Regional Planning DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNITY AND REGIONAL PLANNING kylines reating S C munities ding Com Buil
My job is to LEARN everything I can about my city, PROTECT what’s great about it, and HELP IT GROW even better in the future! First, I learn EVERYTHING there is to know about my city. I get to know the PEOPLE who live here and learn everything I can about them... ...their needs and priorities, their demographics, their jobs, and even what kinds of things they like to do for fun!
...and infrastructure like roads, sewers and power lines. I even get to know the natural features and potential hazards like waterways that are at risk of flooding and forests that are at risk of forest fires.
For example, residents in my city love to walk along the waterfront and feel the sea breeze. But what if a chemical plant wanted to build a refinery here, blocking the view and making noxious fumes? I could PREVENT that through land use zoning and development application reviews!
problems residents struggle with. In my city, public transportation is not reliable or convenient. I’m making plans to have buses and trains arrive more often, and advocating for funding new train lines and bus routes in the future.... So everyone can always get to school on time... ...and always get home in time for dinner!
tomorrow, and try to prevent them today. My city is prone to coastal storms and huge floods! My urban planning team and I are doing lots of things to reduce the impact of future storms! We’re building better sea walls to block flood waters and even restoring lost wetlands to absorb excess water. And through building code changes, new buildings all have flood resilient design that will protect them from harm. I’m helping change policies to make sure our people and their homes and businesses stay safe.
enjoyable places to live. We’ve been adding new green spaces and improving parks and recreation facilities... and adding more high-quality affordable housing across the city... ...so that ALL our people can enjoy a better quality of life, no matter their income.
the big picture of the whole city and help it get better as it grows bigger--not worse. So that over time, everyone who lives there can see their lives improve. Planners aren’t just in big cities. Nearly EVERY single city and county, even the tiniest rural county, has a planning office.
cities with populations over 100,000. Someday, you could be one of them. It’s a wellpaying, steady job with a great quality of life. And every one of those regions has between 1 and 100 planners, or even more. That’s a LOT of planners working behind the scenes every day to make their cities and counties GREAT! Plus, you don’t need million years of schooling to do it! A bachelor’s degree from AAMU accredited urban planning program is enough to start working. A master’s degree opens more doors but it’s not a requirement to start!
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