Bradley Spiegel | Equinox Environmental

Community Planner

Bradley is an AICP Certified Planning Professional, and has a background in Urban, Rural, Regional, and Watershed Planning with an emphasis on outdoor recreation, green infrastructure, and economic development. Guided by his north star ‘planning beautiful places in harmony with nature,’ he provides strategic vision to all projects to fulfill Equinox’s mission and exceed client expectations.

Before joining Equinox, Bradley served as the Building Outdoor Communities Specialist for the Made By Mountains Partnership. In this role, he led an interdisciplinary regional planning process across Western North Carolina to advance outdoor community and economic development for rural Appalachian communities. He successfully stewarded federal funds, provided capacity building and community engagement workshops to hundreds of stakeholders and designed and implemented a planning grant program to advance top priorities. He also managed an academic research team that published landmark data to help communities make data-driven decisions about future outdoor infrastructure investments.

He received his Master’s degree in Urban & Regional Planning from the University of New Orleans and spent a decade immersed in the post-Hurricane Katrina resilience planning and design efforts, which inspired his professional career. The pristine Southern Appalachian Highlands eventually called and he relocated to Asheville. You can frequently find him hiking on the plethora of trails in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Why I Love This Work

There’s an abundance of beauty to be discovered in nature and I believe it is our duty as humans to be the best stewards of our planet. I’ve always been inspired by Aldo Leopold’s Land Ethic, that once humans understand that we are a part of this vast planetary system, we will begin to treat it with love and respect. As an ecologically-minded community planner, I believe planning and design professionals have the responsibility to build vibrant communities and places that foster harmony with nature to inspire people to remember our intrinsic connection.

Trainings & Certifications

Outdoor Community Economic Impact Training (2024), American Institute of Certified Planners (2023) Planning & Design with Water Certificate (2018)

Education

Master of Urban & Regional Planning: Specialization: Green Infrastructure Systems, University of New Orleans (2019)

Bachelor of Business Administration: Specialization: International Business, Commercial Real Estate, Spanish, Marquette University (2010)

Skills

Microsoft Office, InDesign, Strategic Visioning, Creative Problem Solving, Project Management, Program Design, Public Speaking & Meeting Facilitation, Community Engagement, Active Listening, Relationship Cultivation, Marketing, Sustainable Land Use Planning, Systems Thinking, Qualitative Analysis & Writing

Favorite Species

Maple Tree – (Acer) – The design and shape of the maple tree leaves showcase the beauty of nature, especially when they change colors in the Fall. Their vein patterns can inspire harmonious community development. Finally, there’s nothing better than fresh maple syrup.