Edward T. McMahon

Ed McMahon holds the Charles E. Fraser Chair on Sustainable Development at the Urban Land Institute in Washington, D.C. where he is nationally known as an inspiring and thought provoking speaker and leading authority on topics related to sustainable development, land conservation, smart growth, and historic preservation. As the Senior Fellow for Sustainable Development, McMahon leads ULI’s worldwide efforts to conduct research and educational activities related to environmentally sensitive development policies and practices. Before joining the Urban Land Institute in 2004, McMahon spent 14 years as the Vice President and Director of Land Use Planning for The Conservation Fund in Arlington, Virginia where he helped to protect more than 5 million acres of land of historic or natural significance. He is also the co-founder and former President of Scenic America, a national non-profit organization devoted to protecting America’s scenic landscapes. Before that, he taught law and public policy at Georgetown University Law Center for 9 years, and served in the U.S. Army, both at home and abroad.

ULI fellow Ed McMahon makes the case for keeping the building height limit in Washington, D.C., where it is.
What does the epidemic of obesity in the U.S. have to do with how communities are designed and built? That was the question at a panel at the ULI Fall Meeting in Denver. In short, panelists said the way we design and build communities can have a big effect on residents’ physical and mental health.
Capitalizing on an old warehouse district helped turn around a downtown.
Cities are seeking the recipe for economic success in a rapidly changing global marketplace and, in the process, often overlook a critical asset: community distinctiveness. Special places, characteristics and customs have value, and they can increase a city’s competitive edge.
Walking and bicycling provide many benefits—reduced air pollution, improved public health, decreased dependence on foreign oil—but federal funding for nonmotorized transportation is now in jeopardy.
Nothing demonstrates the disconnect between politicians and the marketplace more than the current debate about climate change and U.S. energy policy.
Governments across the nation have long recognized the need to preserve open space. What may have been underestimated, however, is the commercial value of open space and its potential to create value.
This year marks the 85th anniversary of the landmark United States Supreme Court case Euclid v Ambler Realty, which upheld the basic constitutionality of local zoning. Given the current debate between liberals and conservatives about the appropriate role of regulation in shaping our economy and our communities, it seems timely to ask the question: do we still need zoning?
“The Food Revolution and Its Impact on Real Estate”—a session at ULI’s recent 2011 Fall Meeting—showcased three different examples of how food is becoming an increasingly important part of not just our diets, but also our developments. Read more to learn how this panel provided food for thought on the role of food as a real estate amenity, a community builder, and a project differentiator.
After undergoing the worst downturn in revenue and demand since the Great Depression, the hospitality industry made a rapid recovery in 2010. While markets like New York, Boston, Miami, and San Francisco are back to prerecession peaks, other markets are seeing increases only in the number of rooms booked, rather than pricing. Find out what else was said about this at the ULI Spring Council Forum.
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