In today's episode, Ryan and Mariah talk to Dave Onishenko about how urban planners are a jack of all trades. Dave's experience has led him to take on a development advisory mindset which helped him and his clients in projects like the infamous commercial site in Highlands. They also get into potential opportunities to reduce the financial barriers to infill development and the affordability crisis that Canadian cities are facing. Listen in to hear how you can give a damn and get involved.

Dave Onishenko is the owner and principal of Clarity Development Advisory, an urban planning and development advisory firm located in Edmonton. As a professional urban planner and development manager with nearly 15 years of experience in the development industry, Dave has built a career of overseeing the planning and development of hundreds of projects in residential, commercial and industrial sectors in Edmonton and throughout Western Canada. Passionate about development, Dave’s skill set lies in connecting people and ideas, and finding solutions where barriers form.

Prior to starting Clarity Development Advisory in 2017, Dave worked in several roles within the local development industry including managing development projects for Maclab Development Group, and as an Urban Planner in both the public and private sectors including with the City of Edmonton, ParioPlan and Stantec. Dave spent four years as a Director-at-Large on the Westmount Community League and also teaches as a sessional instructor for the University of Alberta’s Applied Land Use Planning program.

Dave holds a Master’s degree in Planning from the University of Waterloo, in which his thesis focused on the impeding and facilitating factors of Greyfield Redevelopment.
Dave is a connector of people and ideas, a believer in the power of relationships, a proud father and a shameless fan of Edmonton.