Category: Recommendation

Buying Your First Home: A Student’s Guide

January 23, 2024 / odrozd

By Sneha Bora

Purchasing your first home is a major milestone that requires immense preparation and guidance.

Before embarking on your housing search, you’ll want to have a crystal-clear understanding on the step-by-step process and responsibilities required to make this exceptionally worthwhile investment. Though the upfront effort is demanding, I promise the payoff of homeownership far outweighs the complexities along the way!

This comprehensive guide was provided by one of the special guest speakers during the Fall 2023 PLAN 720: Planning Methods class, Kitty Stockton (Kitty@KittyStockton.com), a real estate agent in North Carolina. This guide will equip you to confidently navigate the first-time homebuyer journey with the assistance of trained, ethical professionals. Let’s explore the key phases together:

1. Get Financially Prepared

You can’t begin house hunting without a stable income and credit. Spend the next 1-2 years establishing yourself professionally while paying down debts and avoiding unnecessary expenses. Aim to save enough cash for a 10-20% down payment and cover closing costs. Meet with mortgage lenders to get pre-approved with a competitive interest rate. They’ll evaluate factors like your income, savings, credit score, and existing debts to determine an affordable loan amount.

2. Assemble Your Real Estate Team

A reliable real estate agent and lender well-versed in guiding first-time home buyers is absolutely vital. Have candid conversations with them about your financial reality. Together, you’ll create a realistic timeline for achieving homeownership based on local housing inventory and costs. Lean on these partners for insider tips! Foster relationships rooted in trust by asking questions.

3. Perform a Methodical Property Search

Once pre-approved, now the fun part begins – browsing listings in preferred neighborhoods! Your agent will ensure accessibility to all houses on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS). Take your time identifying must-have features. Schedule showings for contenders that measure up on paper. Then vet the homes thoroughly in person, possibly revisiting favorites.

Even if emotionally attached to a home, refrain from compromising on defects or restrictions incompatible with your lifestyle vision. Consider conveniences like proximity to public transit, tailorable spaces as your family grows, low-maintenance yards, and ample natural light. New buildings may better suit long-term needs but come at a premium cost.

4. Submit Your Offer & Negotiate

When confident a home perfectly matches your wish list, collaborate with your agent to compose an enticing offer highlighting your strengths as a buyer, including a large down payment, ideal financing, waived contingencies, and flexibility on possession date. Outline proposed purchase terms like price, deposit amount, desired closing date, and inspection response deadline to convey your seriousness as prospective. Brace for some back and forth before aligning on an acceptable sale contract. Even in ultra-competitive market conditions, keep your composure and responsibly advocate for yourself. Don’t be afraid to walk away from properties if you are feeling forced into uncomfortable compromises that do not reflect your budget and priorities.

5. Complete Due Diligence & Finalize Transaction

This next stage entails securing an appraisal to confirm a fair market value while also thoroughly assessing the condition of the home’s systems, structures, and surroundings. Schedule inspector walkthroughs to uncover any issues. If you uncover any defects, request that the seller covers specific repairs or provide a closing credit. At the same time, submit documentation for mortgage underwriting and apply for homeowners’ insurance based on property specifics like age and location. Carefully review policies from multiple insurance providers. You are nearly at the finish line! Connect with your chosen attorney to handle closing logistics and paperwork as required in our state.

During the final walkthrough 24 to 48 hours prior to closing, verify that the dwelling is vacant and damage-free. Then, review with agents and the lender to finalize the amount of money due. Secure a wire transfer or cashier’s check for this amount owed. At the closing appointment, sign the paperwork to transfer ownership officially. Once recorded, you will gain the keys to your sparkling new residence.

The satisfaction of planting roots in a home personally tailored to your family is well worth weathering the many intricacies of purchasing real estate. Stay the course with your trusted advisors until you settle into your ideal abode!

KEY POINTS TO NOTE:

Agents must establish clear contractual relationships – termed “agency” – with home buyers and sellers per state regulations. These affiliates owe certain ethical duties based on client type. Let’s explore common structures.

Seller’s Agent

A listing agent solely represents the home seller’s interests. They market the property to try securing optimal terms and price. The agent must disclose all the important points to potential buyers. Compensation comes from the final sale commission.

Buyer’s Agent

As a buyer’s agent, all efforts focus on locating ideal homes for clients and negotiating advantageous deals on their behalf. Buyers pay fees upon closing.

Dual Agent

Occurs when one agent or agency represents both the buyer and the seller in a transaction. This poses an inherent conflict of interest. Confidentiality gets compromised as neutrality is maintained among both parties. Strategies to reduce risks include designating one salesperson to exclusively assist only the buyer or seller.

Non-represented (“For Sale by Owner”/FSBO)

Sellers acting as their own agent must still ensure buyer agents understand they solely assist the buyer. If sellers offer the buyer’s agent compensation, then the party must develop a payment agreement that pre-outlines commission terms to avoid misunderstandings.

