Many bios I've seen here refer to how some members came to planning "later in life."

Here is a link to a L.A. Times article describes how Gail Goldberg, the newly-appointed City of Los Angeles' Planning Director came to Planning "later in life."

New City Planner is Named

Is that to your advantage or disadvantage as a professional planner?

Reply with your thoughts here and they will be shared via e-mail with your fellow Planning and Women APA Division members.

Thanks to members Cyndie Tidwell and Susan E. Jones for their keen observations (below) on how the wisdom of their years provides a solid foundation for their successful careers in Planning. 

Cyndie Tidwell
I moved from Minneapolis to the Albuquerque area in 1990.  I hadn't completed my bachelor's degree, even though I worked at a highly professional level in the non-profit sector.  However, New Mexico presented new challenges to me as a place where I was not known, had no reputation to rely upon, and no degree.

I completed my BA degree (independent studies program) at Univ. of So. Florida in 1991, while taking a couple of courses in the planning department at UNM just for something to do.  In 1992 I formally entered the Masters of Community and Regional Planning at age 49.  My first full time planning job started in 1996, when I was 53. 

There are many advantages to being older as a planner -- the years of experience in diverse circumstances, everything from motherhood, to community volunteer, to activist, to employment in other fields.  I look at some of the younger planners here, and some of them will toil aimlessly at virtually the same level for decades because they don't have the richness of experience to guide them to positions where they might have more interest or more talent.

Especially in a state where there are relatively few planning positions available, and many of the positions are in very small population municipalities and counties, every day of expertise gained in another field or in a different environment is helpful in bringing a "big picture" approach to issues.

On the down side, unless one is willing to relocate for new positions (political appointees often move every four years), a planning career can stall.  Older persons may feel like they're settled in the place they want to be, and may find it harder to pull up stakes and move over and over again.

While I would enjoy working as a full-time municipal or county planner now, at age 62, I'm branching out into other areas of public planning.  My husband of 40 years and I are not willing to move, and I'm unwilling to commute an hour or more each way to work elsewhere.  But, it's okay.  I'm actually running for a council seat where I live ... and hopefully will bring my planning expertise to the political process.

Cyndie

Susan Jones
Hmmm - "later in life?"  I guess I came to planning later in life - enrolled at the University of Hawai`i's Department of Urban and Regional Planning masters degree program (with a focus on community services planning).  That was after teaching in Chicago, New Jersey and Hawai`i in K-8 (or K-6 schools).  I needed something different and wanted to grow. I was taken by the department's curriculum, perhaps as a result of a masters of education degree in inner city studies in Chicago. where "community" relevance wove its way into almost every class. I had also been on our townhouse homeowners board in Hawai`i - it helped me realize the many facets of a community (whether it was small or large) and how thoughtful planning was needed.

After graduating from UH, I was hired by an organization that focused on addressing homelessness in the state, through collaboration with the State, Counties and other nonprofits that were providing services to that population, including those who were a step away from being homeless.  My next professional step was becoming a community foundation program officer for 12 years.  I'm now an independent consultant to nonprofits and to a private foundation.

I sit on a couple of board of directors (now back on the homeowners board), as well as two nonprofits' boards.  I like to believe that I'm helping them by sharing my planning skills and experiences. 

As to whether it was to my advantage to come to planning "later in life", definitely "yes".  I had lived in very different communities and began to realize that each had an infrastructure that told me something about how that community operated and how they engaged (or not) their citizens.

Great question.  Looking forward to reading other later in life members' comments.
Thanks,
Susan Jones