ī-ˈdē-əa
formulated thought or opinion | Merriam websters dictionary
Sharing ideas. Gained through four decades asking ‘why?’ To help audiences think differently or create a community call-to-action. Get my ideas three ways:
Speak. Keynote or in-house training? Inspired stories and real solutions. Spark a conversations to develop different.
Teach. Studio and class lectures for masters and undergraduate programs. Ask about my case study in managing small risk.
Write. Provocative articles, white papers and now Building Small. In-depth ideas and the research behind them. Available below.
“It’s no surprise that a book on small-scale development has come from one of real estate’s big thinkers.“
—Ed McMahon | Senior Fellow for Sustainable Development
SPEAKING & TEACHING
KEYNOTES AND PANELS
My presentations combine a conversational and accessible style with a clear framework and specific examples. Using either the UrbanGreen platform for sustainable and resilient real estate education, or CRAFT Development for small scale incremental development tools and techniques. I strive to ensure my audience leaves informed and excited about making positive change in the built environment.
STUDIO LECTURES AND TEACHING
My real world experience as a developer, combined with years of consulting makes for provocative and inspired studio course lectures, crits and case study exercises. Using my HBS style Case Study, graduate students ʻliveʻ the life of a small developer and have to address the challenges of managing risks associated with Small.
Upcoming Events
MAY
5 | A Small Conversation | Changing Hands Bookstore, Phoenix
6 | Why Small Matters | ULI Phoenix
6 | Book Talk + Signing | For the People, Phoenix
22-24 | Building Small Forum | San Antonio
JUNE
23 | PCBC#22 | San Francisco
29 | Small Change Podcast
JULY
7 | Building Small | UC Berkeley MRED+D
17 | Walking Tour | Healdsburg
21 | Capstone Juror | UC Berkeley MRED+D
september
TBD | Book Tour | Boston, MA
november
TBD | SSDF#18 | Nashville, TN (Sign up to receive early notice)
Prior Speaking
TEDx Sonoma County
Building Small | NC State, Raleigh
Keynote | ULI San Antonio Leadership Luncheon
Small Scale Developer Forum #16 | Healdsburg CA
Emerging Developers Fireside Chat | Richmond, CA
Lectures and Case Studies
Tulane University
UC Berkeley
Univerity of Miami
NC State
TEDx Sonoma talk on making Small Big!
March 2022 | Jim reminds us of what is truly important and the joy we get from the small things in life | VIEW
ULI Minnesota Housing Conference
July 2021 | Jim shares lessons from Building Small and the connection with Missing Middle Housing. | VIEW
economics of BUILDING SMALL
March 2020 | Key lessons and value of small incremental development as an economic development tool. | VIEW
The Impact of Small Scale Development
January 2022 | Jim is interviewed on the Everything Coworking Podcast | VIEW
GETTING THE HOUSING WE WANT
September 2020 | A community primer on what makes us the term ‘housing’ and its costs | VIEW
RURAL TO URBAN RESILIENCE
August 2015 | Findings to the question ‘does Resilience vary depending on community size and location? | VIEW
“…one of my top book recommendations for anyone who has approached me with interest in development. I’m beyond thrilled for the success of this book. “
—Sam Day | Samuel Day Architects
WRITING
Articles, white papers and now Building Small, provide the written form for sharing or exploring ideas in more depth.
Building Small
2021 | The seminal book that defines the what, why and how of small scale, incremental development. | MORE ABOUT BUILDING SMALL
Seeing Small
2018 | Contribution to Main Street America’s annual report, sharing lessons learned from over 14 cities. | READ
RESILIENCE ALONG THE RURAL TO URBAN TRANSECT
2015 | White paper for ULI exploring how resilience changes by community size and location | READ
Evolution of the Planned Community
2011 | Thought paper that looks at how Planned Communities are likely to change in the next decade. | READ
Reinventing Real Estate
2010 | A look at the opportunity for more responsible real estate investing coming out of the 2008 downturn | READ
Developing Sustainable Planned Communities
2007 | Contributions to book that served as an early roadmap for incorporating sustainability into the community development process | PURCHASE
Greenfield Development Without Sprawl
2004 | White paper that tackled the question ‘can planned communities be built without adding to sprawl? | READ
AFFORDABLE HOUSING IN RESORT COMMUNITIES
1995| A look at creating more affordable housing in expensive resort communities as a way to ensure long term viability of the local economy | READ
“My Strengths Finder™ profile says I am fascinated by ideas and enjoy digging through complexity to connect seemingly disparate things in elegantly simple ways. This is reflected in my writings and presentations as I try to show different approaches to solving thorny issues in an enlightening and educational manner.”
ULI Advisory Services Panel Chair 2011
Moscow, Russia