Up Close and Personal: What One Planner Learned in a 55-Year Career That Has Paralleled the Major Events of the Time

摘要

Growing up in a shifting urban environment during the major socioeconomic transition in the Bronx (NY) in the 1950s and 1960s, my interests in neighborhood change peaked with the changes in housing, the impact of urban renewal, the need for more open-space recreation, the arrival of the interstate highways, and the new faces of the population. These childhood observations led me to pursue an urban planning career. I have had experiences in a variety of functional areas across the tri-state metropolitan area of Connecticut, New Jersey, and New York. In striving to be a more complete planner, I added depth to my career as an adjunct academician, leader in APA/AICP, and community volunteer practicing what I preached. I learned that these various roles and experiences related to one another and advanced my understanding of urban planning in a synergistic way.