KEY TALKING POINTS:

1. Buyers should inquire:

– Will you act as my personal buyer’s agent? If not, who do you represent?

– What are your fiduciary responsibilities to me as the client versus to the seller?

– How will you be paid at closing?

2. Sellers should inquire about:

– Marketing plan and timeline to list/show my home

– Expected compensation structure and split if co-op agent procures buyer – What paperwork is required for listing representation?

– Under what conditions can the buyer’s agent preview my home?

– Can I expect direct referrals or do you rep buyers with other firms?

3. Additionally, both buyers and sellers should clarify:

– Length of the agency agreement

– Typical commission rates in the local market

– Options if unable to reach concurrence on fees

– Steps the firm takes to reduce risks in dual agency situations

Sneha Bora, a first-year master’s student at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, is deeply engaged in the City and Regional Planning program. Specializing in Land Use and Environmental Planning, she currently serves as the program coordinator for her specialization. With a passion for using data analysis to enhance community resilience and restore ecological balance, Sneha brings a dedicated focus to her studies. Beyond academics, she enjoys exploring new recreational spots, sketching as a graphic illustrator and hitting the gym.

Edited by Annie Oommen

Featured image courtesy of Zillow

How Raleigh Should Earn the “E” in their ETOD

September 12, 2023 / odrozd

By Amy Grace Watkins

What is Transit-Oriented Development?

In urban planning, what does TOD stand for? It depends on who you ask! It could be Transit-Oriented Development, Design, or Displacement. In the 1990s, Peter Calthrope popularized the term as Transit-Oriented Development and the planning framework quickly spread across the world. The goal of TOD is to invest in transit centers to increase transit access, reduce the need for cars, and spur economic growth by bringing development to the area.

In Raleigh, the planning team has recently added to the mix of TOD definitions by adding an “E” to make ETOD or Equitable Transit-Oriented Development. Their policies and plans aim to combat the possible gentrification and displacement that has been associated with TOD projects in other cities (Chapple & Loukaitou-Sideris 2022). But based on Raleigh’s Equitable Transit-Oriented Guidebook, I argue that Raleigh has not yet earned the E of ETOD due to their weak policies around affordable housing and unclear public engagement efforts.

To create TOD that is not just for the wealthy and well-connected, Raleigh put forth a “policy toolkit” in the ETOD Guidebook. The main policy with teeth in this guidebook is zoning for TOD Overlay Districts to build upon current Transit-Overlay Districts. Updated into the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) in October of 2021 by Raleigh’s City Council, TOD Districts are the “core zoning mechanism to achieve goals addressed in this plan” (City of Raleigh 2022). These districts will encourage development by offering bonuses for increased density, mixed-use, and affordable housing. This also means that money will quickly rush into these TOD Overlay Districts to capture these development opportunities. As they are, the policies may not be enough to combat the risk of gentrification and displacement in rapidly developing areas.

In the book “Transit-Oriented Displacement or Community Dividends?,” planning academics Karen Chapple and Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris (2022) find that there is a strong correlation between gentrification and TODs in the Bay Area. The root cause of gentrification and displacement, however, is notoriously difficult to define because of the many factors involved from individual choice to state-level politics. In short, Chapple and Loukaitou-Sideris find that upscaling and upzoning areas often results in the displacement of vulnerable communities, which can be accelerated by transit system construction (2022, 8). In order to protect vulnerable communities, Chapple and Loukaitou suggest that density bonuses for affordable housing should be required in TODs, and most importantly, vulnerable communities should be consulted through public engagement about the location of TODs (2022, 272). By doing so, the authors believe that done correctly, TODs can be an answer to the increasing housing crisis in California. A crisis that the Triangle region also knows well.

Raleigh’s ETOD

The good news is that Raleigh’s Equitable Transit-Oriented Development (ETOD) does take density bonuses seriously and aims policies at building more affordable units in the TOD Overlay Districts. Density bonuses encourage developers to include affordable housing by allowing them to build larger buildings. The affordable units, however, have a short lifespan. The plan states, “Within the program, affordability terms would be set at 50% AMI for 30 years based on the City of Raleigh’s desire to provide long-term affordable housing options in the corridors” (City of Raleigh 2020, 89).

In this context, AMI stands for Area Median Income, which describes the midpoint of the income distribution in a given area. In a rapidly growing area like Raleigh, the 30-year time span is far from “long-term affordability” and seems to guarantee unaffordability in 30 years or delayed displacement at best. In order to make these TOD Overlay Districts a success for all residents regardless of income, the ETOD program needs a more robust plan for affordable housing in these areas that guarantees opportunities for low- and middle-income residents for years to come. At a minimum, ETOD should increase the terms to 50 years in order to allow for more housing to be built and for low-income individuals and families to stay in their community.

