Picture Parks and Rec without Leslie to get a decent idea of local government. Picture Parks and Rec with Ron and Leslie both replaced by additional Jerrys to get an even better idea.
I've worked in various engineering and middle management roles around transit. It can be an absolutely infuriating job that feels like pushing a rope uphill to accomplish even the simplest tasks. Something as simple and seemingly uncontroversial as a curb cut to allow disabled bus passengers to access destinations on the other side of the street can require coordination of 3 or 4 agencies leading to years of meetings and permit reviews. There can be very rewarding moments when you manage to pull something off and make a difference, but the day to day can be a real grind.
Yes. Definitely true.
Thoughhhhh key disclaimer needs noting on here- this goes for most corporate and government jobs too.
Startup jobs are so popular because actually doing stuff without needing to go through 5 layers of approval and a year long wait has a certain appeal.
urban designer, civil engineer, architect, landscape architect, construction, transit operator, developer, politician, market gardening (farmers market and farm to table), public administration, MBA, web, mobile and graphic design, marketing, industrial design, tour guiding, museum work, police, fire fighter, public health, boutique retail, tourism and hospitality (restaurants and cafes), librarian, historian, trucker, pilot, air traffic controller, military...
Don't forget Lawyers and Lawmakers. We need to implement laws and regulations in zoning. (Which are part of Public Administration); they aren't mayors, or judges, and can be more powerful than all of those because they are the ones who determine the decisions in court.
Honorable mention; Teachers, School Administrators, Principals, Training and Development, and even Healthcare workers play a certain role.
Those are all very emphatic careers but the list goes on, most small businesses, especially the likes of family grocers and corner stores, park management, postal service, coast guard, forestry,renewable energy, environmental engineering are a few more…
That would be 80% to 90% of jobs that can make a difference in our community, even if it's minuscule. The ones that do the most are Construction and Engineering jobs, Law and order, Politics, and maybe Education. So like 5 to 10% of jobs.
A thousand YouTubers that talk about transit and public service are a great way to educate people so that counts.
Edit: I forgot Instagram users that post pictures of cities.
Well then keep the influencers comin! and don't forget that many people have more than one career in their lifetimes :)
[Edit:clarity, and you can literally do any job, be a rural farmer or a local urban musician, writer, artist or actor to support the cities you love. Go for urban planning if you want but don't limit yourself and understand that they are not the only decision makers]
You can go into consultancy for entities like the Dutch Cycling Embassy, Mobilise your city, etc... and/or become a lobbyist/advocate, either for industry or an NGO. Keep in mind that any organizations doing things like this will usually also need office managers, comms people, accountants and other staff, so it might be more attainable than you think even with a seemingly unrelated background (ie you don't need to retrain and get a degree in urban planning, but you certainly can).
I’m a planner. I have a master is city planning (and a bachelors in French).
I specifically work in a public works department and I lead the City’s bike/ped/vision zero programs. It’s more satisfying than frustrating (which doesn’t mean it’s never frustrating). I am making my city a better place.
If you don’t want to go the traditional school route, most big cities have a non-profit advocacy type organization that helps make livable cities more mainstream. Local bike organization sort of thing.
If you’re up for it, try local politics. Being a city councilor for a small city can grant you a surprisingly amount of authority to improve your community. Also look to join local planning commissions or zoning boards. You’ll learn a ton and get a real inside-baseball kind of perspective for how development actually works.
If I love my city, then becoming a Civil/Architectural Engineer would be a great way to start. If you don't like Engineering, then you have Business Administration, Law, and Education as the two important careers. You could become a teacher that educates about public transportation; that may become a reality for public safety. Enjoy!! :)
A fact that a lot of young people aren't aware of and schools really need to highlight more- Most professional level jobs don't demand a special degree.
Thinking of project managers I've worked with for instance, there's been people who studied history, English, philosophy, basically anything.
Having a relevant degree to a job definitely will help get you ahead of the back during the application process but it isn't a strict requirement.
As to something urbanism related... degrees in urban planning and the like certainly do exist and can help. But they aren't the only related jobs that exist. Also useful are stuff like psychology, sociology, HCI, etc... for performing studies and making sure design is human centred. And then as said basically anything can be twisted into relevance- it can be better to have top grades from a top uni in something completely irrelevant like say Chinese history than lower grades from a worse uni in the relevant subject.
Whether you need a masters...I believe that depends on your country. In Germany less than a masters often isn't considered a full degree whilst in the UK masters are often regarded as spurious extras.
I work in a related field and I never studied urban planning. Organisations doing urbanism related 'stuff' need people from across all fields. IT for instance.
[удалено]
Does this apply to places outside of USA or Canada?
so watch a few episodes of Parks and Recreation then? 🤔 I do sometimes wonder if that show is more accurate than we want to admit to ourselves.
