EDUCATION
Master of Regional Planning
Cornell University, 2002
Examined the linkages between federal transportation and environmental policy, and the impacts of regional transportation governance at county and municipal levels; Studied techniques for guiding the development of urban areas, location requirements, space needs, and interrelations of land uses; Researched concepts and analytical frameworks for evaluating social, economic and environmental impacts of urban development on natural resources and public health; Learned the principles and applications of geographic information systems (GIS).
CURRENT ROLES
Provides general planning services on a contract basis. Ezra's contributed to projects across sectors and is most adept in the areas of land use, transportation and natural resources. Researching, monitoring, documenting, analyzing and reporting are skills that come naturally. Ezra can write and speak effectively to technical and nontechnical audiences, and can communicate in both impartial and persuasive terms. As a consultant, he is motivated by efficiency, precision and collaborating on new and ongoing initiatives with his clients.
Provides a mix of design services on a contract basis. Ezra's unique style of photography explores the confluence of nature, public spaces, community systems and the human spirit. He's photographed large swaths of the San Francisco Bay Area, from its buildings and bridges, to its people and landscapes. Ezra also designs for residential gardens, retail displays, and events, with nuanced expressions that appeal to intellect and emotion in equal measure.
WORK HISTORY
Our People is a collection of first-person narratives that set out to showcase the company’s diversity of culture and thought from a more personal angle while avoiding the more obvious and explicit terminologies of diversity typically used on the corporate back end.
The Climate Benefits Program administered by TransForm reports on the distribution of funds raised through California's Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund. The Climate Benefits website includes information on all applications, awards, project details and benefits to air quality and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions throughout the state.
Following a series of gas pipeline failures, helped build real-time GIS models to support emergency response efforts; digitized PG&E's historic plat maps; launched a new GIS lab; hired, trained and supervised a team of GIS technicians; developed, tested and refined workflows; ensured process consistency and data quality standards.
Funded by San Francisco’s 2008 Clean and Safe Neighborhood Parks Bond, integrated GIS and GPS technologies with long-range planning and management goals for San Francisco’s parks and park facilities; consolidated an array of geospatial databases; developed a GIS to support immediate prioritization of backlogged work orders; developed functional requirements for an updated GIS to facilitate interagency coordination of geospatial datasets; proposed updated GIS workflows to improve precision and accuracy of service requests and response systems in the field; prepared and presented maps for regulatory reviews at City Hall.
Supported Main Street redevelopment proposals to The Fresno Redevelopment Agency; Developed taxonomies for zoning and building typologies; Gathered crime data from the Fresno Police Department; Updated and consolidated GIS files; Prepared maps, tables and charts.
San Francisco Architectural Heritage released a book, Port City, chronicling the rich history of San Francisco’s maritime past, including the Port’s heyday as a nexus of shipping and commerce. As Lead Photographer, Ezra collaborated with the author/historian to research and visit historic piers and parcels; provided vision, strategy and logistics; gathered GPS data and photographed historic markers and landmarks along San Francisco’s waterfront; and partnered with editor and designer on book layout and photo editing.
Urban-Eyes was founded in 2006 to recognize and promote photography as a rudimentary and far-reaching element of the urban planning process. Partnered with National Geographic to develop a global, geospatially referenced image archive;
Trained and certified by Vail Resorts with educational emphasis on stages of cognitive and motor development in children ages 4 through 12. Planned lessons around the simplification of physics and biomechanics, and foster in students a love and appreciation for the great outdoors.
Supported the real estate team in steering the company’s retail fleet; Prepared pipeline reports and assisted with Retail Marketing and Strategy's long range planning. Audited sales forecasts against actual revenue to determine precision, accuracy and efficacy of tools and workflows; Calibrated GIS toolsets to reflect consumer trends; Added a public transportation element to the primary analytical scheme.
Worked with local and regional agencies to study, develop, operate and maintain a safe, equitable and sustainable transportation infrastructure; Researched transportation legislation, authored case studies and advocated for mode diversification with emphasis on non-motorized alternatives; Designed survey tools and executed large scale data collections; Facilitated at workshops and conferences.
Projects of note include:
- The Marin County Safe Routes to Schools Program
- Norwalk Transit Bus Stop Inventory & Conditions Assessment
- AC Transit San Pablo Corridor Bus Rapid Transit
- Cal-Park Hill Tunnel Rehabilitation & Multimodal Pathway Design
- Caltrans Rail Right-of-Way & Abandoned Corridors Study
The National AIDS Memorial Grove is a dedicated space in the national landscape where millions of Americans touched directly or indirectly by AIDS gather to heal, hope, and remember. Volunteer responsibilities included assisting with landscape design, community organizing, and volunteer training and oversight. The volunteer program was so successful that it’s expanded its reach to adjacent areas of the park.
