2025 UAR Policy Summit Keynote Speaker: Daniel Parolek

Daniel Parolek is an urban designer and architect, author, and the founding principal of Opticos Design, a B Corporation focused on equitable urban placemaking, innovative housing design and policy, and zoning reform for walkable urbanism. Daniel and his work have been featured in many high-profile publications including The New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Next City, Fast Company, The Wall Street Journal, and Curbed. Daniel has championed the Missing Middle Housing movement, launched missingmiddlehousing.com, and wrote the book “Missing Middle Housing: Thinking Big and Building Small to Respond to Today’s Housing Crisis,” which is now available from Island Press.

As a thought leader in zoning reform efforts to remove barriers for walkable urbanism, Daniel co-authored the book “Form-Based Codes: A Guide for Planners, Urban Designers, Municipalities, and Developers,” with Karen Parolek and Paul C. Crawford (named one of Planetizen’s best books in 2009), and co-founded the non-profit think tank, the Center for Zoning Solutions.

His innovative work is diverse across public and private sector clients and includes the master plan, building type design, and architecture for Culdesac Tempe, which is fully entitled and will be the largest car-free community in the country when built in 2021, the country’s first Missing Middle Neighborhood in the Omaha, NE metro, which is redefining Class A multifamily, a citywide form-based code for Cincinnati, Ohio, and a sustainable growth strategy for Libreville, the capital city of Gabon, Africa.

Daniel is a frequent presenter and recently served as a board member of Transform. He has a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Notre Dame and a Master of Urban Design from the University of California at Berkeley. Daniel is inspired by international travel, especially in Italy. The seeds of his passion for walkable urban places started while he was growing up in the small town of Columbus, Nebraska.

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2025 Utah REALTOR® Policy Summit