Form Based Codes: A Guide for Planners, Urban Designers, Municipalities, and Developers

Daniel G. Parolek, AIA, and KAREN PAROLEK are principals in Opticos Design, established in 2000 in Berkeley, California, as a multidisciplinary firm specializing in architecture, urban design, information design, and Form-Based Code design. They are both on the founding board of directors of the Form-Based Codes Institute.

Daniel G. Parolek is an architect who has worked on some of the most innovative New Urbanist projects and Form-Based Codes in California and across the United States. He is a frequent national lecturer and author in the field of New Urbanism, Smart Growth, and Form-Based Codes.

Karen Parolek is an information architect who strives to improve visual methods of communication on projects ranging from a wayfinding signage system for downtown New York City (while working at Pentagram Design) to Web site metadata schemas. Her most recent focus has been on the practice of Form-Based Coding.

Paul C. Crawford, FAICP, is a principal with Crawford Multari & Clark Associates in San Luis Obispo, California, and the founding board chair of the Form-Based Codes Institute. Crawford is a nationally recognized zoning expert who has personally worked on more than twenty-five Form-Based Codes, more than 100 zoning and development codes overall, and more than thirty general plans. Paul was planning director for San Luis Obispo County from 1980 to 1990, and served as adjunct professor of city and regional planning at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo from 1980 to 2006.