Determining land use in downtown Chicago gives this urban planner a chance to bring youthful enthusiasm to an old art
...an interview with Jeff Brubaker, urban planning professional.

Urban economic, social and physical security for the entire population can be created via the structure of urban landscapes as well as the underlying public policy that creates those landscapes. That’s the crux of what drew Jeff Brubaker to the urban field as he completed a triple major program in Sociology, Philosophy and Justice & Peace Studies from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn.

His interest was cemented after graduation during an internship for the Southeast Alaska Conservation Council (SEACC) as a community organizer and media outreach intern. He was later hired as SEACC’s state legislative issues coordinator, primarily organizing around environmental and direct lobbying issues. Working with government officials and lobbyists further sparked his interest in the role that public policy plays in society. The U.S. Green Building Council, an organization that he is a part of, likewise inspires Jeff by its establishment of widely-used standards on construction of buildings that achieve environmentally-friendly standards.

Today, as he learns more about the field through his work in the communications department at the American Planning Association (APA) in Chicago, he’s considering his urban planning graduate school options. “I truly believe urban planning is one of the best professions if you are an environmentalist. It puts you in a good position to be at the forefront of making our world more sustainable,” he says. “It's a job where you can use your creativity and work with community members to make your city or town, and, in your own small way, the world, a better place to live.”

You & Your Career

Tell us about your career as an urban planner.

Well, I'm at the very beginning my career. I work for the American Planning Association in Chicago, writing and editing articles for their website, and I am applying to urban planning graduate schools so I can actually get into the thick of a career. Thinking about cities, about their challenges and how to solve them, has always come naturally to me. I'm pretty indecisive because I enjoy so much of what life has to offer, so I've thought about so many different careers, but urban planning is the only one that has captivated me over time.

What do you enjoy most about your career? What do you do dislike?

What I like most about planning is that it has such great potential to bring about environmental sustainability and more livable cities. What I dislike is that planners often have to work with many influential people who care about short-term profit more than about community well being, which is what the planner tries to bring about.

What has been your greatest success? Setback?

My greatest success so far in my very short career has been getting the job with APA. It's a great place to work for an aspiring urban planner. My biggest setback has been that I took an extra year off between undergraduate and graduate school. Ideally, I would be in my first year of grad school by now. But that has turned into a positive because I am getting good experience and networking with a lot of people through APA.

What are some favorite projects you've completed and why?

It's not completed yet, but I've made a lot of progress in revitalizing a part of our website that had a lot of old, obsolete articles on it. Since being hired less than three months ago, I've written dozens of new articles on teaching kids about planning. I am also writing an article for one of our national newsletters at the moment, and I have learned so much about my subject matter in such a short time.

What are some of your personal and professional goals for the future?

I hope to work in a planning department of a progressive city that is striving for environmental sustainability. Then, I hope to start my own nonprofit or consulting firm dedicated to helping neighborhoods, cities, and regions become more sustainable. If there's time, I'd like to go back to Bangladesh, where I studied for a short time, and do research/service/consulting on environmental planning. Later in life I'd also like to teach environmental planning (and maybe philosophy, which was one of my undergraduate degrees) at a university. However, I may also want to run for local office if the time is right.

As far as personal goals, I have a long list: Write a book, give a speech at a graduation, bike a long distance somewhere, travel a lot (and as environmentally friendly as possible), go to Punxsutawney, Pa. for Groundhog's Day (also my birthday), get my head licked by a giraffe, keep living without owning a car, play in a band again, have an environmentally friendly house with a garden, visit every major league baseball stadium and still find time to relax.

Education Information & Advice

Tell us about your education. What is your degree? How did you decide to study that field?

I have three bachelor's degrees from the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota: sociology, philosophy, and justice and peace studies. I chose sociology because I've always been interested in how humans interact and how culture affects our well-being. Initially I was only going to minor in philosophy, but after taking a few classes, I realized how many extremely interesting questions philosophy addresses and how much it helps your thinking abilities, so I made it a major. I took a justice and peace studies class at the suggestion of an advisor, and it only took me a short time to realize that I wanted to study the subject more. Nonviolence, especially, is one of the most powerful concepts in the world. Its ethical foundation and practical strategy have fascinated me ever since I was introduced to it.

How has your education benefited your career?

It has taught me how to think about the world, and where to look if I want to learn more about something. It has given me a passion for learning and making the world a better place. Majoring in sociology is what led me to urban planning. Majoring in justice and peace studies is what made me an environmentalist, and that led me to an environmental organizing job in Juneau, Alaska, after graduation (an unforgettable experience). That's what made me decide to specialize specifically in environmental planning in graduate school.

What factors should prospective students consider when choosing a school?

Location is important, but it is not everything. Don't choose a school solely based on its location, but don't choose one without thinking about the city or town, or state or region, that it's in, because that could be the place where you will want to settle down if you make a lot of friends there. Also, don't choose a school just because your girlfriend's going there. I've known people who have done that; then after a while, there’s a break up and they were at schools they wouldn't have chosen otherwise.

Are there any different considerations for those who know that they want to specialize in certain areas of the field?

If you already know the career you want to enter, find out more about the career opportunities in the city or town. For example, if you want to major in environmental studies, find out how environmentally-minded the city is, what environmental programs it has, what nonprofits are in the area, if there are any green buildings, etc.

Besides seeing how strong the academic programs are, find out about the clubs and extracurricular activities on campus. They are the heart of the college experience, and may be the source of your fondest memories. Think about the things you like to do and see if there's a club that does it. If not, though, you can always start one once you get there. Once you start school, get involved on campus in something you enjoy: you won't regret it.

What can students applying to schools of this kind do to increase their chances of being accepted?

