URBS
662—Planning the Built Environment
Term: Spring,
2019
Instructor: Tony Filipovitch, 507-388-2264 (home)
Office Hours:
Since I am an adjunct, I do not have an office or regular office hours. I am available, however, most times by appointment (on or off-campus). I also check my e-mail daily (usually several times during the day), and have an answering machine on my home phone. There is no reason to flounder around, unsure of what “he wants” or confused about what you are doing; and even if everything is going fine with the coursework, there is more to learning than completing the assignments. I encourage you to visit me, in person or at a distance by phone or e-mail, many times during the course.
Course
Objectives:
This course is an applied study of the day-to-day activities of a municipal planning office. For 80% of Americans, the city is where we live, work, and play. Whether you pursue a public-sector career in urban affairs (in management or in planning), a private sector career in development or corporate public affairs, or a career in the non-profit sector, you will need to understand how a public planning shop works.
Two assumptions underlie this approach to the class:
- that there are competing, equally valid approaches to the planning process, and
- that the planning process is a specific form of the policy-making process (and therefore interesting to urban managers as well as urban planners and private-sector practitioners).
However you go at it, the planning process essentially asks 3 questions:
- Where and what are we now?
- Where and what do we want to be?
- How do we get there?
By the end of the course, students should be able to:
1. Evaluate and use an AUAR (Minnesota’s “Alternative Urban Areawide Review”)
2. Red-pencil a preliminary subdivision plat
3. Red-pencil a site plan
4. Write a planning/zoning report
5. Estimate the public (and private) impacts of a development plan
Instructional Methodology and Teaching Strategies:
A variety of techniques will be employed throughout the course. There will be readings (lots of them) and occasional lectures and even a test, this course is heavily weighted to seminar-style discussion. My teaching style is based on an "adult-centered" model which assumes that you are active participants, each responsible for your own learning, and I am a facilitator and resource who helps you advance your project. My goal for myself as a teacher is to "take you someplace you would never before have gone alone." You might begin that journey by looking at “Five Easy Pieces” assembled for your consideration.
· The course will use D2L as the instructional management system. Discussion lists, assignments, grade rosters, and other course management issues will be handled through that site.
· I prefer to receive e-mail and course submissions to my e-mail address (not to D2L), and I can only open Microsoft Word or text files (if you are using other software, make sure to send any files to me in .pdf, .txt or .rtf format).
· I will communicate with you using your official MSU e-mail address; if you use something else, make sure to set your MSU e-mail account to forward to your preferred address (instructions are available from the help desk).
· I generally will reply to e-mails within 48 hours (give me an additional 24 hours over the weekends), unless I have notified the class through D2L that I expect to be away from my computer. If you do not hear from me within that time, please resend your question or comment as it may have been lost.
Text:
There is no assigned text for this course (yet). But there are several works that I would recommend you have for your library (you can get them used from online sellers):
· Anderson, Larz T. (2000) Planning the Built Environment. Washington, DC: Planners Press.
· Lynch, Kevin & Gary Hack. (1984) Site Planning, 3rd Ed. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
· Solnit, Albert. (1988) The Job of the Practicing Planner. Washington, DC: Planners Press.
· Steiner, Frederick & Kent Butler. (2007) Planning and Urban Design Standards. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
· Lin, Mike W. (1993) Drawing and Designing with Confidence. NY: Van Nostrand Reinhold Co.
· Hack, Gary and others. (2009) Local Planning: Contemporary Principles and Practice. Washington, DC: ICMA Press.
· LaGro, James A. Jr. (2008) Site Analysis, 2nd Ed. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
· Brooks, R. Gene & David W. Lestage. (2012) Before Building: Site Planning in the Digital Age. Boston, MA: Prentice Hall.
· DeChiara, Joseph & Lee Koppelman. (1975) Urban Planning and Design Criteria, 2nd Ed. NY: Van Nostrand Reinhold Co.
· Macaulay, David. (1976) Underground. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co.
Course Calendar
|
Date |
Topic |
Reading |
Assignment (D2L) |
|
1/17 |
Introduction |
·
Hack,
pp. 343-349 |
|
|
1/24 |
Context Local Government Planning |
Attend Mankato Planning Commission, 1/23 @ 6:30 PM |
|
|
1/31 |
Site Analysis ·
Property
Description ·
Map reading ·
Tools &
toys |
·
Anderson, pp. 3-32 & 260 ·
Reading
Land Property Descriptions ·
Reading Subdivision
Plats and Site Plans |
|
|
2/7 |
Site Analysis ·
The Land |
·
Anderson, pp.
