#College Load for City Planners

1 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)

idle belfry
#

Can I join the APA as a first-year undergrad at USF (University of South Florida)? I’m asking this for this specific college bc I’m not 100% sure if I have to be in an accredited planning degree program to join it. Also another question about the APA, can we opt out if we change our mind about getting into urban planning?

sinful atlas
idle belfry
#

How much are the dues?

sinful atlas
#

Free = $0

opaque oar
#

Question for any city planners: I’m going into college and I’ve been very interested in city planning for a while now, but I don’t know how fine a line city planners walked between light or heavy stem courses. Is it necessary to focus on engineering or other applied sciences? If so, to what degree? What other subjects should I know of? Thanks for any responses.

ripe plume
#

I'm sure some <@&787910105185124392> can give a more accurate response for the US (where I'm guessing you're from). Having said that, personally I don't need heavy stem-knowledge (even if it may give a slight edge sometimes)

Edit: I should probably add that given my focus on climate it does help to know something about the weather and some basic water related engineering, but that really depends on what exactly you'd want to be doing later.

viscid jolt
#

tbh I haven't encountered any need for engineering or applied sciences but you may encounter business-like classes as well as interactions with polices

#

Transit management does touch into the business side

grave basin
#

It depends on the aspect of the field you get into. I do local government and have a under grad in Environmental sciences. It's a nice background for chatting with engineers and surveyors to have an understanding of soils and geology when concerning wetland/shoreland code and placement of commerical sites. To me, one of the big components of land use planning is being concious of our remaining natural resources.

wild quartz
#

So a general planner dosen't really need that much knowledge in the stem fields, but having background knowledge in natural resources (especially climate related) is always a benefit. I would also say having an understanding of sociology is a huge plus for more urban design and development. Your STEM really kicks in for the more specialized planners (planners, transportation, planning engineer, climate, etc.)

#

So it depends on what your goal is when becoming a planner.

grave basin
#

Geography is probably pretty crucial on that note. Though is it considered stem?

#

Don't worry about completely locking yourself in if you don't end up taking certain classes. There are always webinars and continuing education stuff where you pick up things over the years.

wild quartz
opaque oar
#

Yeah I’m not trying to completely avoid stem classes I just don’t want to do the same courses that civil engineers or similar occupations do

#

Good to know there’s flexibility though

wild quartz
wild quartz
# opaque oar Yeah I’m not trying to completely avoid stem classes I just don’t want to do the...

I will say that sharing one or two classes could also be beneficial in the long run because it allows you to speak to them in their technical language. You could act as a bridge between planning and engineers. I did that with architecture and fire technology, so I am able to have very productive conversations with architects and fire chiefs/personnel regarding projects because I have a better time explaining planning concepts in their lexicon.

opaque oar
#

Good to know

#

How would you describe a city planners relationship to the rest of a local government? Like do you have equal say to engineers in public works or other faculties or is it more of one department planning and the other department executing?

white moat
#

Afaik, different departments have jurisdiction over only their own departments

#

Chain of command essentially

languid nacelle
#

I'm working as a planning consultant in the transportation realm. I took no STEM courses but did learn GIS in grad school which was very helpful, and things from statistics/quantitative techniques have come in handy

opaque oar
#

Gis is the topography thing right?

languid nacelle
#

geographic information systems. basically a fancy way of saying "mapping stuff"

opaque oar
#

Fancy

languid nacelle
#

so that can include topography but also street attributes, zoning, demographic information, utilities locations, etc.

#

it feels a lot like playing cities skylines sometimes

white moat
#

Just far less intuitive

#

And a HUD from 1999

languid nacelle
#

gotta get on that QGIS train!!

#

or at least ArcGIS Pro

ripe plume
errant goblet
#

You can do so much with GIS if you have the opportunity to take classes on GIS take them, the skill is incredibly useful to employers post college.

opaque oar
#

Will do it sounds rad

white moat
#

It was really difficult to learn

#

I took one semester, and decided this is a terrible system

#

Then focused on private development and affordable housing

errant goblet
#

If you have only arcmap just forget learning it go with QGis

#

😂

languid nacelle
livid pawn
#

As someone who is an engineer, you probably don't need thermodynamics, statics, dynamics, maths beyond algebra, hydraulics, electricity and magnetism, other physics courses.

Things that have been helpful to me as an environmental planner: chemistry, ecology, hydrology, industry experience as a civil engineer, air quality classes, physics of climate, and calculus (for heavy modeling of GHG and AQ impacts and only for understanding how the model calculates numbers). But I'm not an urban or city planner.

#

I also took a thermodynamics course that was a combination of organic chemistry and thermo. Very difficult course. I haven't had to use that one bit...

All experience will help, some help more than others though.

lament saddle
lament saddle
errant goblet
#

I feel like as much as you learn in college it will only take you so far, internships can (only on some will provide good relevant experience) be incredibly useful in learning more about the field you are thinking about. For classes just do what you think is interesting. What interests you will lend itself to being easy to learn.

lament saddle
pallid cave
#

As someone who has a career in GIS, I agree that GIS is a very useful skill that will make you more attractive to employers, a dedicated career in GIS alone can be very difficult. I majored in GIS in college under the impression GIS was this up and coming field that would explode any minute. However, now that I’m in the workforce, I understand that GIS is seen as a skill set and less of a specialization.

wooden moss
#

I’ve seen some amazing answers already to this question— and I’d like to echo some of it. I think a healthy amount of science classes (or a minor in a stem field) will likely help in your planning career, whether you go in the public or private route.

#

If your in America I would highly suggest joining American Planning Association (APA). Many local chapters have programs for up coming planners or students for networking and mentoring. They also discuss all the different career paths you can go into depending on your interest. Especially since your starting out, I wouldn’t close any doors and really explore what planning can offer!

white moat
#

Take courses in private Development, housing, and maybe budgeting

#

Public Administration course can be really helpful

idle belfry
#

I’m planning on majoring in economics (BA) with a minor in urban studies in during my undergrad years, do you think that’s a great combination in terms of being prepared for a city planning job?

#

Or going to grad school for city planning?

lament saddle
#

Economics is a good perspective to have. I think the best part about planning is that there is no perfect recipe for success. Do what you feel is interesting and might be a good contribution. The real magic in getting into planning is internships and selling yourself. How can you be an asset given your skills and education

rugged python
#

Lots of good stuff in this chain. I'm in Canada so it varies, but we have degrees specifically for planning. Lots of planning classes, but our classes encompass these areas and more:
-sociology
-economics
-political sciences (mostly policy, administration, governance type stuff)
-natural resource management
-lots of geography (including GIS)
-statistics (also data management and inputting)
-design (digital mostly, photoshop and sketchup)

Here's the link to our program catalogue: https://programs.usask.ca/arts-and-science/regional-and-urban-planning/ba-4-regional-urban-plan.php#B4MajorRequirement6063creditunits

Bachelor of Arts Four-year (B.A. Four-year) - University Catalogue...
forest swallow
#

It also varies the demographics of the program, and how cognizant the admin is to their population. I can't go to drinks with any new friends or group mates in class because they need a babysitter.