My name is Caleb, and I want to know how we can develop communities that make us happier, healthier, and more resilient in the face of climate change.

Sustainable Planning + Urban Design | Cartography | Geospatial Analytics

Caleb Schmitz - Urban Planner

A bit about me.

I am a student at the University of Colorado, Boulder, completing studies in urban planning, geographic information systems (GIS), data science, and geography. I’m passionate about the intersection of geospatial analytics, urban planning, and design.

I have worked in the fields of policy and environmental resilience engineering over the past several years. In 2018 I started work for the Larimer County Democrats, where I supported campaigns to improve infrastructure and mental health access in Northern Colorado. I have also conducted research at CU’s Resilient Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity Interdisciplinary Research Team (RISE IRT), where I used my geospatial background to help model vulnerable infrastructure and its exposure to flood, fire, extreme heat, and landslides in the State of Colorado.

Most recently I worked at the Colorado Department of Transportation where I helped deliver an innovative hydraulic modeling procedure that saved Colorado tax-payers $22.4 dollars per year while strengthening the resiliency of bridges and roadways across the state.

Designing equitable neighborhoods for social, physical, and environmental health.

  • Human-scale.

  • Walkable.

  • Diverse and affordable.

Place-making.

Mitigating CO2 emissions and adapting to climate change.

  • Green infrastructure.

  • Hazards modeling.

  • Biophilic design.

Hazards and resilience planning.

Current research: “Transportation Transects: Evaluating the Relationship Between Denver’s Urban Form and Commuter Transportation Behavior.”

Funded by an individual Undergraduate Research Opportunities (UROP) grant at the University of Colorado, Boulder.

Urban analytics and cartography.

Sharing information and insights with simple beauty and clarity.

  • Geospatial analytics.

  • Web-mapping.

  • Data visualization.

The built environment is the framework through which we live our whole lives. It impacts who we see, what we do, and where we go. It’s worth getting right.