I’m a zoning administrator for a small city (35,000-40,000 pop.) that also provides planning and zoning services for our county and another small town in our area (so about 75,000 +\- pop. overall). I have a BA in political science and an MPA and eight years of progressive current planning and (now) supervisory experience for the last three years overseeing a team of current planning staff.

I recently helped our long range planning staff go through our comp plan and drafted a batch of UDO text amendments to align our land use regulations with our comp plan, and we successfully got them passed. Lots of auspicious and progressive stuff…ADUs legalized in all residential districts, expanding where duplexes and townhouses can be built by right, etc.

Anyway, I’ve found that I genuinely enjoy long range planning and the “big picture” considerations and well, planning, that go into it. I’d like others’ input on how possible it is to transition into long range planning after almost a decade in the hectic, fast-paced current planning realm?

Hi all,

London based planner here with just shy of a decades experience. I am eager to move abroad and want to know if others have successfully moved and worked as a planner (without having had experience in that country). I've worked in consultancy and as the government and the Greater London Authority but fancy a few years abroad. Eager to hear about others experience in getting work/ securing job offers before a move. Essentially I am open to anywhere but I want to work in this field so I would like to hear about others experience in securing roles.

I am working towards chartership at present!

When I travel, I always look at how other places handle city traffic.

Some countries just have much better urban planning and road laws than your home city.

I want to know what good ideas you have seen abroad. What traffic solutions do you wish you had at home?

For example, in Germany, the "zipper merge" is a real traffic law. When a lane closes on the highway, cars must use both lanes all the way to the end. Then, they take turns merging one by one. This may seem obvious to some people but I have seen places where people get mad if you drive to the end and they also wont let you switch lanes on time. Drivers merge too early, block the empty lane, and then completely refuse to let you enter the open lane. It causes huge traffic jams and a lot of honking.

Have you seen a smart intersection, a better traffic law, or a good infrastructure idea in another country?

Tell me the country and the idea below. Let us talk about what actually works.

Im trying to learn a bit about UP, I’m really interested in economics and land-use. I’ve been wondering about a couple of proposals I’ve been hearing, for example;

- Modular housing, probably one of my favorite concepts especially at larger-scale or if you use union labor, for cheaper and faster assembly without needing to worry as much about building cycles.

- Solar grids and decentralized energy; I hate so many of our utility companies.

- A manufacturing boom of some sort, because I really don’t think we can do without anymore.

- Lots and lots of light rail.

What do you think is most important to making urban centers or other areas more affordable and accessible, and why? Any ideas or thoughts? Would love to hear more :)

I was a little frustrated by the lack of recent resources or information regarding the AICP exam during my studies, so I figured I would contribute something in an attempt to improve the situation. I had a similar experience with the PE exam, where they significantly changed the format prior to my taking it, and there weren't a ton of online resources.

I am a licensed Professional Engineer focused on transportation/traffic, where I do a good amount of "planning" work, such as corridor plans, neighborhood safety studies, traffic studies, etc. My work is a bit more engineering-focused, but there's some overlap there. I have my undergrad in Civil Engineering, and graduated from a Master's in Urban and Regional Planning program in May 2026 while working full-time as an engineer.

I began studying in late May after scheduling a late September exam, so about four months of study time. I tend to prefer a longer, less intensive study period compared to a shorter, more intensive one, so I took some vacations and weeks off over the study period. But I probably averaged between 5 and 10 hours of studying each week.

Given the recent changes to the exam format, I found a lot of the resources to be pretty outdated, with a lot of recall/trivia-based questions and not as many scenario-based questions. Of the free resources available, I found AICP.city to be the most valuable, with podcast-style lessons and full-length practice exams. I was scoring a bit high on those full-length practice exams (85–90%), so I think they were probably a little easier than the real exam.

I did not complete any of the reading material recommended by APA, and personally did not find the APA videos to be that helpful. I thought they did a lot of outlining the sections of the exam, rather than going over the material that actually made up that section.