According to HUD, the typical household stays in assisted housing six years, four years for families with children, and nine years for elderly residents (McClure 2017). This means that Raleigh has the potential to double the amount of low-income residents housed by increasing the term by 20 years. With the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program, a federal affordable housing program established under 26 U.S.C. §42, affordable units are required for 30 years at a minimum (2022). In order to show Raleigh’s commitment to sustainable affordability downtown, the policy around TOD Overlay Districts should be updated to go beyond the federal minimum to offer 50 years of affordability.

Public Engagement Needs

Beyond policies for affordability, the City of Raleigh needs to prioritize extensive and equitable public engagement. The plan cites public engagement as a part of the process but fails to provide numbers or detailed descriptions about the type of engagement events, the number of people engaged, or the demographics of these events around the ETOD program. As Chapple and Loukaitou-Sideris mentioned in their work, this is a very important aspect of equitable transit planning.

The lack of public engagement makes it appear that this plan is following a similar path to the failed light-rail project just a few years before. In fact, the TOD Overlay Districts were originally created for the light rail project (City of Raleigh 2022). One of the main marks against the light-rail project in the Triangle is that it would have served middle- and high-income riders and was more focused on attracting new ridership rather than improving service for current riders. If the City of Raleigh does not prioritize the residents currently living in these areas and using the existing bus system, the TOD Overlay Districts may hurt the very people Raleigh is trying to assist in adding the ‘E’ to TOD. In order to promote equitable public engagement, Raleigh should engage the public in each part of the process from the location of these districts to the design.

In a study on TOD in the Netherlands, Pojani and Stead emphasize the importance of seeing TOD as Transit-Oriented Design, which focuses more on the design around the node or transit center (Pojani & Stead 2015). Allowing the public to participate in the design stage of planning will allow current residents to influence the placemaking of these rapidly growing and changing areas. By engaging current residents and riders in early planning stages and designing charettes further along in the process, the City of Raleigh will better engage the public they hope to help by encouraging equitable development.

Earning the E in ETOD

Equitable Transit Oriented Development is an exciting opportunity for the City of Raleigh, but it is also important to make sure it is done well. In order to earn the E in ETOD, the City of Raleigh needs to reconsider the parameters of its TOD Overlay Districts to achieve the equitable outcome they desire from the “twist” on Transit-Oriented Development. By offering a 50-year term instead of 30 years for affordable units and engaging the public throughout the transit planning process, the City of Raleigh could better achieve these equitable outcomes.

Works Cited

Chapple, K., & Loukaitou-Sideris, A. (2019). Transit-oriented displacement or community dividends? : Understanding the effects of smarter growth on communities. The MIT Press. https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/11300.001.0001

City of Raleigh. (July 2020). “The Equitable Transit-Oriented Development Guidebook.” https://cityofraleigh0drupal.blob.core.usgovcloudapi.net/drupal-prod/COR22/EDATGuidebook.pdf

City of Raleigh. (December 2022). “What is a Transit-Overlay District?” https://raleighnc.gov/planning/what-transit-overlay-district

McClure, K. (2017). Length of stay in assisted housing. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research.

Pojani, D., & Stead, D. (2015). Transit-oriented design in the Netherlands. Journal of Planning Education and Research, 35(2), 131-144. https://doi.org/10.1177/0739456X15573263

26 U.S. Code § 42. (2022). Low-income housing credit. https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/USCODE-2021-title26/USCODE-2021-title26-subtitleA-chap1-subchapA-partIV-subpartD-sec42

About the Author:  Amy Grace is a second-year master’s student in the City and Regional Planning program at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. At UNC-CH, she specializes in transportation and studies how multimodal solutions can transform transportation networks. On the weekend, you will likely find her at her local Home Goods, walking on the Tobacco Trail with her dog, Josie, or trying a new restaurant in the Triangle with her husband, Graham.

Edited by Kimmy Hansen

Featured image courtesy of City of Raleigh, NC

Masters Student Panel on Master’s Project Proposal Development

January 31, 2023 / odrozd

By Jo Kwon, Managing Editor

Last week PLAN 590: Master’s Project Proposal Development had a panel of past and present students to talk about their experiences of developing their Master’s Project (MP). The seminar-based course prepares first year master’s students to work on their MP. The panel included Lance Gloss (second year student at DCRP), Graham Zicekefoose (second year student at Eastern Washington University), Lauren Prunkl (DCRP Class of 2022, Transportation Analyst at Kittelson & Associates in Charlotte), and Emily Gvino (DCRP Class of 2021, Planner at Clarion Associates in Chapel Hill).

Lance’s project on Urban Forestry Planning in the Drought-Prone West

Lance’s project has evolved from his initial ideas when he took PLAN 590. His project compares fourteen urban forestry plans, including Austin, Phoenix, and Colorado Springs. He used qualitative methods, such as coding and interviews, and underwent the Institutional Review Boards (IRB) process. As his project evolved, his main research question did not change: how do cities keep their green infrastructure functional during a drought? After spending much time in the literature, the details of answering his research question changed and became clear over time.

