New Urbanist Development

One of my favorite suburban master-planned projects is I'on in South Carolina, in the "Lowlands" near Charleston.

Woonerfs at work & play

This is a photo of our woonerf at Good in use for a child's Birthday Party: exactly as intended!

Happy Birthday, Frederick Law Olmsted!

This just in from John:  Happy Birthday to Frederick Law Olmsted!

Concrete Pour Video – Post Tension Slab

A short video showing some of the processes involved in pouring a post-tension slab in a larger multi-story project...

Sacramento Kings Game

MNA staff members along with some of their spouses attended the Sacramento Kings game on Thursday night versus the LA Clippers at the Power Balance Pavilion.

Thermal Mass

Thermal mass is a phrase one hears often in our corner of the overall industry, due to the fact that when properly used, it can significantly increase the efficiency of a given building envelope: although this idea now has a sort of buzz or currency, it's actually one of the oldest energy control techniques, and was very common in concert with solar envelope design from ancient times...

Lobby Day for Affordable Housing

The California Housing Consortium brought in Senate Pro Tem Senator Steinberg, Senator Mark DeSaulnier, Assemblyman Cameron Smyth and the heads of HCD and CalFHA to talk about the critical bills that are in process to recapture the hard-fought affordable housing funds from the butchering of the state’s redevelopment agencies. About forty of us walked the capitol’s halls to visit legislators, their staff and the Governor’s staff completing almost 40 meetings to press the case for affordable housing...

Multi-Family Housing And Solar

The massive solar array that seemingly floats over the new affordable housing building at 7th and H in downtown Sacramento is composed of 680 solar PV (photovoltaic) panels that provide power to the common "house loads" of the building. Common loads include things like elevators, stairwell lighting and the central cooling towers on this redevelopment project. The array uses a net metering system that runs the electric meter backwards, or slower, when the sun is shining and power is being produced...

Living In An MNA-Designed Eco-Urban House

I was a happy, dedicated Davis resident, who thoroughly enjoyed the bicycle paths, greenbelts and kid-centric culture but my wife, daughter and I moved to West Sacramento for one simple reason: being able to purchase a super-sustainable, ultra-chic eco-urban home in the Good project...

We all own the streets…

I just had a guest opinion editorial published in the Sacramento News and Review, on a topic which is close to home for many of us here at MNA - bicycle and pedestrian safety...

Excellent Street Redevelopment in West Sacramento

David Mogavero says: "...We have the fortune of currently working on two great redevelopment infill projects in West Sacramento. As a result, we are working in the area where the City has just completed a major change of their public realm through reconfiguration of their streets just west of Tower Bridge..."

Regulating development: Episode One

After years of building projects and years of advocacy for better planning for our regional community, I wonder whether the classic notion of “urban planning” is a workable format for American metropolises and towns...

Construction begins on affordable housing project in Live Oak, California

Governor Brown must focus on the real cause of cities’ ills

David Mogavero says: While mayor of Oakland, Gov. Jerry Brown attempted to jump-start the construction of substantial new housing downtown... But the zeal of the governor and others on this subject, while laudable in their goals, has been creating a massive distraction....

HMG & MNA win SMUD Zero Energy Consulting Contract

Our firm, along with HMG energy efficiency consultants, was selected by SMUD to be the consulting architect for all of the residential and light commercial projects contemplated by the Zero Energy Building Research and Development Consulting program...

Happy Halloween from MNA!

Every year at Halloween, a portion of the crew here come to work in costume; this year (as in many years past) most of us felt the spirit enough to come in costume...

Turns out where you live can affect your health

Being somewhat of a health and fitness enthusiast, I find that sometimes it is easy to jump to judgment, and criticism, of those who appear to be out of shape, overweight, and unhealthy. It has never occurred to me that for some folks, their daily living environment - their own home and neighborhood - could have a direct link to the state of their personal physical health.

Hot Tar Roofers Played MNA

Hot Tar Roofers played MNA's party to celebrate Bruce Resnik joining Planning and Conservation League as executive director.

NiceRide Bike System: We need this in Sac!

I had the opportunity to use this new automated bike rental system in Minneapolis this weekend. See attached photos....

Our firm’s new site – woo hoo!