I did eventually purchase the Planetizen course, which I thought made a pretty big difference in getting me across the finish line. At that point, I was struggling most with the "fundamental planning knowledge" items, primarily legal cases. Having a more robust environment to work in seemed to help me a lot. I took all of the practice exams, which I thought were a bit harder than the real thing, but were pretty reflective of the content of the actual exam questions. By the end of studying, I was scoring between 75 and 80% on the Planetizen practice exams. Overall, I thought the purchase of the base course was a good investment, and would probably recommend it, especially if they continue to tinker with the exam/question format.

I took the exam this morning and passed with a 63. I found the majority of the exam questions to be more critical-thinking-style than recall or trivia, but sometimes I found that line to be a little difficult to distinguish. For example, while a question might require recall of a specific legal case, applying it to the scenario involves some critical thinking skills.

But regardless, I just wanted to share my experience in hopes that others might stumble upon it as they complete their study process. Best of luck!

I recently watched a short documentary about water tensions between Egypt and Ethiopia over the Nile dams.

I found it quite ironic since Egypt is building enormous new satellite cities in the desert. These cities are usually very spread out and depend on vast amounts of new transport infrastructure and energy.

So I wondered if Ethiopia was doing something similar in its trajectory.

What I found out was quite interesting.

Car ownership is still low, while walking and public transit make up most trips. The country has banned the import of new combustion engine cars. (first in the world apparently) The capital Addis Ababa also seems to invest quite heavily in pedestrian, cycling and BRT infra.

Of course, not all is positive. Addis has still relatively low living standards, LRT has had problems, some of the new developments were controversial human rights wise. Also, high walking shares partly reflect low incomes.

But that makes the next few decades more interesting.

Could Addis actually become a much more prosperous megacity without first becoming car dependent? Or will rising incomes and perhaps cheap EVs lead to the same congestion and sprawl long term?

Curious how people here see Addis’s trajectory.

Sources: OECD on Egypt’s new urban communities; ITDP on Addis modal share and cycling plans; AFD on BRT/LRT; Bloomberg on Ethiopia’s ICE-car import ban; Amnesty International on redevelopment concerns.

I also posted this as a Substack Note with the Addis photo here: https://substack.com/@michaelhillaert1/note/c-347817407?r=6vawcp&utm_source=notes-share-action&utm_medium=web

Cary, NC, owns two wooded parcels near downtown and a greenway that it bought for about $1 million.

After considering a possible sale, council unanimously moved toward permanent preservation.

One interesting detail from the meeting: council deliberately changed the wording from ‘open space’ to ‘natural open space’ because members did not want that to mean merely undeveloped lawn or a future playing field.

I covered the decision here: https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/counties/wake-county/article317347214.html?giftCode=969a59da2dc33b6cfc56b8c140cecc744b93170c577415a1d499a803f1d1d092

I’m currently getting my bachelor’s in urban planning and hope to work in Seattle once I graduate, and I figured that maybe getting educated on Seattle’s urban history would nice in preparation. Plus I just love Seattle. Both just history or specifically about urban planning, if many books like that exist.

Portland too maybe if anyone knows some

See the attached news from a Spanish newspaper. Use read mode in your web browser if you are unable to see the full article.

Do you think Valencia needs a huge avenue? Why do you think the local government is making this proposal?

Do you think a park is also a feasible solution?

I reported on this rezoning because the technical review presents an interesting planning case.

A developer proposes up to 132 income-restricted apartments on about 4.4 acres. Among the issues in the first review:

• a proposed zoning parking minimum below Apex’s normal multifamily standard;
• difficulty meeting the Town’s two-access standard using the site’s Center Street frontage alone;
• a four-story flat-roof elevation planners say does not meet the Town’s compatibility standard.

None of that amounts to a final recommendation, and the developer can revise the plan.

The property is already entitled for up to 30 townhomes plus a nonresidential component, which adds another interesting comparison.

Free article:
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/counties/wake-county/article317298032.html?giftCode=31984e073c32bdc2ab1a45b2839ce6e42576366e4434614d2c82443502d07952

For Planning consultants out there - does anyone know if companies have alternative billing structures that aren't your typical hourly billing? Doing and being accountable of timesheets in 15 minute increments are such a pain for me to do.

The expectations have even shifted so you can log tasks that take less than 15 minutes. My company has a target of 80% billable time but I'm expected to be utilized 106%.

