Assignment 13: Essential Question

My essential question:

How can up and coming planners like me design and develop walkable communities without having to restructure existing living spaces or facilitate gentrification?

I selected this essential question because it focuses heavily on topics I find relative in the field of planning right now. Currently, there has been an upsurge of making the suburban sprawl more urban by increasing the focus on walkable living spaces that incorporate office, residential and commercial uses. However, a lot of these newer mixed use developments are being created in poorer communities, driving out residents who cannot afford such drastic changes in living conditions at such a rapid pace.

I am excited about this question because it is relevant in the City of Alpharetta where I have my mentorship. Part of the community consists of low to middle class residents that have been in the area for a long time. However, the revitalization of the downtown has introduced more luxury developments into the area. Currently, there is a need for the community to come together to accommodate both ends of the spectrum. 

I feel that this question can accurately assist me in finding our more about this topic. Not only can I apply it in the correct context at my mentorship, I can apply it to any projects I work on in the future. Stopping gentrification and the need to move away from autocentric communities will be two major issues that loom on the horizon for years to come as technology and transportation improve. 

Yasamin, 11/18

Assignment 11: Partner in Your Education

My mentorship has been the greatest tool in my journey towards college and my desired career field. The City has been a partner in my education in the sense that I am learning so much more "in the field" than I could with my nose buried in a textbook. I learn and remember phrases such as "easement" and "impact fee" because I am using them in their respective contexts. Additionally, my mentorship has provided me with an outlet where I can experience every aspect of municipal government, not just city planning. I have open access to city hall, as well as all of the meetings that are held there after hours: City Council, Planning Commission, and Board of Zoning Appeals.

At my mentorship, I have come to realize that the number of goals I can set and achieve must be small. This is because I am not allowed to do any serious work, so I instead do a lot of job shadowing. While some of the time that entails going to job sites or meeting with big name developers or sitting through drama-filled City Council meetings, most of the time I have to sit and observe quietly as my mentor types of reports and fills out paperwork and emails. One of the goals I have is to sit through an entire City Council meeting. As all of them have had packed agendas so far, attending them has been difficult, as well as sitting through the whole affair. One goal that I have met is being able to use this experience to prepare me for the "real world". I very recently had an interview with one of my dream colleges, and I felt that without the information I have learned at my mentorship, or the opportunities I have had with it, I would not have been able to interview as well aw I did.

The most important thing I have done to make my mentor's life easier is invest in some planning literature. Half of the job of a city planner includes meeting with developers and companies and private landowners, as well as working with them to create desirable developments. However, the other half of a planner's job is typing up reports to present at all of the formal meetings they must attend with Council and Planning Commission. Because of that, I have a lot of downtime during my mentorship, and investing in some relevant literature has allowed me to take advantage of the time my mentor may need to do some of the less interesting aspects of his job.

Yasamin 11/11