John Karras

Senior Consultant
TIP Strategies
Austin, TX

As a senior consultant with TIP, John works closely with business and community leaders to create actionable strategies for economic development. He has managed a wide range of consulting engagements for communities and regions in 20 states. In addition to his strategic planning experience, John has built a reputation as a leading thinker on urban revitalization trends and their impact on economic development. Prior to joining TIP, John founded urbanSCALE.com to empower urban planning and economic development professionals with the knowledge and tools needed to make their communities more vibrant. John is also the creator of the urbanSCALE Rating System, the first comprehensive measure of how urban a city is on a scale of 1 to 10. The urbanSCALE website has evolved into a growing online community with insights and creative thinking for urban planners, economic developers, and civic leaders. Before entering the economic development field, John worked in Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s administration within the New York City Department of Transportation’s Division of Planning & Sustainability. With the NYC Department of Transportation, he managed projects that improved freight mobility while balancing needs surrounding parking, deliveries, transit riders, cyclists, and pedestrians. John also worked as an urban planning/GIS specialist with AECOM.