OK - I did not have to do a thesis / project, so I really can't contribute, but I am wondering what some good (or maybe bad) topics were (or are).
OK - I did not have to do a thesis / project, so I really can't contribute, but I am wondering what some good (or maybe bad) topics were (or are).
My topic is (still working on it...):
The role of the arts in urban redevelopment.
Information necessitating a change of design will be conveyed to the designer after and only after the design is complete. (Often called the 'Now They Tell Us' Law) - Fyfe's First Law of Revision
We don't believe in planners and deciders making the decisions on behalf of Americans. -- George W. Bush , Scranton, PA -- 09/06/2000
I'm not sure my answer really counts seeing as I'm doing environmental technology, not planning, but the working title is "Effective management of recycling and alternative materials in highway construction and management"...
Glorious Technicolor, Breath-Taking CinemaScope and Stereophonic Sound!
Suburbia in Transition - Change and Challenges in Buffalo's Inner Ring Suburbs
It seemed like an easy topic, but the thesis itself ended up being a beast. 144 pages.
Growth for growth's sake is the ideology of the cancer cell. -- Edward Abbey
"Reducing the Need for Travel in Ontario's Urban Communities"
I tried to keep the title short...
Mine was: Meeting the Challenges of Zoning in the Information Age: Planning for Wireless Communications Facilities.
It's still online too...http://www.geocities.com/researchtri...66/thesis.html
"Growth is inevitable and desirable, but destruction of community character is not. The question is not whether your part of the world is going to change. The question is how." -- Edward T. McMahon, The Conservation Fund
Mine was The Cost-Effectiveness of Constructed Wetlands for Wastewater Treatment in Small Communities.
NHPlanner
I read your Thesis.......Excellent!!! Very informational. We are in the process of reviewing our ordinance regarding the location of cell towers.
Thanks for the compliments. Some of the info is a bit dated now, but the basics are still good.Originally posted by Glomer
NHPlanner
I read your Thesis.......Excellent!!! Very informational. We are in the process of reviewing our ordinance regarding the location of cell towers.
I would also suggest looking at the new NH State Statute (passed last year) which supplements local ordinances...
http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/rsa/...exes/12-K.html
You might also want to try contacting Bloomington, MN...they were extremely helpful when I did the thesis.
"Growth is inevitable and desirable, but destruction of community character is not. The question is not whether your part of the world is going to change. The question is how." -- Edward T. McMahon, The Conservation Fund
"Development Impact Analysis : Hartford, WI" That was before Al Gore invented the internet so I don't have it posted anywhere, sorry.
Student Participation in Secondary Education . Don't ask...it was a 70s thing.
We wrote our community's first wireless communications ordinance in 2000, and in retrospect I was surprised to find that we used your thesis materials among other sources! Way to go Tim! Thanks!Originally posted by Glomer
NHPlanner
I read your Thesis.......Excellent!!! Very informational. We are in the process of reviewing our ordinance regarding the location of cell towers.
(BTW - Stealing from one is plagiarism, stealing from several is research)
I'll chalk up Muskego on the expanding list of places that have used it in developing regs & ordinances.Originally posted by bturk
We wrote our community's first wireless communications ordinance in 2000, and in retrospect I was surprised to find that we used your thesis materials among other sources! Way to go Tim! Thanks!
(BTW - Stealing from one is plagiarism, stealing from several is research)
Enjoy the weekend Brian! (and thanks for the further compliments)
"Growth is inevitable and desirable, but destruction of community character is not. The question is not whether your part of the world is going to change. The question is how." -- Edward T. McMahon, The Conservation Fund
Holy crap. I can't even remember the name of my project! and it was only 3 years ago! I think if was something like "Residential Development Impact Analysis for Anderson County, SC". I use the ULI's newest impact analysis software. I think I've created a mental block to protect me from the horrible memories.
Mine was "The intra-metropolitan relocation of manufacturing firms in the Chicago region." Sorted through about 55,000 records to find 2000 or so firms that moved. Plotted them. Performed various locational and trend analyses. Regressed the lat/lon coordinates as a polynomial function to map a trend very reminiscent of JF Harts metaphorical "bow wave." Lots of fun.
I've been mulling over a few titles myself, though to thesis or not is my choice in the MPA program at Grand Valley State Univ.