Graham’s thesis on Geospatial Determinants of Vehicular Residency

Graham’s thesis idea developed during his volunteer work in Spokane, Washington. He realized that the data for an accurate count of people who are homeless were not easy to find. Without the data, the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) cannot support homeless assistance programs well. The count for vehicular residency is especially challenging, given their constant movement. For his project, he identifies and interviews individuals who are facing vehicular homelessness. While working on his thesis, he found the lack of literature on vehicular residency challenging.

Lauren’s project on Exploring Eviction Data Collection Methods

Lauren had an idea for her project before starting her proposal with her previous work at Greenville. She found that court data on evictions were inconsistent, and the quality was not good. Although the issue is important to research, she had to narrow down her question to fit into the MP timeline. Through literature reviews and discussions with peers and advisors, she focused her project on only looking at eviction court data instead of including transportation data. She conducted interviews by searching online groups, researching organizations, and numerous cold call emails.

Emily’s project on Addressing the Health Impacts of Extreme Heat in the Southeastern United States

Emily was a dual degree student in MCRP and the Gillings School of Global Public Health (Health Behavior). Her project on extreme heat began with collecting data via a survey of public health practitioners for her summer practicum for the public health degree requirements, working with the Carolinas Integrated Sciences Assessment. While she retained the same research question, the outcomes of her project evolved from the proposal stage. She took time to narrow down her project in the methods and analysis to devote more time to a simplified but more developed final result.

Recommendations for Students Working on Master’s Project/Thesis

Get familiar with the IRB process! Most of the panelists emphasized their struggles with the lengthy process. Many students’ first interaction with the IRB process is after they have chosen research methods that require human subjects. After finalizing a set of methods, trying to start the IRB process as early as possible can be useful.
Reach out to people! All four panelists sent cold-call emails to planners, experts, organizations, and others. Even if they did not receive emails back, they found other connections by attending related events to build relationships with experts in the field. Moreover, starting by communicating with your advisor frequently can be helpful.
“What do you want to achieve in the future?” (from Emily) Master’s projects can lead to students’ future jobs. In developing your project, you can foster networking and relationships, build your skill sets, and carve out your professional niche.
“The idea does not have to be earth-shattering to be meaningful or beneficial to the field.” (from Emily) The project idea can be simple, and doing it well is a good strategy.
“Create your support group!” (from Lauren) Even after PLAN 590, meet with people familiar with your work one-on-one and in groups.
“Take a deep breath and eat an elephant one bite at a time!” (from Graham) A MP can seem like a major project that will take forever. Creating small goals and achieving them day by day is crucial.
“Don’t worry too much! Take time and write one sentence. Write a question with a question.” (from Lance) Projects can change over time, but continuing to narrow or reframe your research question is helpful.

Resources for a Master’s Project

UNC IRB and the Office of Human Research Ethics: https://research.unc.edu/human-research-ethics/
UNC Odum Institute for Research in Social Science: https://odum.unc.edu/
Davis Library Research Hub: https://library.unc.edu/data/
UNC Writing Center: https://writingcenter.unc.edu/

Jo (Joungwon) Kwon is a fourth-year Ph.D. student in the Department of City and Regional Planning. She is interested in using visualizations in plans, specifically in environmental planning. She has been a part of CPJ since 2019. With a background in Statistics and English Literature, she received her M.A. in Computational Media at Duke University. In her free time, she enjoys watching indie films, going to live performances, and drinking good coffee.

Edited by Candela Cerpa

Featured image: Master’s Student Panel on Zoom

Reflections of the Center for Urban & Regional Studies (CURS)’s Roundtable on Governance and Smart Cities

October 4, 2022 / odrozd

By Jo Kwon

Last week, the Center for Urban & Regional Studies (CURS) at UNC hosted a roundtable on Governance and Smart Cities. This offered a perfect preview of the topics that will be addressed in Volume 48 of the Carolina Planning Journal, entitled Urban Analytics: Capabilities and Critiques. The roundtable included Prof. Päivi Korpisaari from the University of Helsinki, Prof. Anne Klinefelter from the UNC School of Law, Dr. Arcot Rajasekar from UNC School of Information and Library Science, Kevin Webb from Open Transportation Partnership & SharedStreets, and Prof. Nikhil Kaza from the UNC Department of City and Regional Planning.

Prof. Korpisaari ‘s presentation on “How to govern & process personal data in Smart Cities?” gave an overview of possible solutions and outstanding questions like who takes control of the data, and how citizens participate in data governance. She shared that, in the European Union (EU), this conversation revolves around the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). This data protection law, adopted in 2016, gives EU citizens the “Right to be Forgotten” [1]. It also defined ‘pseudonymisation’ as personal data that is not associated with any specific data subject, and that ensures personal data cannot be traced to an identified or identifiable natural person [2]. In this way, the GDPR has created a provisional compromise in this fast-evolving field, shaping European countries’ laws around data. The law regulates corporations and cities but also enables them to use data with pseudonymization. The GDPR’s reach also appears to be expanding, with more tech companies being fined and new countries joining and leaving the EU.

