Monique G. López​, ​AICP, MA, MCRP

Counter-narratives of Community-Based Advocacy as Sources of Knowledge for Urban Planning (E-Journal of Public Affairs)
Informed by the deliberate work of advocates to address the positioning of community voices as subaltern, the last three decades have seen a growing push for alternative approaches to urban planning. In order to foster the culturally competent use and development of public space in the United States, urban planning education must include a focus on the centrality and persistence of racist ideologies and the current fueling of anti-immigrant sentiments that challenge the idea of who “belongs” in communities. Even planners informed by critical theories of participatory practice face challenges working within systems based on positivist and Western-dominant epistemologies. In this article, the authors present three examples of how typically invisibilized voices in communities can be centered in urban planning and design processes, with the goal of informing and expanding preparatory curricula in more culturally sustaining ways. Specifically, the authors employ the concept of counternarratives from critical race theory to present perspectives that challenge dominant practices and understandings. The counterstories presented here document ways that activists of color have involved community members in documenting their experiences in public spaces and used these insights to promote change. The authors apply an asset-oriented perspective that aims to incorporate overlooked sources of knowledge and expertise in communities in order to imagine new possibilities and futures in shared urban spaces by changing planning processes.

Blue Line First and Last Mile Report
Pueblo partnered with seven Community-Based Organizations and Fehr and Peers on this Metro project to evaluate the first-ever participatory process Metro has deployed in First Last Mile (FLM) Planning and provide recommendations for the implementation of the FLM Plan in an intersectional manner taking into consideration the historical and social context of communities along the Blue Line.

The Changing Face of Main Street
The City of Woodburn finds itself at a crossroads—like many small, rural communities experiencing change, responding to the needs and desires of diverse City residents and business owners. Through determining the future of the downtown, it is a reflection of the identity the City chooses to embrace– whether it is Anglo, Latino, or a hybrid.

SCY- Salem Civic Engagement Planning
The purpose of this report is to provide City of Salem personnel with recommendations of strategies to use when engaging with the growing Latino population in the city. The barriers, opportunities, and action items identified in this report focus efforts on reaching members of the underrepresented Latino population, rather than those who are already involved as community leaders. This population is traditionally the most difficult to reach because they do not participate in formal networks.

Latino Civic Empowerment in Oregon
The purpose of this report is twofold: (1) to suggest outreach strategies that will improve voter turnout for current and future potential Latino voters; and (2) to suggest specific strategies to overcome the factors that impede Oregon’s Latino legal residents transition to U.S. citizenship.                                                                           

Latino Small Businesses and Downtown Development
The purpose of this report is to explore the contributions that Latino business owners make to downtown Woodburn and the challenges they face. Through our research, we developed six opportunities to support Latino small businesses and their revitalization efforts in the downtown. This report is not a strategic plan for the City of Woodburn; rather it is a compilation of ideas that the City, business owners, organizations, and other agencies might choose from to better serve the Latino population. While this project was specific to the City of Woodburn, the findings may be applicable to other communities across Oregon. Woodburn was chosen as a case study because of its majority Latino population and its historic downtown.                                                                                  

Placemaking, Identity, & Power: (Re)Negotiating Space in Downtown Woodburn
Woodburn is Oregon’s largest Mexican majority city and it has been culturally and politically the heart of the Mexican presence in Oregon. The space downtown continues to be (re)negotiated. Due to a lack of connections between the Mexican and Anglo communities in Woodburn, cultural misunderstandings are further entrenched, there is a lack of shared vision for the downtown, and it inhibits the ability of those without formal institutional power (Mexican Community) to have a greater influence in the outcomes regarding the built environment. Hence, I propose strategies to promote community connections for the City of Woodburn and similar communities that can lead to greater cooperation and shared vision for placemaking in contested spaces.                                                                                         

Shipping Clean Growing Green: How companies are earning more by polluting less
Jobs and new markets are being created throughout California as a result of efforts to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This paper showcases economic advancements made by companies implementing clean technologies. It aims to encourage more aggressive steps by others to ensure that the port and freight transport sector reaches its GHG-reduction goals.