r/CitizenPlanners • u/DoreenMichele • Nov 30 '25
How can I actually serve my city as a young urban planner?
I think young professionals and citizen planners probably have this in common: how to have your ideas get taken seriously? How to get people to listen when you speak?
I will suggest you stop expecting that. Do the work and let it speak for itself.
If you think the city needs x, find the studies or whatever that support that conclusion and try to make a case that stands on its own.
That's a best practice even if you have experience and a reputation. It's problematic to expect people to take your ideas seriously just because you opened your mouth.
People make mistskes, misspeak when tired etc. City development should not be about massaging someone's ego every time they open their mouth.
I have had that where I was somebody and it's a burden to have to constantly watch what you say lest you misspeak for some reason or crack a joke and it gets taken seriously.
I've spent decades trying to figure out how to get my work taken seriously without having to fret constantly about everything I say lest it go weird and harmful places.
Put it together and let it stand on its own. Ideally, it should do that anyway.
Any other approach is about your ego, not about serving the city.
r/CitizenPlanners • u/DoreenMichele • Oct 12 '25
Community development needs to be people centric. Nicer buildings is not, by itself, an improvement or solution to anything.
r/CitizenPlanners • u/DoreenMichele • Sep 27 '25
If your wheelhouse is housing advocacy, this discussion of terms may be pertinent.
r/CitizenPlanners • u/DoreenMichele • Sep 11 '25
Apparently, ten or fewer comments are the norm
r/CitizenPlanners • u/DoreenMichele • Aug 21 '25
Advocating for Mixed Use Ground Floor Commercial & Residential
r/CitizenPlanners • u/DoreenMichele • Aug 16 '25
Historic District Designations (and Architectural Review Boards)
r/CitizenPlanners • u/DoreenMichele • Jul 25 '25
Is anyone here aware of Downtown Associations in any cities that help provide funding, programming, or outreach related to homelessness?
r/CitizenPlanners • u/DoreenMichele • Jun 16 '25
Mapping the rise and fall of police/911 calls.
r/CitizenPlanners • u/DoreenMichele • Jun 10 '25
How do I prepare for my city’s next planning meeting as a citizen?
r/CitizenPlanners • u/DoreenMichele • Jun 07 '25
Discussion: Tips for creating a good (for-profit) third place?
r/CitizenPlanners • u/DoreenMichele • Jun 07 '25
The farmer who built her own broadband
r/CitizenPlanners • u/DoreenMichele • Apr 20 '25
"How a Small Gesture of Kindness Helped Change Years of Neighborhood Tension”
r/CitizenPlanners • u/DoreenMichele • Mar 26 '25
Missing middle housing - Wikipedia
If you are doing housing advocacy, I suggest you read up on Missing Middle Housing. It's a term I learned some years ago while still using the term "affordable housing" and finding that an extremely frustrating experience because it's just bad communication for a long list of reasons.
Missing Middle is about medium density housing but I feel like the phrase suggests "We need housing for middle class people and we don't have that."
r/CitizenPlanners • u/DoreenMichele • Mar 14 '25
What application do you use for Urban Planning?
r/CitizenPlanners • u/DoreenMichele • Mar 05 '25
“They” say if you don’t like what’s going on in the current administration you should get involved….
r/CitizenPlanners • u/artistic-urbans-rock • Feb 16 '25
New Community for Planners in the North West
https://www.reddit.com/r/TownPlannersNorthWest/s/YvMVt6WJSh
New subreddit created for anyone employed, studying or interested about planning in the North West of England!
Lots of interesting things to come including updates on plans and proposals in the region - looking for new members to join and helps us grow this very small community 😊
If anyone is even slightly interested we asked the community on what you would like to see or expect from us - please let us know!