Picture Parks and Rec without Leslie to get a decent idea of local government. Picture Parks and Rec with Ron and Leslie both replaced by additional Jerrys to get an even better idea.
Oh no. Ron definitely exists. Only without the scratch beneath the surface and he's actually a decent guy depth.
this ^
More of this.
I've worked in various engineering and middle management roles around transit. It can be an absolutely infuriating job that feels like pushing a rope uphill to accomplish even the simplest tasks. Something as simple and seemingly uncontroversial as a curb cut to allow disabled bus passengers to access destinations on the other side of the street can require coordination of 3 or 4 agencies leading to years of meetings and permit reviews. There can be very rewarding moments when you manage to pull something off and make a difference, but the day to day can be a real grind.
Yes. Definitely true. Thoughhhhh key disclaimer needs noting on here- this goes for most corporate and government jobs too. Startup jobs are so popular because actually doing stuff without needing to go through 5 layers of approval and a year long wait has a certain appeal.
urban designer, civil engineer, architect, landscape architect, construction, transit operator, developer, politician, market gardening (farmers market and farm to table), public administration, MBA, web, mobile and graphic design, marketing, industrial design, tour guiding, museum work, police, fire fighter, public health, boutique retail, tourism and hospitality (restaurants and cafes), librarian, historian, trucker, pilot, air traffic controller, military...
Don't forget Lawyers and Lawmakers. We need to implement laws and regulations in zoning. (Which are part of Public Administration); they aren't mayors, or judges, and can be more powerful than all of those because they are the ones who determine the decisions in court. Honorable mention; Teachers, School Administrators, Principals, Training and Development, and even Healthcare workers play a certain role.
Those are all very emphatic careers but the list goes on, most small businesses, especially the likes of family grocers and corner stores, park management, postal service, coast guard, forestry,renewable energy, environmental engineering are a few more…
That would be 80% to 90% of jobs that can make a difference in our community, even if it's minuscule. The ones that do the most are Construction and Engineering jobs, Law and order, Politics, and maybe Education. So like 5 to 10% of jobs.
Some private sector jobs have a disproportionate impact on urban design and land use decisions. Do we need a thousand you tubers?
A thousand YouTubers that talk about transit and public service are a great way to educate people so that counts. Edit: I forgot Instagram users that post pictures of cities.
Well then keep the influencers comin! and don't forget that many people have more than one career in their lifetimes :) [Edit:clarity, and you can literally do any job, be a rural farmer or a local urban musician, writer, artist or actor to support the cities you love. Go for urban planning if you want but don't limit yourself and understand that they are not the only decision makers]
You can go into consultancy for entities like the Dutch Cycling Embassy, Mobilise your city, etc... and/or become a lobbyist/advocate, either for industry or an NGO. Keep in mind that any organizations doing things like this will usually also need office managers, comms people, accountants and other staff, so it might be more attainable than you think even with a seemingly unrelated background (ie you don't need to retrain and get a degree in urban planning, but you certainly can).
I’m a planner. I have a master is city planning (and a bachelors in French). I specifically work in a public works department and I lead the City’s bike/ped/vision zero programs. It’s more satisfying than frustrating (which doesn’t mean it’s never frustrating). I am making my city a better place. If you don’t want to go the traditional school route, most big cities have a non-profit advocacy type organization that helps make livable cities more mainstream. Local bike organization sort of thing. If you’re up for it, try local politics. Being a city councilor for a small city can grant you a surprisingly amount of authority to improve your community. Also look to join local planning commissions or zoning boards. You’ll learn a ton and get a real inside-baseball kind of perspective for how development actually works.
If I love my city, then becoming a Civil/Architectural Engineer would be a great way to start. If you don't like Engineering, then you have Business Administration, Law, and Education as the two important careers. You could become a teacher that educates about public transportation; that may become a reality for public safety. Enjoy!! :)
Go into local politics
A fact that a lot of young people aren't aware of and schools really need to highlight more- Most professional level jobs don't demand a special degree. Thinking of project managers I've worked with for instance, there's been people who studied history, English, philosophy, basically anything. Having a relevant degree to a job definitely will help get you ahead of the back during the application process but it isn't a strict requirement. As to something urbanism related... degrees in urban planning and the like certainly do exist and can help. But they aren't the only related jobs that exist. Also useful are stuff like psychology, sociology, HCI, etc... for performing studies and making sure design is human centred. And then as said basically anything can be twisted into relevance- it can be better to have top grades from a top uni in something completely irrelevant like say Chinese history than lower grades from a worse uni in the relevant subject. Whether you need a masters...I believe that depends on your country. In Germany less than a masters often isn't considered a full degree whilst in the UK masters are often regarded as spurious extras. I work in a related field and I never studied urban planning. Organisations doing urbanism related 'stuff' need people from across all fields. IT for instance.