Appropriately, this roundtable on European law hosted at a US university quickly evolved into a conversation about the differences between the US and EU approaches to data privacy. While the EU countries have a unified law, the US has a variety of laws—or, in some realms, no laws—addressing aspects of data protection. By way of example, Prof. Klinefelter mentioned an Illinois court’s April 2022 decision on biometric data. The US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois ruled that photographs of faces are biometric identifiers and will be regulated [3]. But this decision affects only Illinois, while biometric data laws otherwise differ from state to state. California, Florida, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, New York, and North Carolina all regulate biometric data, but even these states have different understandings of the term and its applications [3][4].

All of these regulatory discrepancies among states and countries can create immense challenges for organizations that want to process data for Smart City applications. With no unification of rules, some jurisdictions may be favored by businesses, while others may be isolated. For example, states without or with flexible biometric laws can collect more data with photos, build more accurate records or use the data for research. Stricter states may miss out on advancing technology or research, but may benefit from precaution in other ways. Moreover, in this dynamic field, even a unified rule—nationwide or globally—may not ensure that data will be protected. As planners or future planners, how can we think critically when it comes to data usage, data processing, and newly built Smart Cities? These are some places to start:

Acknowledge the importance of protecting personal information;
Understand the differing definitions of terms such as data, data processing, transparency, and smart cities used by various cities, states, and countries;
Recognize that these new regulations will have to be versatile with the imperfect foresight of the constant changing technology;
Consider the desirability or necessity of a unified regulatory approach such as the GDPR that could be applied globally;
Reflect on how cultures of privacy and of data usage differ among states and countries; and,
Explore the role of city governments in data protection in smart cities.

If you’d like to learn more about CURS, check out the CURS website. If you’d like to explore some examples of smart cities and urban analytic posts, check out the previous post on Chapel Hill as the Next Smart Town and Machine Learning and Planning Research: How Each Can Push the Other’s Frontiers.

Citations

[1] European Union. n.d. “General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Compliance Guidelines.” GDPR.Eu. Accessed September 28, 2022. https://gdpr.eu/.

[2] European Union. 2016. Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation) (Text with EEA relevance) 88.

[3] Baker Botts LLP. 2022. “Photographs No Longer Excluded under BIPA, Illinois’ Biometric Law.” Baker Botts. May 31, 2022. https://www.bakerbotts.com/thought-leadership/publications/2022/may/photographs-no-longer-excluded-under-bipa-illinois-biometric-law.

[4] Frost Brown Todd. 2019. “Collecting Biometric Data: What You Need to Know – Frost Brown Todd | Full-Service Law Firm.” Frost Brown Todd. August 9, 2019. https://frostbrowntodd.com/collecting-biometric-data-what-you-need-to-know/.

Jo (Joungwon) Kwon is a fourth-year Ph.D. student in the Department of City and Regional Planning. She is interested in using visuals in plans, specifically in environmental planning. She has been a part of CPJ since 2019. With a background in Statistics and English Literature, she received her M.A. in Computational Media at Duke University. In her free time, she enjoys watching indie films, going to live performances, and drinking good coffee.

Edited by Lance Gloss

Featured image: Roundtable Presentation

Planner’s Playlist

September 6, 2022 / odrozd

By Jo Kwon

After the long Labor Day weekend, looking for some motivational playlist to get back to planning? Angles have created a Planner’s Playlist. All of the recommendations were from DCRP planners or soon-to-be planners. If you are not in the mood for music, check out some of our favorite urbanist (or urbanist-adjacent) podcasts and featured episodes from last week’s post.

1) Suburban Home by Descendents

I wanna be stereotyped
I wanna be classified
I wanna be a clone
I want a suburban home, suburban home

I like “Suburban Home” for its honesty. As planners, we talk about some very radical ideas sometimes, but most of us are ultimately going to be in the business of fostering stability for others. It reminds me not to take myself too seriously and to not be embarrassed by contradiction!

2) The Garden-City by Joel Ansett

Listen to her from the subway to the sky.
And telling you, that every roads a fork.
Leading tour, one Garden City or another.
The question stands – Which one is New York.

If this world never dies
It will all be blessed or cursed,
And if there’s any place worth saving.
Oh God, Save New York first

I like the song because it mentions Ebenezer Howard’s garden city movement and idealizes New York City. Listeners without knowledge of the garden city will still get to know that it is related to New York City, which also makes it educational.

3) Baltimore by Nina Simone
Hard times in the city
In a hard town by the sea
Ain’t nowhere to run to
There ain’t nothin’ here for free

“City” is in the song. It’s a banger, and Nina Simone is a North Carolina native.