Get involved wherever you are now. Colleges want to know if you're interested in something beyond just what you learn at school, because school is required, but the extra things you do aren’t. Put a lot of work into writing any personal statements or essays that are called for on the application. Start writing them early and have friends, family, and advisors review them. Sloppy writing turns admissions committees off quickly. Also, be honest and straightforward when you write personal statements. They should be well-written, but it's not a contest to see how many fifteen-letter words you can use. Real people will be reading them, so be honest about your goals and passions.

Does graduating from a prestigious school make a difference in landing a good job in this field?

It does make a difference in urban planning, as in most fields. However, it's certainly not the only thing. I've always felt that your education is mostly what you make out of it. You don't have to go to an Ivy League school to be enlightened. It's all about what effort you put into it. It's not like you instantly become a genius if you're accepted to Harvard, or any other school. Most employers put a lot of stock in real world experience. If you study hard and get involved in clubs, internships, and/or jobs related to your field, then it won't be a huge deal if your school isn't the most prestigious in the world.

That being said, most prestigious schools are prestigious for a reason. Often times they have professors who are passionate about their subject matter and at the top of their fields. There are real differences in quality between certain schools, and that's something you should take into consideration.

The Actual Work

What exactly do you do on a daily basis?

I write and edit online articles for teachers who want to teach their students about urban planning and community service projects. I also write reviews of children's books and edit our website for kids. But like I said, I'm just beginning my career and am not a full-fledged planner yet. Even though I'm not a full-fledged planner, I still have a good idea of what they do.

The job of an actual full-time urban planner is to shape how a city grows. Urban planners make sure that cities have enough affordable housing, environmental protections, opportunities for economic growth, transportation, and many other things. If someone applies to build a new building anywhere in the city, the urban planner reviews the application and makes a recommendation to the city's planning commission. A planner can have a lot of influence on how sustainable a city is; the design of streets; what kind of buses, trains, and bike lanes a city has; and so forth. Environmental planners specialize in how the city can preserve open space and wildlife habitat, be less dependent on oil, have cleaner air and less pollution, preserve water and soil, protect farmland, and much more.

What are the most challenging aspects of your job?

The biggest challenge an urban planner faces is bringing together people with many different interests to address a problem the city faces. Like any government official in a democracy, the planner cannot just dictate how he or she thinks each city block should be built. He or she has to work with the community and find a consensus on how a city should grow. A planner is always reaching out to community members and learning what their interests are.

As I said before, many cities have powerful business interests that care more about short-term profit than community well being. Big box retail stores that put local stores out of business are one example. Cities have a lot of well-meaning businesspeople, too, but they have others that see things only in terms of money. It can be a big challenge for a planner to work with these people.

What are the greatest stresses in the job, what causes you the most anxiety?

It can be frustrating for a planner to try to find a consensus on a community issue; every community has people with a lot of different interests and viewpoints.

What are some common myths about your profession and how do they differ from the actual work?

Planners don't just work for cities and towns. They can also work for councils that govern entire metropolitan areas and regions. Not all planners work for governments; some work for private consulting firms. Usually it's not a problem of myths about urban planning. It's more of a problem of people not knowing that urban planning exists as an occupation, or, if they do know it exists, not knowing what planners do. Which is weird, because planners can have a profound effect on making cities better and improving community well being.

What contributions do you feel your job offers to society as a whole?

Shaping the growth of cities, towns, and regions, making them more environmentally friendly and sustainable, making sure there's enough affordable housing and economic growth, and improving the overall well-being of the communities a planner serves.

Job Information & Advice

What are the hottest specialties within the field over the next decade?

This will sound biased, but I think it would be environmental planning. Our generation faces so many environmental challenges that past generations largely ignored, like global warming, depletion of fossil fuels, shortage of fresh water, soil degradation, loss of farmland, food shortages, loss of biodiversity, and so forth. Environmental planners work to address all of these problems.

Also, geographic information systems (GIS) is a huge area right now. It is basically a way of making maps using computer programs that are much more complex than what we're used to, and these maps giving us new information we couldn't have gathered before. I would bet that every large planning department in the country uses GIS, and people with GIS skills are very much in demand right now.

Do you feel that is important for someone to be passionate about this field in order to be successful on both a personal and professional level?

I absolutely believe one must be passionate. If you're not passionate about your career, why are you doing it? The idea is to think hard about something you're passionate about, and then pursue it as a career, and have fun while you're at it.

What kinds of jobs are available for graduating students in this field? Specialty areas?

Besides environmental planning, other specializations of urban planning generally are: urban design, housing, transportation, economic growth, and GIS.

What are the best ways to get a foot in the door?

The best way to get a foot in the door is getting an internship at a local planning department or private planning firm. The good thing is that every city has a planning department, so you'll always find places you could keep an eye on for internships. My organization, APA, has an online list of jobs and internships; that's how I found mine.

But even if you can't find an internship specifically in a planning department, a lot of other fields offer experience that you will need as a planner, like working for a local government or city council, environmental organizing, a housing nonprofit, etc. Not everyone that gets into a graduate school in urban planning has specific planning experience, but it is important to have some good experience that is at least closely related.

Closing Remarks

Is there anything else you can tell us about yourself, your career, or the profession that would be interesting or helpful to others aspiring to enter and succeed in the field?

I truly believe urban planning is one of the best professions if you are an environmentalist. It puts you in a good position to be at the forefront of making our world more sustainable. But it has so many other applications as well: housing, transportation, economic growth, and so forth. It's a job where you can use your creativity and work with community members to make your city or town, and, in your own small way, the world, a better place to live.

Editor’s Note: If you would like to follow-up with Jeff Brubaker personally about this interview or about the field of urban planning, click here.