s work on design and density sparked her interest in examining new infill rowhouses, given the housing renaissance in Philadelphia’s downtown and surrounding neighborhoods. Her research will focus on exploring the good, the bad and the boring of infill rowhouse design in Philadelphia over the last few years. Multiple examples will be investigated, documenting site design, materials, scale, architectural style and diversity.