I’m an urban planner, designer, and writer based in Washington, DC. I seek out opportunities for transformative change that reckon with enduring inequities of race and class and strengthen economic democracy, social infrastructure, and community capacity. My work spans the fields of economic development, housing, and narrative change. I write broadly about stewardship of place, land, institutions, and communities. My book Homes for Living—on the struggle among residents of two social housing co-ops as they decide whether to privatize and profit from the public goods they own—is out February 11th, 2025, from Beacon Press. Read my newsletter Rectangle | Square for my latest publications, linocut prints, and cute photos of my cat Kaju. Work with me via All Commons.

   

   

I've served as chief researcher and a contributor for Nonstop Metropolis: A New York City Atlas, an exploration of the city in maps and essays from UC Press and editors Rebecca Solnit and Joshua Jelly-Schapiro; editor in chief of Urban Omnibus, a magazine of the Architectural League dedicated to observing, understanding, and shaping the city; and real estate project manager with Urban Edge, a Boston-based community development corporation. I currently support cities across the US to develop ambitious initiatives to achieve climate justice and racial wealth equity as a senior advisor at the Bloomberg Center for Public Innovation at Johns Hopkins. I'm also proud to sit on the board of Shelterforce.

jonathan.tarleton@gmail.com  |  LinkedIn
Queries  |  Ayla Zuraw-Friedland @ Frances Goldin Literary Agency
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