The economy is beginning a slow climb out of the abyss, but the construction sector is in the gutter and will be for quite some time. Even when it starts to grow again, it won't be like it was during the boom years. Municipal budgets are eviscerated and are projected to only get worse for the next couple of years, as if there was such a thing as 'worse' than didn't involve cuts to essential government services. New grads can no longer break into the field and existing planners cannot advance in their careers. The urban planning job market has become a machine whose gears no longer turn, having become locked and fused together.

I wanted to start a thread to discuss the various options available to us. What avenues of success have people found? I know a couple of Cyburbians have found new planning gigs as of late. If there are any lurkers who have left the profession temporarily or for good, what fields are you in now, and how did you make the transition? For those of you weathering the storm in your planning gigs, what kind of projects are you working on at your office to keep planning relevant in the community, stave off stagnation, and keep yourself above water?

I know this'll generates some good discussion.

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William Howard Kunstler is the peek oil, doom and gloom, anti sprawl guru. He is not at all fond of the way our country is currently planned meaning he hates most of what the planning profession is doing.

I love his weekly KunstlerCast (http://kunstlercast.com/) and very much agree with most of what he says though sometimes he is a bit out there and possibly a bit self absorbed.

So what do planners think of what he is saying?

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I am preparing an article for the Planning Commissioners Journal focusing on the situation described below. I would welcome feedback on ways of improving on the following all-too-common scenario: contentious, non-productive public hearings.

Many planning commissioners, at least occasionally, have had the experience of arriving at a public hearing to find a large crowd of citizens angry about a proposed development in their neighborhood. Often the hearing begins with a lengthy presentation by the applicant's architects, engineers, planners, and (sometimes) lawyers explaining the merits of their project and why it must be approved -- followed by a line of residents coming to the microphone to highlight a lengthy list of problems with the project. And often, the temperature in the meeting room feels like it's rising.

Planning commissioners often feel thrust into the middle of controversial projects. Yes, it is their job to decide (or recommend) on the application, but they may ask themselves why many issues between the developer and neighborhood haven't been resolved in advance. At some public hearings, planning commissioners may wish they could call a time out and get the two sides to sit down and work out some of the issues.

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That was the headline from an Atlanta Journal-Constitution article.

"Atlanta has a policy, known as the 'cooling off' period, that prohibits former city workers from bringing business before the municipality for 12 months after the person's employment with the government has ended..

City officials said he twice represented developers in subdivision applications he previously reviewed as a senior planner for Atlanta's Department of Planning and Community Development. .

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