John C. Shepard, AICP
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jcshepard.com
John C. Shepard, AICP
@jcshepard.com
Trusted source for actionable insights and visionary perspectives on community planning, economic development, & rural resilience.
VC-Communications at APA Small Town & Rural Planning Division.
WTF
February 10, 2026 at 1:06 AM
Reposted by John C. Shepard, AICP
If the Super Bowl isn’t your cup of tea, our tenth-annual photo collection of superb owls just might be. Take a look at these magnificent birds via The Atlantic Photo:
Superb Owl Sunday X
A special Sunday event: our tenth-annual photo collection celebrating these magnificent birds of prey. If you have some time before the big game (or are skipping the event entirely), we invite you to have a look.
bit.ly
February 8, 2026 at 5:15 PM
Reposted by John C. Shepard, AICP
It’s an unusual & inspiring plan crafted under especially challenging circumstances in a city with no previous culture for respecting the few plans they DID create. This was as much about building a new culture as it was about a new plan. Proud of this special collaboration between TUW & City Staff.
BIG NEWS! Our new city-wide Plan for Langford, BC is a FINALIST for the Canadian Institute of Planners AWARDS OF EXCELLENCE!

I love the message this recognition sends— you don’t need a big city & a big budget to create cutting-edge planning for a better city. We showed a better way in a small city.
February 8, 2026 at 7:20 PM
Reposted by John C. Shepard, AICP
WHO is excited for Superb Owl weekend? 🦉

These owls from the Library's Japanese prints and drawings collection don't seem that thrilled, actually, although it's sure to be a hoot.

They're enthusiastic about Bad Bunny, but they may not understand that he's a man, not a delicious small mammal.
February 6, 2026 at 6:04 PM
Reposted by John C. Shepard, AICP
It's Superbowl Sunday! So here's our traditional, and predictable Superb Owl.
🏈🦉

#SuperbOwl #SuperbOwl2026
February 8, 2026 at 2:57 PM
Reposted by John C. Shepard, AICP
Happy Superb Owl Sunday!
February 8, 2026 at 2:18 PM
Who Can Afford to Live Rural?
Small towns and rural communities used to promise cheaper homes than big cities. Now, many of those places are caught up in the same global housing squeeze.

This week's long read on the blog:
jcshepard.com/2026/02/who-...
#smalltowns #rural #housing #econdev
Who Can Afford to Live Rural? Global Pressures on Small-Town Housing Markets -
The rural housing market is more of an idea than a thing. Housing supply and needs vary considerably across nations and regions, let alone around the world.
jcshepard.com
February 8, 2026 at 4:33 PM
Reposted by John C. Shepard, AICP
Housing. Richmond, Virginia. Twelve dollars a month for three rooms

#richmond #virginia #undefined #photography #dorothealange

https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2017771899/
February 8, 2026 at 1:12 PM
The Power of the Public Library: A review of Shamichael Hallman’s book, Meet Me at the Library (Island Press, 2024).
You can tell a lot about a community by their #library.

(Originally for @apa-star.bsky.social)
medium.com/@jcshepard.a...
@islandpress.bsky.social
The Power of the Public Library
“A community is not a machine,” writes Eric Liu, in his introduction to Shamichael Hallman’s book, Meet Me at the Library (Island Press…
medium.com
February 7, 2026 at 2:05 PM
Reposted by John C. Shepard, AICP
The Factbook survived the Cold War and became a hit online. It mixed quirky cultural notes and trivia with maps, data, and photos taken by CIA officers. But it was discontinued this week. n.pr/3Mq3Y6i
The CIA World Factbook is dead. Here's how I came to love it
The Factbook survived the Cold War and became a hit online. It mixed quirky cultural notes and trivia with maps, data, and photos taken by CIA officers. But it was discontinued this week.
n.pr
February 7, 2026 at 10:09 AM
Reposted by John C. Shepard, AICP
One of the 74 temporary homes. The permanent adobe structures are now under construction. Bosque Farms Project

#bosquefarmsproject #DorotheaLange’s #newmexico #americans #lange #undefined #photography #dorothealange
February 7, 2026 at 12:12 PM
Reposted by John C. Shepard, AICP
The demise of the CIA World Factbook is “part of a broad war on information being waged by the Trump administration,” @dgraham.bsky.social argues in The Atlantic Daily.
The Trump Administration’s War on Data
A series of recent steps have erased the shared facts that help uphold democracy.
bit.ly
February 7, 2026 at 12:15 PM
Reposted by John C. Shepard, AICP
February 7, 2026 at 1:32 AM
“With housing affordability a crucial political issue and increasingly out of reach for many Americans, determining the nation’s needs is not merely an academic exercise but is key to devising policies that will solve the problem.”

