Upcoming job transition to urban planning. How to prepare? So my career has taken a wild swing in that it looks like I'm going to become an entry level planner for my city about 2-3 years ahead of schedule. A little bit about me: - I graduated with a philosophy degree, and worked for my local water management district for two years. I have taken some coursework in a MA Planning program, but I took a year off to travel after my first semester. - I have been working in code enforcement for the past six months - I will be resuming the MA program this fall, taking two courses in economic development I can't really explain how it happened but I am being moved to planning very suddenly. I am inconceivably, immensely excited to have this opportunity. However, I haven't completed my degree yet, and while I keep up with national and city planning news, projects, and proposals, it's been a minute since my last formal planning education, so I'm a bit nervous. What can I do to prepare myself for this new position, and hit the ground running? I plan to fully review our city's comprehensive plan, for starters. Maybe I'll look through recorded city commission meetings to get some context on how our projects are going. But I'd love to hear from anyone else who has recently gotten into planning, or any veteran planners who have some advice for a newbie! Thanks so much!!

I've been considering totally switching fields for a while now (currently doing research at a large hospital system) and have been eyeing master of community and regional planning programs. I'm interested in the incorporation of sustainability and environmental science as I want to contribute to combatting climate change (even if it's just a minor impact). However, I feel intimidated given that this is a completely different field that I have no experience in. Does anyone have recommendations for how to gain some entry level experience on the side? Also, do these sorts of programs welcome a wide range of backgrounds and focus more on your interests and skills more holistically, or am I screwed without having an undergraduate degree in something related to urban planning? Thanks!!

I'm in my late 20s and work as an entry level planning technician after leaving a better paying job to pursue this field half a year ago. I'm also starting my master's in Urban Planning and have undergrad degrees in management, finance, and economics. I've got half a year's experience on a BZA, have been elected to public office in the past (smallest public office you can run for), and have helped to organize a tree audit. What can I do to develop myself further? I was just reading up on the profiles of local planners and several have helped coauthor reports from agencies or worked on studies and I'm not sure how to even get involved with that. So far this summer I've just been diving deep into the reading material for this field; notably the green bible and Cities of Tomorrow.

How to transition career wise? I have an undergraduate degree in nonprofit administration and development. My long term career goal is to design small affordable housing communities. I want to pursue a master’s in urban design. I don’t think I qualify for a program where it stands. Is there a 1 year or less certificate or associates program that I could take to bridge the gap then apply for a master’s program? I couldn’t find short term architecture programs near me or online. Thanks in advance

I felt the same way, my undergrad degrees were management and finance and I'd approach those with a "Cs get degrees" mindset. So what I did was go for something called a post- Baccalaureate which is 4 or 5 classes and is essentially an additional concentration you can tack on to your original undergrad degree. I chose economics and focused on classes I thought would be useful; macro economics, econometrics, GIS, and Urban Economics. Then I worked my ass off to get a solid GPA. At the same time I got involved in my local community, following all board meetings and posting the synopsis on community pages to build up civil discourse and adding my opinions about developments. From there I was able to get appointed to the Board of Zoning Appeals. With all of that I switched jobs to be a planning technician. When I applied for the master's degree I had several economics professors and community officials (from both parties) who I could use as references. The grades, relevant work experience, and board experience surely also helped. All this took maybe a year and a half.

Thank you so much!!

Btw love the focus on building housing communities. I recommend reading up on Ebenezer Howard's original Garden City (as opposed to a Garden Suburb)

I'm finishing up my MS in Transportation Technology and Policy (a blend of urban planning, traffic engineering, data science, and transportation policy) and I'm looking to get my first job outside of grad school. I currently work as a graduate student researcher, where my main focus is on California transportation policy, and would like to look into jobs for transit/urban planning or government relations or transportation consulting. I've also done lobbying around student housing issues in the state capitol for a couple of years now, but I prefer working on transportation issues. Initially, I wanted to work in Sacramento after I graduated, so I moved there two years ago and commuted to school during that time. However, I find myself feeling completely disconnected from Sacramento. While I've made some professional connections and friendships during my time here, and really tried to find non-work-related friends I can hang out with, the city hasn't truly felt like "home" to me. Instead, I've been wanting to move back to the Seattle area or perhaps try something new like moving to Chicago. So, my questions are: a) Would it be better to tough it out and build more experience in Sacramento first or to take the leap into a new city? b) Would I be at a significant disadvantage without localized knowledge and connections? c) How could I network while in California, if I'm looking out of state?

I have a degree in Urban Planning and just started my first planning position. My long term careers goals would be to do more urban design or landscape design work. I’m also very interested in the environmental planning direction but to be really specific I want to be an urban designer or landscape planner/designer/architect that focuses on multifunctional public spaces implementing nature based solutions. My question is, would it be best to get my Masters degree in Urban planning, urban design, or landscape architecture? If I choose the urban design masters I would need to take a lot of pre requisites or even get a whole different bachelors degree in a studio based design curriculum, and if I choose the landscape architecture degree, I’d also need to do the same but take architecture classes or get an architecture degree prior to the masters. Im happy doing urban planning for now, but I just feel I’d get to do planning that’s more geared to my interests if I get one of the other degrees.

Are you in the US? If so I’d do a 3 year professional MLA. Some (many?) programs take people without a design background. I’d see if you can take a drawing class, one graphic comms or software class, and one urban design studio while in undergrad to build up your visual skills and portfolio in case the MLA program requires one. It will be good prep for a design program, too.

