Becoming an Urban Planner A Guide to Careers in Planning and Urban Design

by Bayer, Michael; Frank, Nancy; Valerius, Jason

• ISBN13: 9780470278635
• ISBN10: 0470278633
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-02-02
• Publisher: Wiley

Summary

This book will answer the question "What does an urban planner do?"Becoming an Urban Planner is a must have career guide for everyone considering or beginning a career in urban planning. Through photographs, drawings, sketches, and in-depth interviews, fifty of today's top planners explain their own career choices and offer advice to tomorrow's planners. The authors include an overview of the profession, education requirements, specialties related to planning, the job search, and the resources a professional planner needs.

Author Biography

Michael Bayer, AICP, is a planner with Environmental Resources Management in Annapolis, Maryland. Before becoming an urban planner, he was a newspaper reporter whose articles have appeared in the Chicago Tribune, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the Journal Gazette, the Post-Bulletin, as well as Planning magazine.

Nancy Frank, PhD, AICP, is an associate professor and the chair of the department of urban planning at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee School of Architecture and Urban Planning. Frank has been instrumental in the development of the School for Urban Planning and Architecture (SUPAR), a charter Milwaukee public high school that opened in fall 2007.

Jason Valerius, AICP, is a planner and urban designer for MSA Professional Services, in Madison, Wisconsin. Valerius served for four years as assistant editor of the Wisconsin Chapter of the American Planning Association quarterly newsletter (WAPANews).

