Ending Systemic Oppression

“To everyone who is feeling anger, sadness, frustration and grief right now: we see you and we hear you.” ~Calvin Gladney, President and CEO of Smart Growth America

Ready to Help

To Our Clients, Colleagues, and Friends: We hope you are staying healthy and safe. As has been the case since our founding 20 years ago, our mission at Opticos is to support and help strengthen communities, and we remain ready and able to do ...

How to Get By-Right Zoning Right

In November of 2016, Opticos Principal Karen Parolek keenly identified that ‘by-right zoning’ was getting lots of buzz as a tool to help with California’s housing crisis: We need 180,000 dwellings each year by 2025 to keep up with demand.

Akanda SmartCode: Coding for Sustainability in Developing Countries

Sustainable development sits at the heart of President Ali Bongo Ondimba’s vision for the future of the Central African country of Gabon. In 2012, President Ondimba commissioned The Prince’s Foundation, along with Opticos and an international team of experts, to draft an Akanda Masterplan and SmartCode with the intent to establish a sustainable framework for the growth of Akanda, a 3,000-acre site at the northern edge of Gabon’s capital, Libreville, and adjacent to Akanda National Park, a lush, natural habitat of coastal mangroves, mudflats, wetlands, and patches of verdant forest.