Consulting for thriving communities and regions. Engaged in TOD station area planning, mass timber initiatives, and civic participation, including serving on th Seattle Design Commission. As an educator, current initiatives include City Lab Discovery Seattle.

In a transformational decade for American cities, towns, and regions, Ray Gastil draws on expertise in comprehensive planning, urban design, and government and not-for-profit leadership experience.

• Planning, Development, Architecture, and Urban Design writing and research.
• Transit-Oriented Planning and Development
• Revitalization Action Plans.
• Frameworks for Waterfronts.
• Strategic Planning for Public Space.
• Affordable Housing Initiatives and Zoning.

Ray Gastil, AICP, LEED AP ND, is a nationally recognized urbanist and city planner. He serves as the Commissioner for Planning, Seattle Design Commission, and as President, American Planning Association Puget Sound Section. Through 2022, he led the Remaking Cities Institute at Carnegie Mellon University, where he focused on innovation and the future of urbanism, district scale planning and urban design, and regional resilience. In his role as director of Pittsburgh’s Department of City Planning, he headed initiatives including Neighborhood Planning, Riverfront Zoning, and Affordable Housing. Prior to his work in Pittsburgh, he served as planning director in Seattle, as director of the Manhattan Office in the New York City planning department, founding director of  Van Alen Institute: Projects in Public Architecture, and head of transit-oriented and regional design programs at Regional Plan Association.

Posts

• Gastilworks principal Ray Gastil has been appointed and confirmed by Mayor Harrell and Seattle City Council as Commissioner, Planning, to the Seattle Design Commission.
• Starting in 2025 Ray Gastil serves as President for the Puget Sound Section of the American Planning Association-Washington Chapter. The Section  leads a program of webinars and events.
• Transforming Seattle: Waterfront, Transit, and Community Program August 2-6, 2025. The City Lab Discovery: Seattle program for 2025 is launched. Learn in place from civic leadership in planning, waterfront transformation, transit, transit-oriented housing and development, and resilient communities. Accreditation: 20 AICP Credits. Curated by Ray Gastil, planner and urbanist. For more information write: info@discoverylab.com
• In Summer 2024 Ray Gastil was in the Barcelona Field School City Lab program. He wrote about his findings at PostAlley: Rethinking How the City Works: Barcelona’s Superblocks
• Updates on Planning & Design