Urban and Regional Studies students share results with city of Oconto

In late fall 2012, officials from the city of Oconto approached the Urban and Regional Studies program to request help with urban planning and economic development initiatives. Given the courses they were teaching this semester, Marcelo Cruz and Adam Parrillo were able to give their students the opportunity to gain hands-on experience in urban policy research. Students from Prof. Cruz’s Transportation and the City class researched economic and cultural nodes for the purpose of creating better intermodal accessibility. Students from Prof. Parrillo’s GIS and the Urban World class performed a blight survey and hotspot analysis to assess housing deterioration in Oconto. On Monday of this past week, the president of the Oconto City Council and the city manager came to UW-Green Bay as the students presented the results of their research. The city manager told Urban and Regional chair Prof. Tom Nesslien that he valued the students’ contributions and hopes for continued collaboration with the program.