35-75 ·
Lynch,
Ch. 2 “The Site” & “Appendices” |
Anderson, “Slope Exercise,” pp. 239-40 & Anderson, “Land Area Exercise,” pp. 255-57 |
|
2/14 |
Site Analysis ·
Engineering |
·
Macaulay (1976) ·
Hack, pp. 111-117;
350-359 ·
Lin, “Design
Process” pp. 149-189 |
Anderson, “Water Tank Exercise,” pp. 241 & “Sewer System Exercise,” pp. 242-44 |
|
2/21 |
Subdivision Regulation ·
Plat design |
·
LMC
Handbook Ch. 13—Land Use ·
Mankato
Subdivision Ordinance ·
Reed, “How to
Red-Pencil Preliminary Subdivision Plats,” in Solnit, pp. 57-79 ·
LEED for
Neighborhood Development ·
Lynch, Ch. 3
“The User” ·
Lin, Ch. 9
“Design Process” |
Anderson, “Drainage Exercise,” pp. 245-46 |
|
2/28 |
Subdivisions · Streets · Parking |
· Hack, pp. 374-377 ·
Anderson, pp.
79-150 |
AUAR Assignment |
|
Break Week |
|||
|
3/14 |
Subdivisions ·
Housing |
·
Anderson, pp.
153-237 |
Anderson, “Traffic Assignment,” pp. 247-249 |
|
3/21 |
Site Planning ·
Technical
matters |
·
Pollock, “The
Red Penciler’s Guide to Site Plan Review,” Planning, 1991, 57(4):22-26 · Solnit, “How to Draw a Plot Plan” pp. 30-35 · Reed, “How to Red-Pencil Site Plans” in Solnit, pp. 81-113 |
Attend Mankato Site Review Comm, 3/19 @ 1:00 PM |
|
3/28 |
Site Planning · Matters of art |
· Hack, pp. 117-127; 359-364; 377-385 ·
Lynch, Ch. 5 “Design”
& 6 “Sensed Landscape” |
Anderson, “Roads Exercise,” pp. 250-52 |
|
4/4 |
Site Planning |
|
Anderson, “Parking Exercise,” pp. 252-54 |
|
4/11 |
Zoning |
·
Hack, pp. 287-291; 298-307; 377-385 ·
Erley, “Writing Better Zoning Reports,” in Solnit pp. 139-149 |
Anderson, “Subdivision Exercise,” pp. 258-59 |
|
4/18 |
Zoning |
Red-Pencil Classmate’s Subdivision |
|
|
4/25 |
Impact Assessment |
·
LMC
Handbook Ch. 14—Community Development ·
Hack, pp.
335-339 ·
“The Public
Economics of Development Impacts,” in Solnit pp. 151-171 |
Zoning Ordinance Recommendation |
|
5/2 |
Impact Assessment |
· Case Study: Mankato Quarry Site |
Impact Analysis of Quarry Site |
|
5/10 |
Final exam date—AICP Exam Review
Questions & course evaluation due |
||
Assignments:
Classwork:
This is primarily a case-study and discussion class, although I may bring in an occasional guest or indulge in the occasional lecture. You are expected to do the reading assigned from the texts and be prepared to discuss them in class on the assigned date. Attendance at all class meetings is presumed.
Written
Assignments:
You will have 13 (almost) weekly exercises which will be submitted for a grade. In addition, there will be a final exam (based on AICP Exam study questions).
Course Expectations:
Attendance
& Class Participation:
Students play an important role in educating and challenging each other. This can only happen if there is consistent attendance. I expect you to attend. I may take the class roll. Unexcused absence (prior notification is required—even if I am not available, my voice mail and e-mail always are) can result in loss of points toward one’s grade. You are paying for this class—make sure to get your “money’s worth.” Most importantly, this is an excellent foundation of knowledge for future activities, and it is a chance for you to learn, teach, and grow with others.
Grading:
The (almost) weekly exercises are worth 10 pts. apiece. The exam is worth another 20 pts., for a total of 150 pts. in the course. Study questions for the exam are here.
The final grade may be based on a curve, but students can
expect at least an A if they achieve 135, a B with 120, etc.
Other
Matters:
Extra Credit: In general, I do not encourage extra credit in this class. I would rather that you put the extra effort into your regular assignments.
All assignments are due on the assigned date. Partial credit may be given for assignments
that are less than one week late, unless other arrangements have been made in advance.
Written reports are expected to be free of grammatical, spelling, and content
errors. They should be submitted in typewritten, standard formats (APA,
URSI Style Sheets). You must familiarize
yourself with the University’s Academic Honesty
Policy. I encourage you to draw on
the ideas of others—but you must also identify when you do so (you gain “brownie points” for citing the
work of others!). Plagiarism is a
serious breach of academic behavior and will result in an F for the course.
I will help you in whatever manner humanly possible. However, once the semester is over, there is not a great deal I can do. If there is something that you don’t understand, are having problems with, or need help on, please get in touch with me as early as possible.
Every attempt will be made to accommodate qualified students with disabilities. If you are a student with a documented disability, please contact us as early in the semester as possible to discuss the necessary accommodations, and/or contact the Disability Services Office at 507-389-2825 (V) or 1-800-627-3529 (MRS/TTY).
© 2006 A.J.Filipovitch
Revised 2 January 2019