4) Brave New World by Iron Maiden

Dying to tell you the truth
You are planned and you are damned
In this brave new world

The most obvious part is the line that mentions, “You are planned and you are damned in this brave new world.” But it is more about planning societies than cities. The song is about social control and is based on Aldous Huxley’s book.

5) Katmandu by Cat Stevens

Katmandu, I’ll soon be seeing you

And your strange, bewildering time

Will keep me home

It’s about a city that’s mostly seen as an escape from life in other cities. Reminiscent of the hippie’s era. I like it because it’s a song that plays in my head when I go back home o the same city. Another similar song, a different style is Kathmandu by Bob Seger. Probably more popular. It’s also good, but I like the acoustic texture of the Cat Stevens song that feels more like the Kathmandu I know and have heard stories about.

6) Whiteys on the Moon by Gil Scott-Heron

The man just upped my rent last night.
(’cause Whitey’s on the moon)
No hot water, no toilets, no lights.
(but Whitey’s on the moon)

I wonder why he’s uppi’ me?
(’cause Whitey’s on the moon?)
I was already payin’ ‘im fifty a week.
(with Whitey on the moon)

The song is a reminder of the sins of the postwar technocracy. I admire the confidence and power of planners and policymakers in general of that era, but it’s good to keep in mind who got mulched in the name of progress.

7) Spiral Architect by Black Sabbath

Laughter giving, love is showing
Me the way
Spiral building architect
I build, you pay

Of all the things I value most of all
I look upon my Earth
And feel the warmth
And know that it is good

I remembered this one so quickly because we did this exercise in college when I was studying architecture. I interpret it as explaining the thinking process of a futuristic architect/planner who is not happy with the current ways of the world and how it is very mechanical, so he believes his way is better and more humanistic. But, it also indicates that he is very sure of himself and knows best for everyone, which is also dangerous.

For the full playlist, please see below:

What else should be added to the playlist? Share your recommendations in the comments below!

Featured image: Planner’s Playlist by ANGLES

From the Archives: Essential Urbanist Documentaries from the National Film Board of Canada

December 3, 2021 / odrozd

This post was originally published on April 2, 2019. With winter break right around the corner, we wanted to share some recommended Canadian urbanist films to entertain you in the coming weeks.

By Adam Hasan, B.A. Geography ’19

The National Film Board of Canada–NFB (Office National du Film du Canada–ONF) was established as the National Film Commission in 1939 during the third government of Prime Minister William Lyon MacKenzie King. As Canada’s public film producer and distributor, the NFB’s mission as set forth in the National Film Act of 1950 has been “to produce and distribute and to promote the production and distribution of films designed to interpret Canada to Canadians and to other nations.” As part of this mandate, the NFB has produced over 13,000 works that speak to issues of national and international importance. As I have also come to find out, its collection is also a treasure trove of historically-relevant urbanist films. From feature-length interviews with Jane Jacobs to vignettes about Montreal neighborhoods in transition, here are some must-see titles for your next urbanist movie night:

Regina Telebus (1973)

“This short film from 1973 offers a report on Regina’s successful experiment with dial-a-bus, a flexible service midway between a bus and a taxi. The idea is to provide passengers with door-to-destination transportation at an affordable cost.”

Regina Telebus, Rex Tasker, provided by the National Film Board of Canada

September Five at Saint-Henri (1962)

“This short film is a series of vignettes of life in Saint-Henri, a Montreal working-class district, on the first day of school. From dawn to midnight, we take in the neighbourhood’s pulse: a mother fussing over children, a father’s enforced idleness, teenage boys clowning, young lovers dallying – the unposed quality of daily life.”

September Five at Saint-Henri, Hubert Aquin, provided by the National Film Board of Canada

A Capital Plan (1949)

“This short documentary features a portrait of Ottawa in the mid-20th century, as the nascent Canadian capital grew with force but without direction. Street congestion, air pollution, and rail traffic were all the negative results of a city that had grown without being properly planned. French architect and urban designer Jacques Gréber stepped in to create a far-sighted plan for the future development of Ottawa. With tracks moved, factories relocated, and neighbourhoods redesigned as separate communities, Ottawa became the capital city of true beauty and dignity we know today.”

A Capital Plan, Bernard Devlin, provided by the National Film Board of Canada

Chairs for Lovers (1973)

“In this documentary short, Vancouver architect Stanley King demonstrates his method for involving the public in urban design. Called the “draw-in/design-in”, the method is applied to a downtown Vancouver area slated for redevelopment. How can it be made to best serve the needs of the people who will use it? Here, sketches prepared by students and refined by adults are used to guide city planners.”

Chairs for Lovers, Barrie Howells, provided by the National Film Board of Canada

City Limits (1971)

“This short documentary features acclaimed author and activist Jane Jacobs’ forthright, critical analysis of the problems and virtues of North American cities. Jacobs orients her fascinating observations around Toronto, to which she moved after leaving New York City because Toronto “is a city that still has options … it hasn’t made so many mistakes that it’s bound to go downhill.” Her remarks, made in 1971, are prescient yet earnest and will interest all urban stakeholders. This colourful city film, accompanied by an upbeat, jazzy soundtrack, is a must-see for all civic and community groups—indeed, for all urban dwellers worldwide.”

