Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
miamiman - planning is one of the most geographically flexible careers out there. speaking from experience, i have had job offers or interviews in a big-city in Texas, mid size in South Dakota, small town in Colorado, small town in Alaska, suburban town in Virginia, medium town in virginia, small/mid size town in Kentucky, big city in Ohio, mid size in Indiana, suburban town in Ohio.
I think that is it. And this is coming from someone with fewer than five years experience.
There is nothing wrong with being idealistic. As a planner matures in the field through education and practice, ideas may change dramatically or be refined somewhat. I think wanting to bulldoze subdivisions is recognizing a problem, even if the solution is absurd and inappropriate. One time the field went so crazy that bulldozing entire blocks of cities was actually seen in a positive light.
I can sort of relate to the OP. I am 26 years old with a master's in accounting, and I'm currently a tax accountant for a utility company. Man, I am miserable. I can't stand sitting at a desk all day dealing with numbers, tax regulations and all that crap. I need to do something that involves the physical world. I worry though, because this economy isn't ripe enough for career change, not to mention the cost of going back to school. Ugh. Then again, should I really walk away from a $65K salary?
You probably shouldn't. A lot of people are attracted to the planning field because of a desire to play sim city on a big scale. That really isn't how it works. There is a lot of paperwork, bureaucracy, and politics, so the small victories are those that are celebrated. Planning is a good field, but (splash of cold water) no 26 year old in this field makes $65k despite having graduate degrees and a lot of 26 year olds in this field don't have jobs at all.
I would recommend simply finding a different job within your field. Maybe search for small architecture or design firms or planning firms looking for help in the fiscal section. I have worked in small towns where the clerk/treasurer was involved in issues of development. I don't think the answer lies in a career change, perhaps merely a job change.
I also must offer the advice i offer to anyone single and relatively unattached. Join the Peace Corps. seriously, it will change your life in ways that a mere change of occupations never could.
You sound very idealistic. Planning doesn't give people the option to live wherever. You go where the jobs are. Most planning jobs are in rapidly growing areas. Your idea of working with some small town that isn't doing much of anything in the way of growth is not likely.
Screw that. I'm not uprooting my life for some job. It's not worth it. I'll work in a sandwich shop, Walmart or start my own business before moving to some rich, big-city area and helping some mega-construction corporation develop a cookie-cutter "prestigious gated community" with a name like "Tarlessian Meadows." Once again, screw that. I may be idealistic, but at least I haven't sold my soul for a dollar sign. Also, before anyone says "you'll change your mind when you get married/have kids," that's not going to happen. It'll snow a foot in Miami before I have kids. I'd rather jump off the Mendota Bridge than have children.
miamiman - planning is one of the most geographically flexible careers out there. speaking from experience, i have had job offers or interviews in a big-city in Texas, mid size in South Dakota, small town in Colorado, small town in Alaska, suburban town in Virginia, medium town in virginia, small/mid size town in Kentucky, big city in Ohio, mid size in Indiana, suburban town in Ohio.
I think that is it. And this is coming from someone with fewer than five years experience.
There is nothing wrong with being idealistic. As a planner matures in the field through education and practice, ideas may change dramatically or be refined somewhat. I think wanting to bulldoze subdivisions is recognizing a problem, even if the solution is absurd and inappropriate. One time the field went so crazy that bulldozing entire blocks of cities was actually seen in a positive light.
I never seriously said I wanted to bulldoze subdivisions. That post was heavily sarcastic and hyperbolic, and I guess that didn't translate to text. Sorry. I've spoken against doing that in several threads on the Urban Planning forum.
Screw that. I'm not uprooting my life for some job. It's not worth it. I'll work in a sandwich shop, Walmart or start my own business before moving to some rich, big-city area and helping some mega-construction corporation develop a cookie-cutter "prestigious gated community" with a name like "Tarlessian Meadows." Once again, screw that. I may be idealistic, but at least I haven't sold my soul for a dollar sign. Also, before anyone says "you'll change your mind when you get married/have kids," that's not going to happen. It'll snow a foot in Miami before I have kids. I'd rather jump off the Mendota Bridge than have children.