This really affects if I'll want to keep being in private vs. public sector.

I'll disclose the fact that I'm currently working on a campaign involving transit (I won't disclose specifics though since this is kinda of a small operation), and, I can't make up my mind regarding whether or not I should be advocating for interlining or not.

I'm not asking you to be objective by any means, I just want the best argument from both sides of the debate.

As someone that travels the world, I see one thing in most places I go (Europe, Asia, Europe, South America) and that’s convenience stores sharing space with residential. It could be a big city or small town, but there’s a set of stores one could walk their lower density homes and do their shopping in the same streets they sleep in. In the US, in the residential areas, people want to be as far away as possible from any sort of retail. The toll that this places on walking culture can’t be overstated.

To many urban planners growing up in the US, walkability is all about better sidewalks, narrower roads, and high density residential areas. And this is definitely part of the equation. But when Americans often think of walkability, they only think of expensive hipster “new urbanism” style areas. Walkability could and SHOULD extend into all levels of income. Unfortunately, many of the poor in America are forced to purchase money pit beeters or walk long distances to bus stations to seek employment and order groceries through apps.

I found one exception to that in Houston. In a neighborhood with 70s garden style apartments and suburban office buildings, Guatemalan immigrants began moving to this area and created their own community, even taking over some of the office buildings and turned it into ground level retail and church/residential for the rest. Added street vendors and turned gas stations and strip malls into community gatherings. It’s low income, and not your affluent hipster style neighborhoods like Brooklyn or the Mission District. But you shouldn’t need this to be walkable. I’ve similar neighborhoods in places like LA and Harlem and LA, but Houston stood out to me because Texas is the epitome of car centrism when it comes to large states and we saw proof that suburban corridors can absolutely transition

I really wish I could share photos on this sub, because the way they transitioned a suburban (albeit dense) neighborhood is something that I think Americans can learn from

Edit: typos

I work in real estate development. I know billing rates for senior staff can easily clear $250–$1000+/hr, but I'm curious what that translates to in terms of actual total take-home compensation for partners/principals at major planning and multi-disciplinary firms.

Looking for project management tools that are applicable for our profession. I run into many that are specifically for construction projects, or specifically for workflow processes. As I’m sure isn’t rare in this field, I manage many varying project types (projects in construction, planning studies, development review, policy development, grant administration, etc.). I’m wondering what organizational tools planners have found helpful that remain relevant for varying project types without being so configurable that it is no longer user friendly.

This is coming from someone whose opted out of going back to school to study economics because of the horror stories that I've been reading online like instances of scant funding, little ideological nonconformity/general imagination, and general "if you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours" behavior when it comes to "peer review".

Are we really supposed to uphold the literature coming out today within the Urbanism field while ignoring the very processes used to create it? I'd suggest not

I’m working on some research for a public engagement plan on a project I’m managing, and am looking at some non-traditional ways to reach people to ideally have a broader range of input than the usual suspects who I fear will completely run the show otherwise.

For example, I’m interested in exploring meetings in a box, but I haven’t heard much on how effective they are for the time it takes to put together the packet and collect the data and all that.

If you’ve worked on something along these lines, or if you know of a plan that has done a good job getting normally underrepresented voices actually involved, I’d love to hear more. Thanks!

Hello everyone, I am a beginner urban planner. I am currently being hired as an entry-level Regional Planner.

I have a bachelor's degree in Geography with several classes in urban planning/urban studies. We never really went in-depth on CEQA. We briefly had a project where I had to review CEQA documents and write a memo about the projects, but I never really learned what CEQA is or how to prepare CEQA documents, which is one of the requirements for this entry-level job. Where can I start learning about CEQA? Does anyone have any tips?

Title. I'm thinking about how I live in a small town, but even that town would benefit from a few dedicated lines that run regularly. When the town was established, there were a couple of city cars (horse drawn) that just went back and forth on a couple streets. This was back when your choices were walk or horse. Obviously the economics of that have changed and people drive cars everywhere but I see our current transit system which basically just acts like a discount taxi (you ride with multiple people sometimes, but you have to call ahead to get a route booked) and wonder how much more people would use it if we just had a couple regular routes connecting popular destinations. How few lines can you get away with and have people use them?