City Limits, Laurence Hyde, provided by the National Film Board of Canada

Home Feeling: Struggle for a Community (1983)

“This feature documentary takes us to the heart of the Jane-Finch “Corridor” in the early 1980s. Covering six square blocks in Toronto’s North York, the area readily evokes images of vandalism, high-density subsidized housing, racial tension, despair and crime. By focusing on the lives of several of the residents, many of them black or members of other visible minorities, the film provides a powerful view of a community that, contrary to its popular image, is working towards a more positive future.”

Home Feeling: Struggle for a Community, Jennifer Hodge & Roger McTair, provided by the National Film Board of Canada

Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance (1993)

“In July 1990, a dispute over a proposed golf course to be built on Kanien’kéhaka (Mohawk) lands in Oka, Quebec, set the stage for a historic confrontation that would grab international headlines and sear itself into the Canadian consciousness. Director Alanis Obomsawin—at times with a small crew, at times alone—spent 78 days behind Kanien’kéhaka lines filming the armed standoff between protestors, the Quebec police and the Canadian army. Released in 1993, this landmark documentary has been seen around the world, winning over a dozen international awards and making history at the Toronto International Film Festival, where it became the first documentary ever to win the Best Canadian Feature award. Jesse Wente, Director of Canada’s Indigenous Screen Office, has called it a “watershed film in the history of First Peoples cinema.”

Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance, Alanis Obomsawin, provided by the National Film Board of Canada

*Descriptions retrieved from NFB website

Featured image courtesy of Adam Hasan

Reading for the Job Search and the Soul Search: Capital City & Prophetic City

April 1, 2021 / odrozd

By Evan King

People who go into the planning profession are inclined to like walkable, human-scale environments, effective public transit, vibrant cultural life, diverse culture and job opportunities, and other such things. One irony of planning is that the job often brings people to places that do not have these factors or are maybe at the beginning stages of incorporating them.

Even a job of trying to change things is an optimistic and unlikely outcome. As with any profession intent on improving the world, disappointment in this regard can generate quite a lot of cynicism and hopelessness. Despite drawbacks, I still want to do this job. There are two books that have done wonders for me in rectifying the ideals of the planning profession with its realities. What an aspiring planner may need is a good hard look at the cities of New York and Houston, through the fresh and subversive voices of authors Samuel Stein and Stephen Klineberg.

Samuel Stein: Capital City

In a similar manner to Howard Zinn’s telling of US history in A People’s History of the United States, Stein’s Capital City, Gentrification and the Real Estate State is very much a “People’s History” of American planning, serving as a counterweight to Jane Jacobs’ Death and Life and other sacred texts. Urban renewal was indeed a crime against humanity, as is continuing suburban sprawl, but what about the coinciding de-funding of public housing? Can we really say design is the sole problem when federal, state, and local governments have done all they possibly could to subsidize white homeowners and impoverish (and increasingly force everyone to become) renters? Stein’s book is not an outright repudiation of Jacobs, like A People’s History is of other accounts of US history, but rather an affirmation with a profound shift in the implications. Jacobs said success can breed self-destruction in a city. You could say that is happening in New York now, but are design elements solely culpable? What else is going on here?

Stein provides a vivid and intricate picture of gentrification in New York, a city so commoditized that any improvement in urban form seems to hurt more people than it helps. Developers, egged on by city and state tax giveaways, build towers designed to be expensive and largely unoccupied. Buildings and properties get passed off at higher and higher prices to other large owners in a scheme that pointlessly raises rents across the city and seems destined for a disastrous collapse for all parties.

Stein enumerates actions that planners, governments, and organizers can take to fight the injustices of urban life as run by real estate. The message is stridently socialist, which is no problem for me. To me, however, the takeaway is a (probably unintended) confirmation of my growing dislike for the glamorous side of urbanism: the modern trend of re-urbanization as a change in fashion, usually at the expense of the most vulnerable people. Even the word “urbanism” seems to embody how pretentious the whole thing is. Doing the work of making good urban environments possible in “unfashionable” places feels a lot more righteous and even more appealing after reading Stein’s book. Sure, there is justice to be done in New York and much to enjoy, but New York does not need me.

Stephen Klineberg: Prophetic City

Stephen Klineberg’s Prophetic City tells the economic and demographic story of Houston, a contender for the world’s least glamorous city and something of an urban horror story that is nonetheless a gem in other ways. The book is an exercise in seeing beauty and potential. Metropolitan Houston is the most culturally diverse region in the country. The city’s anathema to planning, resistance to regulation, and reliance on toxic industry have led to eclectic business and social environments more inclined to fight for social justice and environmental causes. In the recent presidential and senate elections, Georgia demonstrated the phenomenon of a voter-suppressed state; there is every indication that Texas is similar. Houston has a population overwhelmingly progressive in political, social and economic views, but the city is under the thumb of strategically malapportioned political representation. Houston area residents want greater racial integration, better city services, and better urban environments, but the state does not necessarily represent them in these interests.

