One of the occupational hazards of being an urban planner is that you’re constantly being critical of the built environment around you.
While out and about, all I think about is access management plans, lack of pedestrian and bicycle facilities, crappy or non-existent transit facilities, single-use buildings in multi-use zones, disappointment in the lack of residential density, Americans’ distaste for residential density, unchecked code violations in wealthy neighborhoods, low quality building materials, huge parking lots, impervious surfaces and flood plains, crappy landscaping, HOAs and restrictive covenants, unsafe routes to school, lack of healthy food options, poor parks and other green spaces, NIMBYs, and on and on.
Sometimes I wish I would’ve gone into something a little more micro, like landscaping or plumbing.
In my job, one of my responsibilities is to ask the question "How could this all go horribly wrong?" and make sure steps are taken to prevent that from happening.
That's not a question you want to ask about most situations in life. Take my word for it.
