Joshua McCarty
Fiscal Analysis Practice Leader
About Joshua
Joshua McCarty brings a unique blend of planning, spatial analysis, and public finance expertise to Verdunity’s work. Trained as an urban planner and skilled in GIS and data visualization, Joshua has spent over a decade uncovering the hidden patterns in how cities grow, spend, and generate revenue. He was the first person to spatially map actual sales tax, income tax, impact fees, and utility bills—pioneering methods that help communities see the financial realities of land use and infrastructure decisions. Whether modeling long-term infrastructure costs or visualizing economic value block by block, his work bridges the gap between abstract data and real-world consequences.
With a planner’s perspective and a systems-thinking mindset, Joshua connects policy, design, and finance in ways that help cities make wiser choices. He’s walked cities block by block, built custom tools from scratch, and trained agencies and firms to rethink local budgets and growth strategies. His fieldwork and research experience give him a deep understanding of place, while his analytic skills ensure that plans are both visionary and grounded. At Verdunity, he helps communities see what’s missing in their maps, models, and conversations—so they can plan more sustainably for the long haul.
Location
Contact
214.430.4450 ext. 207
Congress for the New Urbanism
Professional Affiliations
Communication
Ideation
Woo
Strategic
Individualization
CliftonStrengths
University of North Carolina, Asheville
B.A. Economics & History
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
M.S. City & Regional Planning
Education
Q&A with Joshua
What do you do outside of work?
Outside of work, I stay active and curious. I walk and hike over 1,000 miles a year, often exploring the unique geography and geology of the Pacific Northwest—or just walking my cat. In the summer, I swim in the river downtown.
Favorite podcasts?
During COVID, I got into a huge rabbit hole about the Near East Bronze Age Collapse. I found a podcast called something like Ancient Civilizations. It was pretty much just a guy reading Wikipedia in a robotic monotone voice—no jokes, no banter, no digressions. Its the only podcast I’ve ever listened to.
Music you put on while you’re working?
I put on an old fashioned radio and tune into All Classical Portland at 89.9 FM until it gets too sappy and dramatic, and then I switch to KMHD Jazz Radio at 89.1 FM until it gets too “experimental.”
One book (or more, if you must) you'd recommend that you've read in the last 2 years?
Atlas of the Heart by Brené Brown genuinely changed my life. Her central idea is that our emotional lives are shaped by the language we have to describe them. But in the words of Lavar Burton in Reading Rainbow, “dont take my word for it!” My only critique is that it’s more of an encyclopedia than an atlas. I was hoping for more maps.
Favorite childhood breakfast cereal?
I was unsatisfied with the available options as a child so I concocted my own cereal from the bulk aisle of the grocery store. I call it Breakfast Kibble.