Dave Alden
Dave Alden was at the table when Urban Chat was founded. Over a decade later, he serves as chair, bringing the lessons of a 40-year engineering career, along with a diligent and continuing study of urban planning, to Petaluma’s land-use opportunities.
Dave was a child of California suburbia, living a car-oriented youth throughout the Golden State. Five years on the Berkeley campus gave him two degrees in Civil Engineering and a newfound appreciation for the traditional urban form. Four decades of engineering practice in water resources and land development not only honed his technical skills, but also cultivated a deep appreciation for the principles of traditional urbanism—where walkable neighborhoods, enduring materials, and human-scale design foster lasting community.
A retirement blog on land planning, Where do we go from here?, led to Urban Chat where he continues to advocate for walkability, parking reform, safer streets, downtown living, better transit, and much more. He’s a regular attendee at national land-use conferences where he gathers new ideas and new friends.
