San Francisco provides a case study of the immense challenges and scant rewards that await you in a job as a planning commissioner—planning outcomes suffer as a result.
"Planning commissioners might just have one of San Francisco’s hardest jobs," writes Sasha Perigo in a column for the San Francisco Examiner
"The appointed Planning Commission oversees San Francisco’s Planning Department and has the final say on what gets built in San Francisco and where. In the midst of a severe housing crisis, commissioners face a lot of angry people and have a lot of work."
For their trouble, planning commissioners are "practically unpaid," adds Perigo.
The massive amount of work that goes into attending and preparing for meetings means that many people who get appointed as planning commissioners are often semi-retired or have a great deal of flexibility in their job. That leads to problems of representation. "The Planning Commission is disproportionately white and male compared to San Francisco’s population and is composed of a majority homeowners," for instance.
The discussion is in the new this week because San Francisco Mayor London Breed named a new appointee this week, land use lawyer Sue Diamond, who is well regarded in the city. But the hire still fits a mold of white, well educated, and wealthy. Perigo suggests that planning outcomes suffer when the representation on the commission doesn't mirror the demographics of the city.
FULL STORY: High workload and low pay leave Planning Commission roles out of reach for many
Oregon Passes Exemption to Urban Growth Boundary
Cities have a one-time chance to acquire new land for development in a bid to increase housing supply and affordability.
Where Urban Design Is Headed in 2024
A forecast of likely trends in urban design and architecture.
Savannah: A City of Planning Contrasts
From a human-scales, plaza-anchored grid to suburban sprawl, the oldest planned city in the United States has seen wildly different development patterns.
Washington Tribes Receive Resilience Funding
The 28 grants support projects including relocation efforts as coastal communities face the growing impacts of climate change.
Adaptive Reuse Bills Introduced in California Assembly
The legislation would expand eligibility for economic incentives and let cities loosen regulations to allow for more building conversions.
LA's Top Parks, Ranked
TimeOut just released its list of the top 26 parks in the L.A. area, which is home to some of the best green spaces around.
City of Rochester
Boston Harbor Now
City of Bellevue
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
City of Birmingham, Alabama
City of Laramie, Wyoming
Colorado Department of Local Affairs
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.