Table of Contents

About the Authors	p. xi
Preface	p. xii
Acknowledgments	p. xiv
Becoming an Urban Planner: What Planners Do	p. 1
Employment in Planning	p. 3
A Young Profession: Planning Emerges in the Late Nineteenth Century	p. 5
An Age of Idealism in Design	p. 6
The Advent of Zoning	p. 9
Policy Planning Emerges Simultaneously	p. 10
Planning and Social Injustice	p. 11
Planning in the Late Twentieth Century	p. 12
Urban Planning is about the Future	p. 13
Urban Planning is about Place	p. 14
Urban Planning is about Helping Other People Make Decisions	p. 17
The Planning Process	p. 18
Profile: Getting People Involved in the Process	p. 19
Buyer Beware: Things You Might Not Like About a Career in Planning	p. 23
What Kind of Salary Can a Planner Expect to Make?	p. 25
Skills for Becoming an Urban Planner	p. 26
Becoming an Urban Planner: Education	p. 31
What Research Shows About Planners' Education	p. 31
Preparing for a Professional Education	p. 32
Communicating in Words	p. 42
Communicating through Pictures	p. 45
Being Comfortable with Numbers	p. 50
Drawing, Planning, and Urban Design	p. 54
Picking a College Major	p. 60
And on to Graduate School	p. 63
Choosing the Right Graduate Program	p. 65
Accreditation	p. 69
What's in a Name?	p. 70
Theses, Projects, or Other Capstone Requirements	p. 70
Applying to Graduate School	p. 70
Financing a Planning Education	p. 73
Planning Curriculum: Knowledge, Skills, and Values	p. 74
Specializations	p. 78
Dual-Degree Options	p. 78
Alternative Paths	p. 79
Public Administration	p. 79
Urban Studies	p. 80
Economics	p. 81
Architecture, Landscape Architecture, and Urban Design	p. 81
Civil Engineering	p. 81
Planning Law	p. 82
Profile: Becoming a Land Use Lawyer	p. 84
Conclusion	p. 85
Becoming an Urban Planner: Experience	p. 87
Informational Interviews	p. 88
Job Shadowing	p. 89
Volunteer Experience	p. 90
Internships	p. 92
Cooperative Education	p. 94
Peace Corps and AmeriCorps VISTA	p. 94
Networking to Break the ice	p. 96
Career Ladders: Moving Ahead From That First Job	p. 97
Planners' Many Paths	p. 99
Many Paths into a Planning Career	p. 99
Profile: Entering the Field	p. 100
Profile: Using Your Analytic and Creative Talents	p. 102
Profile: Applying a Talent for Mapping	p. 104
Who Influenced You?	p. 109
Where Do You Want to Work?	p. 117
Profile: Becoming a Developer	p. 119
Profile: Becoming a Small Town Planner	p. 122
Profile: Establishing a One-Person Planning Firm	p. 124
Profile: Making Transitions	p. 127
Planning Timeframes	p. 131
Current Planning	p. 131
Profile: Enforcing Codes and Reviewing Plans	p. 133
Profile: Addressing the Challenges of Long-Range Planning	p. 136
Profile: Improving Quality of Life in the Long Term	p. 138
Profile: Creating Comprehensive Plans	p. 140
At What Geographic Scale Do You Want to Work?	p. 144
Profile: Working with Communities	p. 145
Profile: Bridging Rural and Urban Areas	p. 148
Profile: Planning in a Midsized City	p. 150
Profile: Becoming a Planning Director	p. 153
Profile: Charting Another Path to Planning Director	p. 159
Profile: Merging Regional and Local Planning	p. 164
Profile: Planning at the Regional Scale	p. 167
Profile: Planning at the State Level	p. 170
Profile: Leading a State Planning Agency	p. 173
Profile: Planning in the Federal Government	p. 175
Profile: Consulting for the Federal Government	p. 178
What Planning Topics Interest You?	p. 179
Urban Design	p. 179
Profile: Designing Places	p. 181
Profile: Using Urban Design to Create Consensus	p. 185
Housing Planning and Policy	p. 189
Profile: Filling Housing Needs	p. 190
Economic Development Planning	p. 193
Profile: Planning for Economic Development: Public Sector	p. 195
Profile: Planning for Economic Development: Consulting	p. 198
Historic Preservation Planning	p. 200
Profile: Protecting, Preserving, and Planning for Historic and Cultural Resources	p. 202
Community Engagement and Empowerment	p. 205
Profile: Engaging Neighborhoods	p. 208
Profile: Listening to People	p. 211
Environmental and Natural Resources Planning	p. 216
Profile: Advocating for Sustainability	p. 219
Profile: Specializing in a Holistic Way	p. 221
Geographic Information Systems	p. 222
Profile: Specializing in GIS	p. 223
Land Use Planning, Law, and Code Enforcement	p. 225
Profile: Bridging Technical Disciplines	p. 227
Profile: Specializing in Code Writing	p. 231
Profile: Specializing in Land Use Law	p. 232
Profile: Assessing the Economic Impacts of Land Use Decisions	p. 234
Transportation Planning	p. 238
Profile: Developing Transportation Models	p. 239
Profile: Planning for Transit	p. 243
Profile: Advocating for Transit and Transportation Improvements	p. 245
Profile: integrating Land Use and Transportation	p. 247
Planning For Sustainability	p. 250
New Urbanism	p. 252
Profile: Applying the Principles of New Urbanism	p. 253
Profile: Fostering Transit-Oriented Development	p. 256
Profile: Creating Change and Livable Communities	p. 260
Profile: Planning for Bicyclists and Pedestrians	p. 262
Emerging Specializations in the Era of Sustainability	p. 263
Profile: Planning for Hazards and Emergencies	p. 264
Profile: Developing Green Communities	p. 266
Profile: Planning for Sustainable Energy	p. 268
Teaching Others to Become Planners	p. 270
Profile: Becoming a Planning Professor	p. 271
Profile: Moving from Planner to Professor	p. 275
Profile: Being Called to a University Career-With a Practical Slant	p. 279
Challenges and Rewards	p. 281
What is the Future of Planning?	p. 293
Economic Recession and Planning	p. 293
Profile: Coping with Layoff	p. 294
Geospatial Technology and Planning	p. 295
Profile: Adapting Zoning to the Twenty-first Century	p. 295
Rediscovering Public Health	p. 296
Profile: Planning Healthy Communities	p. 297
Carbon, Climate Change, Peak Oil, and Planning for Sustainable Energy	p. 300
Planning For Climate Adaptation	p. 301
Planning For Climate Mitigation	p. 304
A Bright Future for Planning	p. 306
Resources	p. 307
References	p. 311
Index	p. 313
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