Urban and Regional Planning

Macdaddy4738

Macdaddy4738

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 1, 2005
Any one have any experience with this college major?

What are the job outlooks after college for this? (With a GIS Cert.) It'll take me about the same amount of time if I were to switch (actually, one semester hour LESS if I did...go figure). On top of that, Im just one class away from having a Biology minor. I would guess in the world of everyone pushing for "Going Green" a Urban/Regional Planner with a Bio. Minor would be a plus? I have a friend who majored in essentially the same deal, and I know he works for a group of Saudi's and makes bank (Im thinking he was getting low 6 figures right out of college..)

Thinking about switching out of Biology. I can't deal with these Chem professors here anymore. Taking Chem 1 and Chem 2 should NOT take me 2 years...and thats even with me studying my ass off. Im tired of getting professors who think that we are wasting their time with classes and that we should learn everything ourselves :shaking:

On top of that, I don't think Biology fits me, personality wise. I need something hands on. Bio seems more like, hands on for a few days, then spend weeks in lab. I want something where Im always out doing something. Hell, I would still be an Industrial Design Major here, if the program wasnt so terrible.
 
Don't let the Chemistry classes decide your future. My wife is a microbiologist. In college, chemistry kicked her butt, but she stuck with it, (repeated some of it) and finished.
 
Macdaddy4738 said:
Bio seems more like, hands on for a few days, then spend weeks in lab. I want something where Im always out doing something.
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I can't help you, but I really don't understand thsi statement.
What could possibly be more "hands on" than Biology? Weeks in lab? Isn't that the very definition of being "hands on"? That's whn you're actually DOING the work, SEEING the science in action. In the world of science, if you're not doing labwork, you're doing paperwork/writing. What else could could you be "out doing"?

Oh and BTW I have a PhD in Neurobiology and as of Monday, my official titles will be "Biologist". Yet I have only taken 1 real chemistry class in my life, that was in high school, I barely passed for the year.
My BS is from App but in Psych so I avoided all the hard stuff then... of course I had to bust rump to make up for it later when I moved into neuroscience...
 
Macdaddy4738 said:
Any one have any experience with this college major?

What are the job outlooks after college for this? (With a GIS Cert.) It'll take me about the same amount of time if I were to switch (actually, one semester hour LESS if I did...go figure).
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Your biggest sources of employment are municipalities and universities. Seems like the folks in planning needed Masters or PhDs before they got into decent money and job security. That's just my secondhand impression, though.

Take your time on this one. No sense in rushing into a 2nd major change.
 
saf-t scissors said:
Your biggest sources of employment are municipalities and universities. Seems like the folks in planning needed Masters or PhDs before they got into decent money and job security. That's just my secondhand impression, though.
Take your time on this one. No sense in rushing into a 2nd major change.
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I agree... Your buddy making 6 figures out of college is I'd say 1 in 100,000,000,000 chance.. Honestly I'd expect working for a city gov't you'd start off maybe low 30's...

Your Masters would be better or get a PhD if you want to teach school...

I dont hear much from the planning side of things but anyone i've dealt with in a "planning role" has worked for some gov't entity sitting behind a desk reviewing plans, etc.
 
well I guess I should put it this way...

I work best when I am being tested for my skill, not how good I am at memorizing a bunch of powerpoint slides, or some chemical nomenclature.

Some people I know can sit in the Library for hours reading over slide after slide. I just cant do that. I end up forgetting half the crap, then getting bored with it, then just getting pissed and leaving.

However, I can spend hours building something, sitting in front of a computer drawing something or putting together some sort of project.

I suppose thats what I mean by hands on...

Edit* Should also mention, my friend was a GIS guy only. Nothing besides that. He graduated in '04
 
Don't knock the chemistry/biology so much, yes the classes are hard but once you get the hang of it, it's not that bad.

As far as the hands on aspect of it goes. I'm a chemist and I am hands on everyday developing new products. I get some crazy projects that come thru the lab that really challenge me. Once I come up with a new product then I get to apply that product in real life. You can't get more hands on than that.

Don't get discouraged, if you like to build things think about chemical engineering.
 
its not so much the biology classes. Those are actually pretty easy for me really...

Its these stupid chem. classes.
 
Macdaddy4738 said:
well I guess I should put it this way...

I work best when I am being tested for my skill, not how good I am at memorizing a bunch of powerpoint slides, or some chemical nomenclature.

Some people I know can sit in the Library for hours reading over slide after slide. I just cant do that. I end up forgetting half the crap, then getting bored with it, then just getting pissed and leaving.

However, I can spend hours building something, sitting in front of a computer drawing something or putting together some sort of project.

I suppose thats what I mean by hands on...

Edit* Should also mention, my friend was a GIS guy only. Nothing besides that. He graduated in '04
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Well sounds like you would have been better suited for an engineering major... But if Chem is bad... try the math professors... Calc I, II, and III and Dif Eq and of all of them, I could barely understand anything they said.
 
uncc civilengineer said:
Well sounds like you would have been better suited for an engineering major... But if Chem is bad... try the math professors... Calc I, II, and III and Dif Eq and of all of them, I could barely understand anything they said.
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Don't forget Probability and Statistics...The first time I took that at UNCC, the professor mathematically proved on the board that every cat in Charlotte is blue. Now, I've never seen a blue cat, but if I didn't know what a cat was, I would believe that every damn one of them in Charlotte was blue. The second time I took the class, he left that out of his lectures.
 
