I never considered myself a “city kid.” I grew up in a rural part of the country, but today, I live in a city. More people across America are doing the exact same thing: leaving their rural communities to pack into ever growing and expanding cities and suburbs. While there’s a lot of great reasons to live in the city and to encourage urban density, it comes with a ton of problems, including impacting wildlife.

There’s the obvious: they pave paradise and put up a parking lot. But then there’s the less obvious: stormwater runoff, noise and light pollution, city engineering projects that alter ecological processes. Essentially, are cities were built as if they were completely separate from the ecosystem they were in and the wildlife they live near. Sadly for these urban planners, climate and ecology and wildlife don’t play by our rules. With both a changing climate and a growing urban footprint, many cities are finally feeling the impact of poor ecological planning, and are starting to turn to nature for solutions.

My friend Patrick thinks a lot about cities, and he’s one of the few people who is excited to talk to me at length about stormwater runoff and green infrastructure. We poured ourselves some bourbon (maybe a little too much bourbon…) and talked about what cities and a growing urban population mean for wildlife.

Cheers!