Peter Flinker received a Master’s degree in landscape architecture from the University of Massachusetts in 1987 and has been with Dodson Associates (now Dodson & Flinker) ever since, becoming a principal in 1999 and named partner in 2012. As both a registered landscape architect and member of the American Institute of Certified Planners, the focus of his work has been projects that bridge the gap between site design and planning at the town and regional scale. Peter maintains an active portfolio of work that includes downtown revitalization, watershed protection, greenway planning and sustainable design for new communities. He is a frequent presenter to conservation groups, town boards and professional organizations on the topics of Smart Growth and Sustainable Development.
As an author and illustrator, Peter has prepared numerous publications designed to help both professionals and laypeople understand complex planning and design concepts. These projects include The South County Design Manual, winner of a 2002 national honor award from the American Society of Landscape Architects, and the Rhode Island Conservation Development Manual. Another recent publication, the Urban Environmental Design Manual, winner of a 2007 merit award from the Boston Society of Landscape Architects, applies the firm’s unique visual approach to explore how low impact development techniques can be combined with urban revitalization to build more sustainable communities. Each of these publications combine a general introduction to the topic with case studies and detailed instructions for implementing the techniques at the local level. For many of Dodson & Flinker’s municipal clients, Peter has applied these ideas to the development of illustrated design guidelines and form-based zoning codes that help communities move projects from vision to reality.
Peter has been a leader in developing approaches to watershed management and regional open space planning that give cultural, historic and recreational resources equal weight with natural resources in setting priorities for greenway planning and open space preservation. Exemplified by the Rhode Island Greenspace program, winner of a 2006 honor award from the Boston Society of Landscape Architects, this approach builds on extensive public participation on the local level to establish priorities for greenways and greenspaces that are then merged into regional plans at a watershed scale. Dodson & Flinker has applied this approach in many other areas, including Massachusett’s Deerfield River Watershed, the bi-state Blackstone River National Heritage Corridor and the Upper Housatonic River Valley in Connecticut. In each of these projects, an understanding of natural, cultural and recreational systems is tied to visionary plans for conservation and development that allow communities to grow and thrive while preserving both ecological health and historic character.