Author: Rick Harrison

Rick Harrison

Rick Harrison

Rick Harrison is known for pioneering innovations in both methods and technologies for the design & construction of sustainable cities. Harrison’s career spans more than 45 years in Land Planning, Civil Engineering, Land Surveying, Land Development, and over 36 years in Computer Software Development. Awards include the coveted Professional Builder’s Professional Achievement of the Year Award, and more recently Building Products Magazine’s 2010 MVP award and as a finalist for the TekNe Award, and semi-finalists for the 2012 Cleantech Open, for his innovations in sustainable land development technologies. His book Prefurbia: Reinventing Land Development: From Disdainable to Sustainable, has received many favorable reviews. Prefurbia has been supported by AIA, APA, USGBC and many Green Building groups, as well as being fundable through HUD Sustainability Grants. Based in Minneapolis, Rick Harrison Site Design Studio, has designed over 800 neighborhoods in 46 States and 18 Countries, all pushing the envelope of sustainable design. His patented LandMentor System, is the first integrated land development solution that blends precision spatial (surface) technology with effortless virtual reality. It is the first software that includes an education in the methods developed by the design firm.

Continued Pedestrian Systems

• September 16, 2013

How do we get people off their duff, and get them to walk? When we first worked on San Cristobal Village, I rented a Cessna 182 and flew on an 80 degree Sunday afternoon from Albuquerque to Santa Fe, taking over 300 pictures of newer suburban and new urban based developments, all with sidewalks each […]

A Systems Approach to Getting Around

• September 11, 2013

Pedestrian Systems It amazes me to see some of the solutions planners come up with for incorporating various modes of getting around – cars, trucks, rail, walkers, bikers, motorcycles, etc. There are many schools of thought on these systems. One school is to change habits through design, and the other is to work within existing […]