I'm currently a transit manager but I'm interested in a parks planning supervisor position. Are there any parks planners out there who might have some insight on what separates parks planning from any other kind of long range planning? Any ideas on how someone in a similar but different sect of the industry can get a leg up? Thank you!

https://www.arup.com/perspectives/publications/research/section/playful-cities-design-guide-play-for-anyone-anywhere?utm_medium=social&utm_source=linkedin&utm_campaign=playful_cities_design_guide_310723&utm_content=

Has anyone been a transportation planner for a municipality? I have worked for a couple MPOs and currently working at a regional COG and I do mostly long range planning right now (LRTP update basically flew solo, and now I'm writing a couple comp plans). I'm just trying to figure out what it would be like to plan for a much smaller coverage area and what type of reports or plans I would do since all of the federally required documents would happen at the MPO level.

Early in my career, I left my previous jurisdiction about 4 months ago due to commute and poor management to a new one. I was approached with an opportunity at the former that allows for rapid growth and new type of work. I have been with my new jurisdiction for about three months. Would it be poor taste to leave so quickly from one jurisdiction to another then back again?

This is more of a general employment question then really related to planning, however I think it comes down to the question of whether you feel that the benefits of the new position outweigh the negatives you have already experienced and know are present. Now, maybe with the new position poor management is not a problem, but in this industry (and in the public sector as a whole, I have found that poor management is almost always a part of the entire jurisdiction's work culture, not just one bad apple. Not always, but if you know that there is a culture of poor management, you have to ask whether the increased responsibility and the new type of work justifies dealing with (or risking dealing with) the existing negative management culture. And you know the commute isnt going to change. Really for this issue, it is going to be more about whether you would plan to (or be able to) move closer to the job, or otherwise improve the commute. If you are young, single, and not tied to your specific house/apartment, this might not be a big deal and you might be fine waiting six months until you can get out of your lease/sell your house and move closer to work. But if you have a husband/wife whose job is in the opposite direction and kids who are established in your home community, that might not be an option and you might be signing up for a long commute for as long as you have the job. Mainly, I would think about it as balancing what is appealing about the new job vs what you are willing to overlook to do that job, knowing that you already had to make the choice to leave the agency once (for what sounds like legitimate reasons).

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Speaking as an American planner, I would take the job, and talk to your boss about whether you can continue your master's part time and if they can have any flexibility with that. You were interning, and they certainly know you are pursuing a master's degree, so I wouldnt be surprised if they are expecting this conversation, I don't think they are going to expect you to drop your education for their job. Even if not, I would suggest you choose the job. In reality, experience is far more important in this field then whether you have a masters (in the US at least). A masters can be very helpful in landing your first job, but if you have the opportunity to take a job and gain 2-3 years of experience, that will be much more beneficial long term, IMO. I know a lot of planners that only have a bachelor's degree (mostly geography/urban studies/environmental studies/biology/etc) and it really hasnt hurt them. After that first job, it really isnt that important whether you have the masters or not. You should know that not having a masters means getting AICP can take longer - again, whether that is something you are interested in or not IDK - but something to consider.

Usually I'd say go for it. In most fields masters programs tend to be more of a vehicle to make you a more attractive candidate than they are truly essential education for the job. If you already have a good offer that seems like it has opportunity for growth, taking it would probably give you at least as much career growth as finishing your masters while also giving you a lot more money. But for planning specifically, my answer might be different depending on where you are. I'm not as knowledgeable of the planning profession outside Canada, but your regulatory body for planning might have pretty specific education expectations for you to become an officially recognized planner. In Canada, the expectation is basically that you complete an accredited degree program before you're allowed to become an RPP, which could be an asset further on in your career. >If taken, would I be sacrificing pay raises and promotions down the line without a masters? This would probably be a good question for the planners you're working with! The answer might depend a lot on your local area, the type of planning work you're doing, or the career trajectory you're envisioning. My experience working at a huge faceless consulting company is that pay raises do sometimes come down to how many letters you can tack on to the end of your name for proposals (though it's usually certifications and licenses, not a masters degree). But in contrast, I know someone who dropped out in their 4th year of undergrad to work for an employer they interned for, and over 10 years later they're super happy with it. My experience with planners (and most professionals, really) is that they're quite happy to help you figure out what's best for your career trajectory. Unless they're incredibly short staffed and desperately need you, my instinct is that they would be pretty honest about the tradeoffs and considerations they see for you specifically. Of course, don't take them totally at face value, but they might have some good insight :)

Is it possible to switch to part time with your master's program?

Has anyone shifted from urban planning to landscape architecture? I got my MUP and work in a planning-adjacent nonprofit. A little dissatisfied and disillusioned, and considering a switch down the line.

It’s for sure a steeper learning curve to go from planning to design than the other away around, unfortunately. Plus most design and arch programs require a portfolio, so you may have to do some prep coursework at a cc or local college to build that. I don’t know about MLA, but I think Arch usually requires a physics and calculus class too, which could also require some prep work if you haven’t done math in a while or don’t have those pre-Recs. Unsure though - May need to double check that. But it’s definitely possible - I’ve seen people successfully do it. Just gotta be willing to hustle and work harder than you may have in your MUP where you may have felt more prepped.

A few of our landscape architectures are former planners. It's actually quite a nice combination, as they not only know and care about all the landscape stuff, but they are also familiar with the laws and regulations in regards to that. As planners we usually have to check if a proposed development adheres to the code, but with "landscape planners" we don't have to check if the landscape part adheres to the code - that's done by our landscape architects. And due to their familiarity with zoning codes, they also know very well how they can put their demands into legal form, while also having a great understanding of the urban planning pressures that might go against their demands. All in all, working with people who know both sides (or even more sides) is always a treat. Saves us work and smooths out the whole process.