After over 15 years as a profession planner, I'm leaving (many of you are asking what took me so long; I ask myself the same question). But I just can't take it anymore.
I'm tired of public hearings where I listen to NIMBYs espouse their undisguised and unapologietic BANANA attitudes and where consultants blather on about all the wonderful benefits their projects will bring the community. I'm tired of politicians adopting development regulations then criticizing projects designed, approved, and built in conformance with those regulations. I'm tired of dealing with finance departments that won't pay our consultant's bills and cry gloom and doom at every bend in the economic road. I'm tired of holier-than-thou public sector planners with their ethics, morals, and principles. I'm tired of public works engineers with their narrow-minded textbook responses to creative design solutions. I'm tired of visioning, new-urbanism, smart growth, and neo-traditional town planning. I'm tired of human resources departments that can't fill vacant positions in a timely manner ( a colleague observed that they're neither human nor a resource). I'm tired of the California Environmental Quality Act--it ain't doing what it was intended. I'm tired of Federal, State, and regional gov't associations interferring with local land use decisions.
As a result, I'm quitting, getting an SUV, buying a rifle, moving to the mountains to live in a cabin and subsist off the fat o' the land. To support my habits, maybe I'll get a job driving a logging truck, become a golf pro and join the senior tour, or operate a porno web site....I haven't decided.
Oh, by the way: I like Starbucks coffee and I shop at Home Depot.
Finally, the plaintiff was awarded half the assets.
So long, maybe I'll drop by to lurk every now and then.
Quote
