In the United
States the stimulus package will eventually kick in create jobs for planners—in housing,
transportation, design and such. However, in upcoming months students
graduating from planning schools face a situation they typically had not
planned on—where unemployment is relatively high and employers are hesitant about
taking on new people. As I have been pointing out to my students, this is not
the first time in the history of the world that such a situation has occurred.
The following tips draw on my own observations of successful strategies for
weathering such downturns.
Education & Careers
To Make Planning Relevant, Turn to Open-Source Methods
Urban planning is falling into obsolescence, according to this piece, but employing old bottom-up techniques that value input from a variety of sources will make it relevant again.
re:place Magazine
If you are sure to lose your weight, apply Yoga Health Guide Secrets.
This shows you why an elliptical trainer workout and treadmill weight loss can be the best ways to burn body fat to shed unwanted pounds.
weight loss program
Food Truck Delivers Local Opportunities
A new community program in Rotterdam is bringing a food truck with new eating options -- and business opportunities -- to working class neighborhoods.
Metropolis
The APA needs a Sustainability Division
Thu, 04/16/2009 - 13:22
Many planners and even American Planning Association (APA) members are unaware that the APA has special member bodies called Divisions. These are essentially issue-focused member committees within APA that contribute to policymaking, develop conference sessions, publish newsletters, and generally act as focal points for like-minded APA members.
Drawing Blanks: Urban Design and the Power of the Pen
Wed, 04/15/2009 - 17:50
With just two weeks to go in my second semester, I like to think that I know just about everything about being a planning student by now. But when 100+ prospective students came to our campus open house last week, an easy question stumped me:
“What about drawing?”
At first I thought she was asking if she needed to have an art background coming into school. A thousand times, no. But instead she was looking to learn how to draw as a planner, which is a much trickier proposition.
Jobs Sprawling in Metro Areas
Recent research from the Brookings Institution looks at 98 metropolitan areas and finds that fewer people are working close to downtowns, and there are fewer jobs located in those areas.
The Brookings Institution
Deciding if You Want to be a Planner
Sun, 04/05/2009 - 07:56
Not sure if you want to be a planner? Recently my colleagues and I have received a spate of emails from prospective students around the world wanting to know whether planning is a field they should pursue. Their extensive lists of questions show that this is a pressing issue for them. This entry answers some of the more common questions and aims to help prospective students come to programs with a shorter and more focused set of topics to explore.
Doing the Conference Circuit
Wed, 04/01/2009 - 14:23
The semester has kicked into high gear and I am drowning in a sea of reading, written assignments,map-making, and special projects. Once in a while, I manage to emerge and dock (I know, enough of the nautical metaphors) at a lecture – or as in the last couple of weeks – at aconference. It is great to stepout of academia once in a while and hear what is going on in the realworld. I had the opportunity to attend two conferences over the past month. One of them – The City from Below Conference – I attended this weekend when I returned home to Baltimore for spring break.