I've done that, several times when I was flying. You know what? It was never worth it. In the end I came back 'home' and never regretted it. If anything, moving all over the country only made me appreciate what I left behind even more. There probably are places I might like living as much, but I never found it.
Screw that. I'm not uprooting my life for some job. It's not worth it. I'll work in a sandwich shop, Walmart or start my own business before moving to some rich, big-city area and helping some mega-construction corporation develop a cookie-cutter "prestigious gated community" with a name like "Tarlessian Meadows." Once again, screw that. I may be idealistic, but at least I haven't sold my soul for a dollar sign. Also, before anyone says "you'll change your mind when you get married/have kids," that's not going to happen. It'll snow a foot in Miami before I have kids. I'd rather jump off the Mendota Bridge than have children.
I agree. There are too many cookie cutter neighborhoods these days that lack character. Cary, NC is a prime example of this. Everywhere you go, you see the same looking cookie cutout style apartment and condo complexes everywhere. It reminds me of communist housing from the USSR!
Then, I came back here to Connecticut and appreciated the build quality and construction and layout of neighborhoods and towns. Everything here in CT is unique, random and non-cookie cut out. Of course there are a few exceptions here and there.
flyingwriter, one thing I'd look into would be on how you serve on he town or county planning commission. Those kinds of committees are typically volunteer roles where it can be hard to get all the spots filled. And while it's the elected officials that generally write the big rulebook, you can at least have a shot at winning the small battles and having what gets approved takes good planning on a human scale into consideration.
Urban Planners are specialists. It is an incredible field and always fascinating. It is on the edges of the political system so patience is a must. Selling ideas to the public and to decision-makers is challenging.
Kidd Cann had some great advice. There are limited numbers of positions because they are PRIMARILY governmental jobs, except for the small corps of individuals who are the consultants to the governmental specialists. When the economy is down, and land development is down, then urban planning positions are also down.
Supposedly they are planning for a future and you would think that the position would be needed to regulate community sustainability, but in truth, what drives it is development: land and economic.
Have a good backup plan for those "down" times, unless you are entrenched in a system and unfortunately, those that become entrenched are least effective because the field is a dynamic industry - concepts are always changing, and they should, as the needs of society change.
Last edited by Tashinamu8; 08-25-2010 at 12:42 PM..
Reason: typo
Urban Planners are specialists. It is an incredible field and always fascinating. It is on the edges of the political system so patience is a must. Selling ideas to the public and to decision-makers is challenging.
Kidd Cann had some great advice. There are limited numbers of positions because they are PRIMARILY governmental jobs, except for the small corps of individuals who are the consultants to the governmental specialists. When the economy is down, and land development is down, then urban planning positions are also down.
Supposedly they are planning for a future and you would think that the position would be needed to regulate community sustainability, but in truth, what drives it is development: land and economic.
Have a good backup plan for those "down" times, unless you are entrenched in a system and unfortunately, those that become entrenched are least effective because the field is a dynamic industry - concepts are always changing, and they should, as the needs of society change.
This seems to go in line with what the local occupational outlook for urban planners says. Basically, it said job growth would be much slower than other jobs and would be driven mostly by replacements rather than growth of new positions.
I graduated with an Urban Planning Degree (It was actually Community Development, but it switched names the year I started the major and I like Urban Planning more than CD as a name, lol).
Still cannot find a decent, desirable job. But... like someone said, when the economy and jobs are slow, public sector work is even slower...
Of the people I graduated with, some of my friends, have landed mainly in rural communities. To some, like Flyingwriter, that may be very desirable, to others, like me, I like 'Urban' planning on a Regional Scale.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
No Eononomy of Scale
