I think I was born to be an urban planner. It’s true.
As a young child, I was fascinated with maps, highways, transit, and I’ve heard plenty of stories from my family about how I had favorite routes, always demanded to be the navigator, and “read” maps regularly. The reason why I write “heard plenty of stories” is because all of this occurred years before I had hit age 10, so my recollection is obviously hazy.
In NJ, one is first eligible to receive a driver’s license at age 17, and I took full advantage of my new found freedom. Typically, newly licensed drivers love to pack their friends in their cars, go on <short> road trips, and just generally experience the rush that accompanies driving for the first year. While I certainly had my share of “typical” fun my first year of driving, my idea of enjoyment was much different than most of my friends.
What did I do so differently than most of my other 17 year old friends? I drove off to esoteric municipalities in New Jersey, feeding my insatiable desire to expand my knowledge of all of those interesting places and routes that I had discovered on maps as a child. From High Point to deep in the Pine Barrens, I explored it all in my Jeep Wrangler, one hamlet, village, borough, township, and city at a time.
Now in my late 20s and going into my fourth year as an urban planner/land use consultant, I credit my passion for what I do on a day-to-day basis to my childhood interests. Even before I entered graduate school in 2003 (I received a Masters in City and Regional Planning from the Rutgers University Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy in 2005), I had real world knowledge of the functioning of municipalities that range from the smallest of hamlets to the largest of cities, all as a result of the maps, highways, and driving, as well as my experience in local politics and interning for a Congresswoman on Capitol Hill during college. The die had been cast, and all for the better.
I have decided to share my passion for urban planning with all of you. In this blog, I will write generally about various planning issues, planning as a profession, the impact of the current economic climate on our communities, and most importantly, stress to all of you that the time is ripe for a new wave of urban planning, based on the multitude of untapped internet based innovative resources available to individuals, citizen planners, professional planners, curious parties, stakeholders, and municipalities. Lastly, I will share the new wave techniques that I think are helpful to supplement the classical planning process, as well as discuss my new wave ideas.
Stay tuned, and enjoy.
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