Julie Z. Weil does great with this. Hope she still has a job today.
February 6, 2026 at 12:14 PM
Reposted by John C. Shepard, AICP
apnews.com/article/cens... Bureau plans to use survey with a citizenship question in its test for 2030, alarming experts
Census Bureau plans to use survey with a citizenship question in its test for 2030, alarming experts
The U.S. Census Bureau plans to use a survey form with a citizenship question for its 2030 census practice test.
apnews.com
February 6, 2026 at 2:15 AM
With electricity bills rising, some states consider new data center laws

Leaders in at least a dozen states have targeted data centers with separate, higher electric rates.

stateline.org/2026/02/05/w...
#zoning #energy #econdev
With electricity bills rising, some states consider new data center laws • Stateline
As Americans grow increasingly frustrated over their electricity bills, states are trying to keep the nation’s growing number of data centers from causing higher energy costs for consumers.
stateline.org
February 6, 2026 at 1:51 AM
Reposted by John C. Shepard, AICP
My latest @npr.org story: The Trump administration is proposing to include a U.S. citizenship question in this year's field test of the #2030Census in Huntsville, Ala., and Spartanburg, S.C., as Republicans push to alter the counts behind voting maps
Trump officials propose testing a citizenship question amid a push to alter the census
The Trump administration proposes to include a question about U.S. citizenship status in this year's field test of the 2030 census, as Republicans push to alter the counts behind voting maps.
www.npr.org
February 5, 2026 at 9:13 PM
Reposted by John C. Shepard, AICP
The Trump administration proposes to include a question about U.S. citizenship status in this year's field test of the 2030 census, as Republicans push to alter the counts behind voting maps. n.pr/46y82Ip
Trump officials propose testing a citizenship question amid a push to alter the census
The Trump administration proposes to include a question about U.S. citizenship status in this year's field test of the 2030 census, as Republicans push to alter the counts behind voting maps.
n.pr
February 5, 2026 at 4:34 PM
Reposted by John C. Shepard, AICP
I am incredibly honored that the Death and Life of Gentrification is reviewed in the February 9 issue of the New Yorker. My great thanks to them for their engagement with the book.
February 5, 2026 at 5:29 PM
Reposted by John C. Shepard, AICP
Homeownership plays a central role in wealth building in the US, yet far less is known about how #wealth evolves after households become homeowners—particularly for #AANHPI households. New Urban #research sheds light and offers insights to inform policy. https://urbn.is/4akHJqr
February 5, 2026 at 5:45 PM
The world passed 8B people... but growth is decelerating as fertility falls... UN projections now expect global population to peak around mid‑century at roughly 10–10.3 billion % then decline gradually by 2100, a major shift from older expectations of continued growth.
jcshepard.com/2026/02/demo...
Demography is Destiny… Except When It Isn’t -
Demography is destiny, the old saying goes, but if the last few years have taught us anything, it is that destiny is rarely a straight line.
jcshepard.com
February 5, 2026 at 3:44 PM
NEW: This year’s #2030Census test in Huntsville, Ala., and Spartanburg, S.C., is using an unrelated survey form that includes a U.S. citizenship question, according to a regulatory filing (To be clear, this is for the “2026 Census Test,” not an actual census)
www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PR...
February 5, 2026 at 3:39 PM
Reposted by John C. Shepard, AICP
Job openings fell sharply in December, to their lowest level since September 2020. I would caution, though, that we've seen several of these big moves that have either been revised away or have reversed the following month. #JOLTS
February 5, 2026 at 3:16 PM
As an urban planner, I have to be aware of geography, geology, and landscape in just about everything I do. Should have taken geology instead of physics in college, but #StarTrek...

#urbanplanning #geology #geography #STEM #scifi
Geology: An Illustrated History by David Bainbridge presents the discoveries and critical scientific advances that inform our understanding of Earth’s origins and the forces driving geological change.

Available 24 Feb. Preorder yours: press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...

#Geology #EarthScience
February 5, 2026 at 3:36 PM