Supported homeownership, small business, and community retention initiatives; Gathered and analyzed demographic, economic, housing, zoning and land use data; Designed and implemented a user-friendly, template-driven, community-based geographic information system (GIS); Trained staff and tailored settings to a variety of user roles within the organization.
Examined the linkages between federal transportation and environmental policy, and the impacts of regional transportation governance at county and municipal levels; Studied techniques for guiding the development of urban areas, location requirements, space needs, and interrelations of land uses; Researched concepts and analytical frameworks for evaluating social, economic and environmental impacts of urban development on natural resources and public health; Learned the principles and applications of geographic information systems (GIS).
Contributed to the following papers and projects:
- Business Improvement Districts
- Adirondack Park Agency Land Classification Update
- Tompkins County Vital Communities Initiative
Documented pedestrian circulation, safety, and security at densely populated outer-borough neighborhoods with primary links to mass transit; Measured and assessed street, sidewalk, curb and crosswalk conditions at 30 pilot sites; Surveyed auto, bus, bicycle and pedestrian movements at key intersections, peak and off-peak; Evaluated street furniture, signage, pavement markings and signal timing; Produced graphic and written elements of The Subway-Sidewalk Interface Project; Presented reports to NYC Planning Department officials.
Serviced major accounts including globally recognized brands and retailers; Recruited and managed new accounts; Brokered purchases and sales between overseas vendors and domestic markets; Worked with accounts on design, merchandising and quality control; Coordinated international shipping and transport logistics.
Master of Regional Planning
Cornell University, 2002
Examined the linkages between federal transportation and environmental policy, and the impacts of regional transportation governance at county and municipal levels; Studied techniques for guiding the development of urban areas, location requirements, space needs, and interrelations of land uses; Researched concepts and analytical frameworks for evaluating social, economic and environmental impacts of urban development on natural resources and public health; Learned the principles and applications of geographic information systems (GIS).
CURRENT ROLES
- Ezra Cattan, Consultant; San Francisco (2005-Present)
Provides general planning services on a contract basis. Ezra's contributed to projects across sectors and is most adept in the areas of land use, transportation and natural resources. Researching, monitoring, documenting, analyzing and reporting are skills that come naturally. Ezra can write and speak effectively to technical and nontechnical audiences, and can communicate in both impartial and persuasive terms. As a consultant, he is motivated by efficiency, precision and collaborating on new and ongoing initiatives with his clients.
- Ezra Cattan, Designer; San Francisco (2005-Present)
Provides a mix of design services on a contract basis. Ezra's unique style of photography explores the confluence of nature, public spaces, community systems and the human spirit. He's photographed large swaths of the San Francisco Bay Area, from its buildings and bridges, to its people and landscapes. Ezra also designs for residential gardens, retail displays, and events, with nuanced expressions that appeal to intellect and emotion in equal measure.
WORK HISTORY
- Genentech Our People Story Hub, San Francisco (2016-Present)
Our People is a collection of first-person narratives that set out to showcase the company’s diversity of culture and thought from a more personal angle while avoiding the more obvious and explicit terminologies of diversity typically used on the corporate back end.
- TransForm Climate Benefits Mapping & Reporting, Oakland (2016)
The Climate Benefits Program administered by TransForm reports on the distribution of funds raised through California's Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund. The Climate Benefits website includes information on all applications, awards, project details and benefits to air quality and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions throughout the state.
- PG&E Pipeline Management & Emergency Response, San Bruno (2010)
Following a series of gas pipeline failures, helped build real-time GIS models to support emergency response efforts; digitized PG&E's historic plat maps; launched a new GIS lab; hired, trained and supervised a team of GIS technicians; developed, tested and refined workflows; ensured process consistency and data quality standards.
Funded by San Francisco’s 2008 Clean and Safe Neighborhood Parks Bond, integrated GIS and GPS technologies with long-range planning and management goals for San Francisco’s parks and park facilities; consolidated an array of geospatial databases; developed a GIS to support immediate prioritization of backlogged work orders; developed functional requirements for an updated GIS to facilitate interagency coordination of geospatial datasets; proposed updated GIS workflows to improve precision and accuracy of service requests and response systems in the field; prepared and presented maps for regulatory reviews at City Hall.
