Dear Diary, I’m an Urban Planner.

Let me begin by introducing myself. I am a design lover, urban planner, and open minded foodie who looks far and wide for the best forms of city planning, architecture, and healthy balanced lifestyles. In particular I have often focused on Healthy Urban Planning and how redesigning someone’s environment can actually influence health, happiness, and a person’s overall wellbeing.

Having just graduated with my Masters in City and Regional Planning and now officially joining all those grown-ups I’ve heard so much about, I am extremely interested in how my education will translate into the real world. Yes I’m sure I’ll use my skills in ArcGIS and Indesign, but will my thoughts on how a city should be designed be crushed by political agendas, developers with deep pockets, and an overwhelming sense of comfort that has lead people to not seek change? You may be asking yourself what is she talking about, but if you’ve graduated from any design program I’m sure you’ve left with the dream that your work will be seen, heard, and embraced by the public.

Well without being too overly optimistic I would like to use this platform aka Medium to not only speak about my own ‘plannerly’ experiences, but think openly about how urban spaces can be utilized to their fullest potential. Touch on some Scandinavian examples of great design, share some excerpts from my own thesis, and return back to that question I’ve started out with: How will my education influence me as a professional planner?

In conclusion to my brief introduction I would just like to end by saying:

Hello World. I’m an urban planner.