Parting Shots

An Editorial for the American Planning Association

Camille Russell

Cool Communities Coordinator for the Utah Office of Energy Services

When my colleague, Jon Allred, asked me to reflect on my soon-to-end career as program coordinator for Cool Communities, I realized that the "inevitable" had finally occurred - someday I would hang my hat as slave-driver of this federal initiative and pass the baton to another grass-roots crusader. Someday, in the distant future, someone else in MY office and at MY desk would check voice mail.  Someday, I would no longer be intimately involved with day-to-day activities of this once subtle program. And that someday, the job I knew from its nascency would fall into the hands of someone else to manipulate, massage, and mother.

The inevitable has come. This fall I leave Utah to join the masses of poor graduate students searching for meaning in life, hoping to find personal solvency after years of professional wandering. And I have chosen that most noble of academic endeavors, one that you know very well: urban planning. I chose this field because of what I learned working in trenches to comprehend the consequences of urbanization. I also chose this field because of what I learned from you: the planners. I learned that the issue of microclimatic design is not only one of the built structure, but also one of the built environment. I learned that you can't design a site without understanding how that site plays a role in the look and feel of the community surrounding it. I began to understand sustainable design "themes," such as designing for pedestrian access, minimizing building setbacks, mixing uses within developments, and appropriate orientation of the structure. It became apparent that the dominant role of the vehicle in our state necessitated a re-thinking of how "cooling" strategies could be incorporated in the urban landscape. And that the best way to implement those strategies was to mandate them through the ordinances you create to make our living places better spaces.

But I have to admit that this knowledge did not come easily. I found that any small environmental enhancement above and beyond that little black number in the developer's project budget is always ridiculed. And this philosophy persists. I now understand that altering the "business as usual" mentality in development and construction in this state, and anywhere in Northern America is challenging at best.

Over time, I've been inspired by these challenges and realizations. It must be naive excitement about these awakenings that sparked my interest to pursue a graduate program in urban planning. Perhaps this excitement may wane once I am thrown into the trenches as an overworked, underpaid and restless urban plannerYbut I hope not. Instead, I will endeavor to remind myself of why I chose this esteemed field. Urban planners have the direct ability to effectuate positive influence on the way our surroundings look and feel and taste. I think that would be the most powerful and rewarding professional experience to have...and for that I envy you. I only hope that when I come back to work by your sides as a colleague and friend, together we can become inspired to continually improve and enhance our surroundings, and by doing that, our lives.