Supported Main Street redevelopment proposals to The Fresno Redevelopment Agency; Developed taxonomies for zoning and building typologies; Gathered crime data from the Fresno Police Department; Updated and consolidated GIS files; Prepared maps, tables and charts.
San Francisco Architectural Heritage released a book, Port City, chronicling the rich history of San Francisco’s maritime past, including the Port’s heyday as a nexus of shipping and commerce. As Lead Photographer, Ezra collaborated with the author/historian to research and visit historic piers and parcels; provided vision, strategy and logistics; gathered GPS data and photographed historic markers and landmarks along San Francisco’s waterfront; and partnered with editor and designer on book layout and photo editing.
- Urban-Eyes Explorer, San Francisco (2006-2010)
Urban-Eyes was founded in 2006 to recognize and promote photography as a rudimentary and far-reaching element of the urban planning process. Partnered with National Geographic to develop a global, geospatially referenced image archive;
- Vail Resorts Ski School at Heavenly, California (2005-2008)
Trained and certified by Vail Resorts with educational emphasis on stages of cognitive and motor development in children ages 4 through 12. Planned lessons around the simplification of physics and biomechanics, and foster in students a love and appreciation for the great outdoors.
- Gap Inc., Commercial Real Estate, GIS Specialist (2004-2005)
Supported the real estate team in steering the company’s retail fleet; Prepared pipeline reports and assisted with Retail Marketing and Strategy's long range planning. Audited sales forecasts against actual revenue to determine precision, accuracy and efficacy of tools and workflows; Calibrated GIS toolsets to reflect consumer trends; Added a public transportation element to the primary analytical scheme.
- Nelson Nygaard Consulting Associates, San Francisco (2002-2003)
Worked with local and regional agencies to study, develop, operate and maintain a safe, equitable and sustainable transportation infrastructure; Researched transportation legislation, authored case studies and advocated for mode diversification with emphasis on non-motorized alternatives; Designed survey tools and executed large scale data collections; Facilitated at workshops and conferences.
Projects of note include:
- The Marin County Safe Routes to Schools Program
- Norwalk Transit Bus Stop Inventory & Conditions Assessment
- AC Transit San Pablo Corridor Bus Rapid Transit
- Cal-Park Hill Tunnel Rehabilitation & Multimodal Pathway Design
- Caltrans Rail Right-of-Way & Abandoned Corridors Study
- National AIDS Memorial Grove, San Francisco (2002-2012)
The National AIDS Memorial Grove is a dedicated space in the national landscape where millions of Americans touched directly or indirectly by AIDS gather to heal, hope, and remember. Volunteer responsibilities included assisting with landscape design, community organizing, and volunteer training and oversight. The volunteer program was so successful that it’s expanded its reach to adjacent areas of the park.
- Mission Economic Development Association, San Francisco (2001)
Supported homeownership, small business, and community retention initiatives; Gathered and analyzed demographic, economic, housing, zoning and land use data; Designed and implemented a user-friendly, template-driven, community-based geographic information system (GIS); Trained staff and tailored settings to a variety of user roles within the organization.
- Master of Regional Planning, Cornell University, College of Architecture, Art & Planning (2000-2002)
Examined the linkages between federal transportation and environmental policy, and the impacts of regional transportation governance at county and municipal levels; Studied techniques for guiding the development of urban areas, location requirements, space needs, and interrelations of land uses; Researched concepts and analytical frameworks for evaluating social, economic and environmental impacts of urban development on natural resources and public health; Learned the principles and applications of geographic information systems (GIS).
Contributed to the following papers and projects:
- Business Improvement Districts
- Adirondack Park Agency Land Classification Update
- Tompkins County Vital Communities Initiative
Documented pedestrian circulation, safety, and security at densely populated outer-borough neighborhoods with primary links to mass transit; Measured and assessed street, sidewalk, curb and crosswalk conditions at 30 pilot sites; Surveyed auto, bus, bicycle and pedestrian movements at key intersections, peak and off-peak; Evaluated street furniture, signage, pavement markings and signal timing; Produced graphic and written elements of The Subway-Sidewalk Interface Project; Presented reports to NYC Planning Department officials.
- Liber Textiles, New York (1994-2000)
Serviced major accounts including globally recognized brands and retailers; Recruited and managed new accounts; Brokered purchases and sales between overseas vendors and domestic markets; Worked with accounts on design, merchandising and quality control; Coordinated international shipping and transport logistics.