At times, Klineberg writes with infuriating optimism, and without the socialist conscience Stein has about what “economic revitalization” usually means for most people. However, he consistently reminds us of political realities after exhaustively outlining demographic and economic trends. The overall picture according to Klineberg and other authors is that, Texas, and especially Houston, is the future. Booming cities like Houston are places where there is work to be done, and where the most work probably should be done.

In recent conversations about jobs with my classmates, people have been frustrated and often cynical. I count myself as one of the most guilty. Some have understandably realized they do not want to be planners. However, if you still want to be an urban planner, I pose a question: what are you really trying to do with this degree? You’re probably not in it just for the money. Are you trying to live in a wonderful vibrant place or create one? There is nothing wrong with the former. It’s a great thing in fact. The latter is naïve to be sure, but if you’re open to my suggestion, I say have an open mind. Go to that sprawling boomtown or struggling backwater. Maybe you won’t really accomplish anything, but maybe you will!

I am a born and bred northerner; I need my cold, snowy winters and their miraculous springs, and I like not having my political voice gerrymandered away. Yet a substantial portion of the planning work is in the south, and one thing I’ve noticed is that almost every planning job interview I have had so far has involved a panel member saying they never wanted to live in the south, but they have loved the past 10 to 15 years and are here to stay. Klineberg’s book presents statistically significant proportions of transplants saying this about Houston. Maybe I’ve just spent enough time idle and made a decision I am rightly or wrongly sticking with, but I still want to do planning. Personally, I am having a hard time being picky about where. People move to follow opportunities, and in my limited experience, it pays to be open-minded on the various forms opportunities might take.

Author Bio: Evan King is a second-year master’s student in city and regional planning. His interests include transportation policy in the developing world, light rail, and freight movement on inland waterways. He can found in his free time trying to kayak long distances and making hand-drawn maps. Evan hails from central Connecticut and completed an undergraduate degree in Maryland. Opinions are his own.

Featured Image courtesy of iStockphoto. Other images show the covers of the recommended books: Capital City, Gentrification and the Real Estate State by Samuel Stein and Prophetic City: Houston on the Cusp of a Changing America by Stephen L. Klineberg.

Edited by: Ruby Brinkerhoff

Podcasts for Planners

September 3, 2020 / odrozd

Sometimes you need to step away from your computer, put on your headphones, and go for a walk. This week, we’re sharing some great planning-related podcasts to listen to. Let us know if you have a favorite episode or a new recommendation!

Monocle 24: The Urbanist

With an influential audience of city mayors, urban planners and architects, this is Monocle’s guide to making better cities, be it new technology, state-of-the-art subways or compact apartments.

https://monocle.com/radio/shows/the-urbanist/

Invisible City

Invisible City Podcast aims to shape the global conversation on 21st century city building and living. This is about creating an understanding and broadening the perspectives of how cities work. It’s about sharing positive and unique stories that illuminate the complexity of city living.

https://www.invisiblecitypodcast.com/

The Urban Planner’s Podcast by Gigi The Planner

This podcast is for urban planners, urban planning students and those interested in the topic of urban planning. The purpose of this show is to have a candid conversation about the ins and out of urban planning; discuss controversial topics relating to urban planning, and much much more.

https://www.gigitheplanner.com/podcast

The Strong Towns Podcast

We advocate for a model of development that allows our cities, towns and neighborhoods to grow financially strong and resilient.

http://podcast.strongtowns.org/

Featured Image courtesy of Getty Images

Category: Recommendation

Buying Your First Home: A Student’s Guide

How Raleigh Should Earn the “E” in their ETOD

What is Transit-Oriented Development?

Raleigh’s ETOD

Public Engagement Needs

Earning the E in ETOD

Works Cited

Masters Student Panel on Master’s Project Proposal Development

Reflections of the Center for Urban & Regional Studies (CURS)’s Roundtable on Governance and Smart Cities

By Jo Kwon

Planner’s Playlist

By Jo Kwon

From the Archives: Essential Urbanist Documentaries from the National Film Board of Canada

By Adam Hasan, B.A. Geography ’19

Regina Telebus (1973)

September Five at Saint-Henri (1962)

A Capital Plan (1949)

Chairs for Lovers (1973)

City Limits (1971)

Home Feeling: Struggle for a Community (1983)

Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance (1993)

Reading for the Job Search and the Soul Search: Capital City & Prophetic City

By Evan King

Podcasts for Planners

Monocle 24: The Urbanist

Invisible City

The Urban Planner’s Podcast by Gigi The Planner

The Strong Towns Podcast

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