Carrie Ann Christensen, MLA

Design / Research / Community Engagement


"Thoughtful design and sound management practices can provide our communities with the base-line needed to ensure environmental and economic sustainability. It is critical, however, to consider the health of the entire community, whether it be on a municipal or global scale. Multi-modal transportation options, safe and comfortable public spaces, quality housing, and access to healthy and affordable food should be integrated across the board for all neighborhoods, towns and regions."

With a Masters of Landscape Architecture from the University of Minnesota and a BA in Urban Studies from Stanford University, Carrie's interests and experience synthesize community engagement and design. She focuses her efforts on projects that integrate the health of the built and natural environments as well as the economic and social welfare of communities. She has facilitated focus groups about local food security, written a cultural landscape management plan for the National Park Service, worked at a community land trust focused on affordable housing, conducted research on the effects of Bus Rapid Transit on North Minneapolis, and written articles for local and national publications on sustainable land management issues.

Carrie's other experience includes a year in Slovakia as a Fulbright Scholar studying urban agriculture, working in Mexico as a public health volunteer, and biking across the United States with BikeAid. She is deeply committed to working toward truly healthy communities by integrating sound design, fair policy and equitable community revitalization practices.

Select Project Experience

  • Potential Impacts of Bus Rapid Transit on the West Broadway Neighborhood, a study conducted with Dr. Kristine Miller through the University of Minnesota College of Design and the Center for Urban and Regional Affairs, 2007
  • Convenience Stores in North Minneapolis, with the support of the University of Minnesota Metropolitan Design Center. Used CPTED (Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design) measures to assess the safety and design of convenience stores in North Minneapolis, 2007
  • Co-author, Wick Farm Orchard Management Plan, for the Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation and published by the National Park Service, 2008

Education

  • Masters of Landscape Architecture, University of Minnesota, 2008
  • Certificate of Agroecology, University of California at Santa Cruz Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems, 2003
  • Bachelor of Arts, Urban Studies with an emphasis in Community Organization, Stanford University, Califonia, 2000

Recent training

  • Housing Policy, The Public Policy Project, Fall 2009

Boards and Committees

  • Director of Public Relations, Minnesota Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects
  • Committee Member, Preservation Alliance of Minnesota

Memberships