Crystal Wilson founded PlaceVision in 2004 to help urban planners and architects communicate effectively online with stakeholders and communities. She helps clients make visible what is otherwise misunderstood, unseen, or only imagined.
She received her Master’s in Urban Planning from University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), concentrating in Electronic Visualization in a way that merged her interests in technology and sociology. She later became the Assistant Director of the University’s Great Cities Urban Data Visualization lab working on projects for the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) and Northeast Illinois Planning Commission (NIPC now CMAP). The CTA project involved constructing DVD’s from photos taken along the route of every CTA train and from many stations. The purpose was to allow planners to visualize without taking the ride themselves.
Crystal has the ability to explain technology in plain English. She is currently writing a book that demystifies web-based tools for firms and prepares them for what’s to come. For clients, she translates needs assessments into technology blueprints then implements them.
Prior to PlaceVision she worked as a communications coordinator for local government, a historical commission, and a planning firm. Projects included downtown revitalization work with the Alabama Historical Commission while an undergraduate at Auburn University; a website, Urban Experience in Chicago: Hull-House And Its Neighborhoods under a National Endowment for the Humanities grant; and the construction of a 3-D model of the Kenosha, WI downtown district that showed alternative uses for available lots in a redevelopment area.
Fredda, President
Fredda Studio
“I can honestly say there is not enough room to write all the good things about what Crystal has done for my business. Five years ago I met Crystal as a fluke and hiring her was the absolute best decision I’ve made in my business career. Crystal has singlehandedly allowed me to make hundreds of thousands of dollars over the last five years. Her Internet expertise, knowledge of consumer psychology, business integrity should be a case study for how vendors can show value to clients. If you’re looking for a true professional to help your business or project Crystal should definitely be interviewed!”
Steve Hattan, President
Homeowners Advantage
“Crystal Wilson made a great contribution to the Urban Data Visualization Lab at the UIC College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs (CUPPA) during her time as Assistant Director. On the Wilmette project among others, she cut through the situation, figured out what needed to be done and did it in a way that looked very good, satisfying the sponsors. She has tremendous focus to the task at hand despite her wide range of talents, works very fast, and is wonderfully gifted creatively. Her virtual reality manual for urban planners was a first. It is gratifying as an educator to witness a talented person grow not only to master design, technology, and planning concepts, but to draw her talents together as a business leader. We’re very proud of Crystal Wilson and her work at placevision.net at UIC CUPPA.”
Albert Schorsch, III, Associate Dean, College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs, University of Illinois at Chicago
Mission
- To stay abreast of the latest technologies in viewing the built environment.
- To offer these to our clients in a way that is most economical and sensitive to their needs.
- To offer to policy makers and the public a wide range of options for creating environmentally sensitive and asthetically pleasing developments, neighborhoods and cities.
- To promote historic preservation through innovative storytelling, accurate information and the creative use of properties.
Vision
New technologies are changing the way we view the built environment so dramatically they are virtually creating a new reality.
We see ourselves not just keeping up with this revolution but being a part of it.