VortecJeep said:
Don't forget Probability and Statistics...The first time I took that at UNCC, the professor mathematically proved on the board that every cat in Charlotte is blue. Now, I've never seen a blue cat, but if I didn't know what a cat was, I would believe that every damn one of them in Charlotte was blue. The second time I took the class, he left that out of his lectures.
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Oh yeah.. Probability and Stat for Engineers was fun :shaking: I never made over a 40 on a test (class average was maybe mid 50's) and ended up with a "B" in the class... Absolutely a waste of time. Even the Stat grad student grading the papers couldnt solve the problems... Teacher was a Russian... Dr. Kazcheck (sp?) or something..
 
What?!?!?!
Prob and stats was one of my favorite classes of all time...seriously..

I took 12 hours of statistics and 8 were elective
 
SkyHiK5 said:
What?!?!?!
Prob and stats was one of my favorite classes of all time...seriously..

I took 12 hours of statistics and 8 were elective
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You didn't take them in the UNCC math department. Like UNCCcivilengineer, I also never had a passing grade on a Prob/Stat test (highest was a 61), and I got an A in the class.
The engineering department had some good teachers with a few exceptions, the math department had some terrible teachers, with no exceptions that I'm aware of.
 
I started at ECU as an Urban and Regional Planning major. After 2 semesters I quickly realized that I'd be working for the govt. with little pay, tough job market, and no real future unless I wanted to run for a "city planner" position.

I moved to Design and Drafting as they had some of the same core classes. Ended up with Construction Management and I think I made the best move.

Biology isn't that hard. If it is, look for a different professor


Look for something math related. Its all easy! :D
 
saf-t scissors said:
They're fawking high. :shaking:

There's not a career related to planning or the construction industry that was a "best career" choice for 2009.
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Urban Planning is not necessarily tethered to the ups and downs of the construction industry. Think about it, what better time to formulate growth management strategies than when new development slows down? But I understand your point. The list of "best careers" during an economic downturn is obviously pretty short.
 
GSW said:
Urban Planning is not necessarily tethered to the ups and downs of the construction industry. Think about it, what better time to formulate growth management strategies than when new development slows down? But I understand your point. The list of "best careers" during an economic downturn is obviously pretty short.
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Because all the municipalities laid those guys off when they had to balance the budget. Might as well, there weren't any plan submittals to review.

And don't even get me started on "formulating growth management strategies" or zoning or comprehensive planning. I'm not really sure how to fix planning in this country, but it's all crap. It's all based in fairy tale assumptions with its realization predicated on a non-existent central planning bureaucracy. Planning "scholarship" looks to Europe as a model, but ignores differences in governmental structure and overlooks failures and undesired outcomes when translating their Utopian manifestos to the states.
 
saf-t scissors said:
Because all the municipalities laid those guys off when they had to balance the budget. Might as well, there weren't any plan submittals to review.
And don't even get me started on "formulating growth management strategies" or zoning or comprehensive planning. I'm not really sure how to fix planning in this country, but it's all crap. It's all based in fairy tale assumptions with its realization predicated on a non-existent central planning bureaucracy. Planning "scholarship" looks to Europe as a model, but ignores differences in governmental structure and overlooks failures and undesired outcomes when translating their Utopian manifestos to the states.
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There were layoffs in jurisdictions with already sketchy budgets. And some of the jobs that I've seen cut are already being rehired. But I'm sure you know that a Muni or County Planning Dept does more than just plan review for new development or construction.

Obviously you've got a negative association with your local govt, but long range plans and Zoning ordinances are drafted by planners and "tweaked" by elected officials. At that point it's out of the professional planner's hands and at the mercy of politicians. Maybe your scenario could more correctly be traced to an elected board's decision, which is unfortunately influenced less by logic than would be optimal. And everything in local govt is driven by public input and the loudest voices arent' always the most rational.

Not sure where you got the "European model" stuff or who "they" are. Obviously we all understand that Europe is much more densely populated which lends itself to better public transit networks. So it's not really fair to say that those differences are ignored. It would be nice if we had more public transit options in the US, but it's just not practical beyond the small regional scale (Raleigh/Durham for instance). But what we do have is an extensive transportation network of public roads. NC has the 2nd most state road miles in the nation. Texas just eclipsed us a year or so ago. We can all point out problems with the road system but good planning is what manages access, identifies growth corridors, ensures compatibility of uses and minimizes impact to sensitive areas or neighborhoods. But there are always misfires and poor planning can certainly be at fault.

You hit the nail on the head as far as overlooking past failures and poor outcomes. Some things just boggle the mind, but again you have to consider who the actual decision makers are. A lot of those head scratcher decisions were probably made contrary to staff recommendations.

It's all based in fairy tale assumptions with its realization predicated on a non-existent central planning bureaucracy.
I'm not entirely sure I understand where you're going with this one, so I won't wager a guess.
 
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