Join the Congress for New Urbanism - Central Texas Chapter as we host Sam Bloch at our Annual Luncheon. Shade can play a vital role in enhancing livability, health and sustainability in Austin—a city known for intense heat. As global climate change and runaway urban development raises local temperatures, access to shade is becoming essential for public comfort and environmental justice. Learn how trees, shade structures, and more thoughtful urban design can cool the city, reduce energy costs and carbon emissions, and make Austin's streets and public spaces more accessible and welcoming to all. Shade's distribution reflects profound inequalities-but expanding it could be a critical step in shaping Austin's cooler and fairer future.

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Sam Bloch

Sam Bloch is an environmental journalist and the author of Shade: The Promise of a Forgotten Natural Resource, a compelling conversation-starter that changes the way we think about a critical resource that should be available for all. Previously a staff writer at The Counter, Bloch has written about the intersection of cli- mate change and urban design for Places Journal, Slate, CityLab, Landscape Architec- ture Magazine, and The New York Times, and has been published by L.A. Weekly, Art in America, Artnet and others. Bloch is a graduate of the Columbia Journalism School and a former MIT Knight Science Journalism Fellow and Emerson Collective Fellow. He is based in New York City, where he lives with his partner and their son.