PlaceWorks

It wouldn’t be summer without some baseball! Members of our Los Angeles office recently spent an evening catching a game at Angel Stadium. Even though the home team came up short, PlaceWorks enjoyed a relaxing evening together, mingling with colleagues and soaking up the summer.

Please help us welcome the newest staff at PlaceWorks!

Oscar Camacho, Planner, joins us full time after interning with the firm while completing his master’s degree. Oscar hopes to contribute to equitable and inclusive planning and community engagement practices that uplift the needs of diverse communities.

Marshika Szabo, Technical Editor, joins our document services team. Marshika will support staff throughout the company, providing editing and document compliance support for project deliverables and proposals.

Abigail Weizer, Associate, brings consulting and municipal government experience in planning, zoning, implementation, and urban design. She is passionate about advancing accessibility, sustainability, community health, and climate-consciousness.

Landy Joseph, Associate, will provide support on a variety of design-related projects throughout the state. Landy has a strong background in managing urban development and affordable housing projects across all phases of planning, design, and project delivery.

PlaceWorks recently attended the premiere of Donner Memorial State Park’s new visitor center film, the first of ten films designed to tell more historically accurate and inclusive stories across California State Parks.

Co-created alongside Tribal partners, Park staff, environmental scientists, historians, and PlaceWorks team members, the project centers on deep and meaningful collaboration. Most notably, it highlights the vital history and perspective of the Washoe Tribe, a crucial story absent from the park's previous 1982 film.

Following the screening, community members and visitors joined a live Q&A panel featuring the film’s creators and contributors, praising both the updated narrative and the collaborative effort behind it.

The project was led by California State Parks in partnership with the Sierra State Parks Foundation and the Washoe Tribe, with PlaceWorks serving as a consultant to California State Parks.

Watch the film here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jo0-JTnz1os

New Donner Park film brings long-missing Washoe history to the screen TRUCKEE, Calif. – Donner Memorial State Park premiered a new 26-minute visitor center film Friday that recounts the story of the Donner Party and the region’s history. The film marks the first time the Washoe Tribe has...

We had the pleasure of joining last week’s charette as a part of the 2026 Environmental, Engineering, and Planning Internship and Charrette (EEPIC) program. EEPIC is a collaborative internship program providing hands-on experience in environmental, engineering, and planning fields, where interns gain experience through project work, research, and collaboration across firms.

This year we welcomed another group of fantastic interns. Over the course of just eight days, they collaborated to develop a vision and conceptual land use plan for an approximately 30-acre focus area as part of the City of San Diego’s Otay Mesa–Nestor Community Plan Update. It was exciting to see this creative and dedicated team tackle a real-world planning challenge.

The EEPIC program is made possible through the collaboration between PlaceWorks and six other firms: Ascent, Dudek, Environmental Science Associates, Economic & Planning Systems, Fehr & Peers, and Rincon Consultants. Congratulations to this year's interns on a successful charette!

Please join us in welcoming Leanna Williams to the PlaceWorks team as an Associate Principal of Environmental Services! 👏 Leanna is a CEQA specialist with extensive experience conducting environmental review for water infrastructure, entertainment, commercial, renewable energy, transportation, residential, and mixed-use projects. Based out of our Los Angeles office, Leanna will continue to advance our environmental practice in the region. Learn more: https://placeworks.com/news/placeworks-welcomes-leanna-williams/

We were on hand this past weekend to attend the grand reopening of Shields-Reid Park in Richmond, California! PlaceWorks was proud to help revitalize this community park, leading the design effort and an extensive community engagement process to ensure that improvements reflected the needs and priorities of its residents.

The ribbon-cutting ceremony coincided with the 15th Annual North Richmond Music Festival, drawing a large crowd of community members together to celebrate this momentous occasion.

Please join us in congratulating the 2026 PlaceWorks Scholarship Program recipients, Jess Banh and Yaraith Navarro! 🎉 To learn more about this year’s recipients and the PlaceWorks Scholarship Program, visit https://placeworks.com/news/2026-placeworks-scholarship-recipients/

We’re excited to announce that the 7th edition of PlaceWorks’ A Practical Guide to the California Environmental Quality Act is now available!

CEQA has undergone significant changes over the last several years, and our Guide helps decision makers, planners, environmental professionals, and the public navigate the latest laws, regulations, and reforms.

Use the following link to receive a complimentary copy of the Guide, or visit our website to order additional copies: https://placeworks.com/complimentary-ceqa-guide/

PlaceWorks is honored to announce that the Big Basin Redwoods State Park Facilities Management Plan has received the 2026 APA California Chapter Award of Excellence in Resilience and Sustainability.

Following the 2020 CZU Fire, the plan was developed to help guide Big Basin’s recovery and establish a more resilient and adaptive framework for the future. Building on PlaceWorks’ Reimagining Big Basin visioning process, the plan sets the stage for environmental streamlining and phased implementation to restore access to California’s oldest state park and ensure that it is welcoming to all visitors.

We’re proud to share this recognition with California State Parks; our subconsultant team — Mithun, Sherwood Design Engineers, Fehr & Peers, Land and Water Connections, and Environmental Collaborative; and project partners including Parks California, Friends of Santa Cruz State Parks, Mountain Parks Foundation, Latino Outdoors, Saved by Nature, Community Bridges, Amah Mutsun Land Trust, Sempervirens Fund, and Save the Redwoods League.

To learn more about the project, visit: https://reimaginingbigbasin.org/


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The newly remodeled facilities for the Yolo Basin Foundation’s Outdoor Education Center are now open! Located between Davis and downtown Sacramento along the Pacific Flyway, the 16,600-acre Yolo Basin Wildlife Area provides a critical habitat for a wide variety of wildlife.

Funded by a $2.5 million grant from California State Parks, PlaceWorks provided planning, design, and construction administration services for the project, which included replacement of the outdoor education facilities, installation of more than 50 interpretive and directional signs throughout the Yolo Basin Wildlife Area trail system, and outfitting of a new Mobile Visitor Center van.

Each year, the Foundation hosts more than 100 field trips for over 3,000 students, along with environmental education programs like California Duck Days and the Bat Talk and Tour.

For more information, please visit: https://yolobasin.org/