Latin American/Caribbean planning

[Planitgood]

Hello All,

I am currently a undergrad preparing to submit my applications for a masters planning program for Fall of 2012. I am doing some extra "planning" (HAha... planning joke) to find out what schools would be best for me. My ultimate goal is to plan internationally in Latin America and the Caribbean, but I want to start off in the Southeast United States then go abroad. A city that I would love to plan in the US is Miami ( any comments on experience there would be much appreciated!!) I have narrowed down what my top three focuses would be: Economic Development, Community Development, and or Transportation planning. (There is a struggle between transportation and Community Development) I have had two internships, one with a county economic development firm and the other with a regional transportation agency. Therefore, I am familiar with two of the fields that I have listed. The schools that I am interested in are UCLA, Cornell, GA Tech, and University of Illinois Urbana Champaign. I have identified Cornell and UIUC for their international programs and UCLA and GA TECH for their overall strength as planning schools. As of now the only thing I know about these programs is what they say on the website. If possible I would love to hear some feedback about the schools that I have listed or about other schools that could help me fulfill my goal. Sorry for the long post!!

I appreciate the help!

PG

[Blide]

I'll just throw this option out there. You can look into the Master's International programs at Florida State and Virginia Tech in urban planning. Basically those programs require Peace Corp service as part of the curriculum. The Peace Corp's urban planning positions happen to mostly be in Central and South America so you can get first hand work experience there as part of your education. Think there's also some financial aid incentives attached to the Master's International programs as well.

[RS2011]

You should also look at UT-Austin. Thanks to its location, they have a good number of planning profs there currently doing research on latin american planning issues.

[Planitgood]

Thank for those who have responded so far! Are there anymore suggestions or comments?

[wahday]

University of New Mexico (I know, its in the SW, not the SE) has a dual Masters degree in Latin American Studies and Planning. I know a number of people who did this. None of them, as it happens, is planning internationally at the moment (except for the one exchange student from Mexico who is back in his home town working as a planner). Two of my cohorts did professional projects (MCRP students can choose to do a professional project or a thesis) that dealt with real world planning issue in Latin American communities.

You might see if any other universities have this kind of dual program as well. As RS2010 mentioned, UT Austin has an excellent Latin American studies program (not sure if that's what they call it, though). They also have one of the country's best research libraries for these regions.

[The One]

University of Maryland......Latin American Studies......check it out.

[VexedCoffee]

How much of a demand is there in latin and south america for U.S. trained urban planners? I wouldn't mind immigrating when I get out of school!

[archdav]

I took a similar path and worked in Miami for three years for an international planning firm which specialized in Central and South America. Your school list is strong, I really like GT, UCLA, and as someone said earlier FSU has the peace-corps program... really strong if you want to do international planning. However, you shouldn't overlook MIT. Their international specialization is probably the best in the country.

Hope that helps, PM me if you have any specific questions.