Commons are resources that we create, enjoy, and maintain as a collective. Participation in commons is a foundational element of society-the basis by which one becomes a “commoner”.
COMMONS PLANNING, INC
(friends call us "Commons" for short)
We believe that the good life is embedded in a network of relationships within social, cultural and physical environments that we hold in common. These common resources can be built upon in collective enterprises as simple as a parking district managed by the local businesses, to supports for older adults who want to age in place in the communities they love. Bringing together a wide range of expertise in community engagement, public sector operations, built environment design and development, and natural environment preservation, Commons has been formed to support communities interested in growing, maintaining, and better celebrating their commons.
CO-DESIGN COMMONS
In addition to our Atlanta, Georgia office, Commons announces the opening our Bloomington, Indiana office led by Dr. Phil Stafford. With close ties to Indiana University, Co-Design Commons assists researchers and design and planning practitioners, as well as local entrepreneurs to head off significant design mistakes, improve existing technologies to serve a broader market and innovate new environments, services and technologies to serve a changing world.
Jeff Rader
Jeff is happy to be daily immersed in the technical and political details of his community's future. As a Fellow of the American American Institute of Certified Planners and Presiding Officer of the DeKalb County Commission, Jeff brings to Commons a passion for the experiential and technical details of well-loved places, particularly those that have historical and cultural resonance.
COMMONERS
Scott Ball
Scott was once accused of trying to practice architecture as if it were something delivered from an ambulance. In reality, as an architect and urban designer, he is drawn to urban form as an expression of community well-being. Scott is primarily focused on the goal of making communities more livable for aging and on celebrating in place the great gift of additional longevity we have received over the past century.
Dr. Phil Stafford
Phil has worked with old folks for 45 years and now he’s one himself. He retired as the Director of the Indiana University Center on Aging and Community and now occupies his time with co-design , grandparenting and barn restoration. As a Co-designer, Phil is tackling issues of aging in place- particularly food insecurity, community building through information technology, and ethnographic explorations of the “matrix of care” surrounding older adults.