I've looked and learned in the past. Now I'm diving in.
I have a BS and MA in planning and am currently settled in the midwest. I work for a fairly small city. Our office consists of a couple CD people, building inspection, two planners (of which I am the lower), and one director over all. Our fair city has a strong mayor form of government. No city manager. (This will no doubt come into play in some of my future posts.) I used to be an idealist, but I think I've slided down the scale toward being an optimistic realist. Still trying to be positive, but boy is it difficult. The major issues we face here?
Finally, since there are many puppy lovers among us, I'll add that my joy in life is going home to my 11 mo. old Labradoodle, Linus. No matter how bad the day, he never fails to have us smiling inside of 2 minutes. And for the house fiends, we bought our first house 11 mo. ago and are in the process of renovating it. A smallish 1940 2-story cape cod. I love my house! Is it a bad thing when you view work more as an obstacle to the things you want to do at home than as any kind of time well spent?
I have a BS and MA in planning and am currently settled in the midwest. I work for a fairly small city. Our office consists of a couple CD people, building inspection, two planners (of which I am the lower), and one director over all. Our fair city has a strong mayor form of government. No city manager. (This will no doubt come into play in some of my future posts.) I used to be an idealist, but I think I've slided down the scale toward being an optimistic realist. Still trying to be positive, but boy is it difficult. The major issues we face here?
- Surviving outside of a metro area
- A zoning ordinance from 1978
- A comp plan from 1970 with an updated land use map from c.1984
- Redeveloping a riverfront
- Dealing with crazy county supervisors in competition with the city for development. (they think it's good to have more development OUTSIDE of the city and actually encourage it!)
- Annexation is badly needed. Haven't done it since 1966 except for a few small voluntary ones.
Finally, since there are many puppy lovers among us, I'll add that my joy in life is going home to my 11 mo. old Labradoodle, Linus. No matter how bad the day, he never fails to have us smiling inside of 2 minutes. And for the house fiends, we bought our first house 11 mo. ago and are in the process of renovating it. A smallish 1940 2-story cape cod. I love my house! Is it a bad thing when you view work more as an obstacle to the things you want to do at home than as any kind of time well spent?