"Identifying transportation needs of the non driving population in small cities and the surrounding rural townships; Or, Is it Time for the Dial A Ride Bus Service To Go Big City?"
"A review of private property covenants, blah blah blah, as a wildlands conservation technique"
or
"A Conservation Overlay of the Big Pine Island Lake Watershed; A Narrative Description Utilizing The Michigan Natural Features Inventory"
I know, I know they sound more like term papers.....I am sooooo looking forward to commuting downtown to attend classes in September again.
"Promoting Heritage Tourism as Economic Development in the River Parishes" - the River Parishes are 3 parishes/counties outside of the New Orleans MSA - St. Charles, St. John and St. James. They developed along the Mississippi River and were once home to cotton and sugar cane plantations. Now, they are home to oil, gas, and chemical companies. Several years ago (pardon my memory but I was a child at the time), one of the news magazine shows, it may have been "60 Minutes," did a special on the areas. The corridor was referred to as "Cancer Alley" because there was a high rate of cancer among the area residents.
I just went off an a serious tangent because my final project did not address anything regarding environmental justice. It was written for the Chamber of Commerce, where I was employed at that time, so it strictly dealt with tourism, business and stuff like that.
My FIRST thesis proposal was: Geo-spatial characteristics of the far-right movement in America. A GIS look at the neo-Nazi, white separatists and patriot movements.
But NOOOOOOO!
No faculty member wanted that thesis on their CV as the advisor.
Then three months after I graduate Tim McVeigh blew up the Federal Building in Waco. Faculty members then told me they wished “I” had done the thesis. I couldn’t get anyone to be my thesis advisor and I was told flat-out that the subject was distasteful to them. Duh, but it was a subject worthy of study. And no Dan, it was not going to be a love letter to the right.
I ended up doing a crappy geo-spatial profile of landmine clearance applications for GIS in the third world after my second thesis proposal study area burnt down. This was well before the Arts community and Bono discovered the issue.
I wish I had stuck to my guns.
PS the Masters in in Geography -- Heavy on the tools.
I didn't have to do an undergrad thesis like NHPlanner, but I am working on an independent project. Since March or so, I've been creating a comprehensive design for a small city. I've been working on sketching parts of the city (I call it 'Virtue City', hence the name). For each part, I'm writing an accompanying explanation of how my model would be advantageous, what my ideas are modeled after, and so forth. One of my professors has offered his assistance and advice.
I'm not sure what exactly I'll do with my design of 'Virtue City'. I think it'd be useful as a sample writing or would be good to take along to an interview, especially if I choose to pursue a career in urban design.
My undergrad thesis was: Eco-tourism and the Cultural and Ecological Heritage of Dorchester, New Brunswick. A Canadian Studies thesis about a very small town which was looking for ways to promote itself.
My Masters thesis was: Urban Bias and Rural Planning in Canada. It was a reaction against the way which rural issues were (not) addressed in my Masters program. I compared the traditional definition and examples of urban bias in developing countries to the situation of rural planning in Canada.
Every once and a while I think about doing a PhD but then my mother reminds me of the HELL of writing theses and talks me out of it.......thank goodness for mothers!!!!!!
I am going to bring this one back, mainly because I was wondering for those of you who did not answer before, what was your thesis topic if you have a Master’s in Planning or Geography.
When compassion exceeds logic for too long, chaos will ensue. - Unknown
Ditto, because it was not required at that time.Originally posted by planasaurus
Spend more time working 2 internships.
Oddball
Why don't you knock it off with them negative waves?
Why don't you dig how beautiful it is out here?
Why don't you say something righteous and hopeful for a change?
From Kelly's Heroes (1970)
Are you sure you're not hurt ?
No. Just some parts wake up faster than others.
Broke parts take a little longer, though.
From Electric Horseman (1979)
Something about greenways management and design within the context of the greenways' use....can't remember, except that I had to do a lot of camping and biking as part of the research.
I don't dream. I plan.
I just had to do a portfolio of all of the staff reports they made us do.
“As soon as public service ceases to be the chief business of the citizens, and they would rather serve with their money than with their persons, the State is not far from its fall”
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Who needs a thesis when your final student project was a major studio course working on a team with other planners and architecture students?!!
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