Hug a planner today!
Well, it's National Community Planning Month! Instead of giving a personal opinion of planning life, I am just going to copy and paste in something I simply agree with (from the APA website).
2019 National Community Planning Month - Key Messages
National Community Planning Month is a time to highlight the important role of
planning in our communities. Planning can be summed up as comprehensive,
community-focused choices that enhance the spaces where people live, work, and play.
While many people may not realize it, planning has a significant impact on their day-to-day
life. From where they live, to how they commute, to the type of home they live in, planning
plays a vital role in a person’s life and well-being.
Planning helps create access and opportunity for all. Through planning, strategic
investments in innovation and infrastructure can boost the economy and strengthen
communities.
Planners help create communities of lasting value. Planning helps leverage public and
private funds that lead to business growth, job creation, robust infrastructure, and
economically resilient communities.
Planners are skilled at balancing the varied interests and viewpoints that emerge
as a community plans its future. Planners consider what is best for the entire community
– senior citizens, workers, children, people living with disabilities, business owners, and
elected officials. How do they arrive at these community-wide decisions? Through
conversations with residents and thoughtful, inclusive outreach to community stakeholders.
Planners work for the greater good. Planners work with professionals from different
fields such as public health, recreation, and engineering to make communities safer,
stronger, healthier, and more just. Planning does not stop at a geographic border.
Communities are served best when planners take a broader viewpoint, encompassing
regional and statewide perspectives. This is especially critical for infrastructure projects,
which are most successful when planned at a regional scale. Taking a regional focus ensures the infrastructure system will benefit those well beyond the immediate location of the
project.
Planners have the unique expertise to comprehensively address the impacts of
today’s actions on tomorrow’s communities. With a comprehensive big-picture
perspective, planners are uniquely positioned to evaluate how decisions about the built
environment, including transportation networks, building location and scale, and parks and
green space, impact communities. When guided and informed by good planning, these
decisions make communities safer, more resilient, healthier, more prosperous, and more
equitable.
More than 15,000 planners have earned their professional certification, and I am one of them (since 2003 whoop whoop!). AICP-certified planners pledge to uphold high standards of practice, commit to a code of ethics and professional conduct, and keep their skills sharp and up to date by pursuing advanced professional education.
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