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Miriam McGilvray

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Just the beginning

This course succeeded in providing an overview of the planning profession as it has adapted over the last century, but this is just the beginning. With this foundation I’m excited to go further and learn about all the techniques at my disposal to affect the world around me. It’s been... Continue reading

Posted Dec 9, 2011 at 2011 A+ Number One Team

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Public Hearing = General public disinterest

First of all, I was misinformed about the public hearing that I attended. It was supposed to be controversial and one of the “hot topics” of the planning department. Sadly, only one of the City Council members put up a fight, and few public participants had anything spectacular to bring... Continue reading

Posted Dec 4, 2011 at 2011 A+ Number One Team

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Ruminating on resilience

Resilience theory is exciting and inspiring, but the big picture consequences are quite chilling as we saw in class this week. We talked a little about the interface with the planning profession and resilience, but I see it as something like a big block that we chip away little by... Continue reading

Posted Dec 2, 2011 at 2011 A+ Number One Team

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Resilience in Alaska's Salmon Run

Each community is uniquely characterized by the details of their system. Such details encompass culture, urban ecology, ritual, economy, history –just to name a few. Even though outside experts and planning professionals can assist with certain aspects of analysis, the residents of the community must tell their story –the details-... Continue reading

Posted Nov 25, 2011 at 2011 A+ Number One Team

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Reflection section (rhyme intended)

I definitely enjoyed everyone's presentation. Several people showed thoughtfulness and insight into the process and I appreciated everyone's hard work. Powerpoint presentations are, unfortunately, a staple presentation format most planners will have to master in their profession, but I must admit that it's not my favorite format. They stress me... Continue reading

Posted Nov 19, 2011 at 2011 A+ Number One Team

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Dear New Orleans

Dear New Orleans, You have proven your value to us time and time again -with your fantastical Mardi Gras celebrations, your unique culinary prowess, your musical and theatrical flair and of course your simple joie de vivre. We treasure your culture and heritage. We love to eat your beignets and... Continue reading

Posted Nov 9, 2011 at 2011 A+ Number One Team

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New Orleans and Resilience

Rob briefly mentioned "resilience" toward the beginning of his lecture this evening, which I appreciated since I too think that rebuilding after disaster is directly linked to resilience theory. And it got me thinking, but perhaps I’m getting ahead of this class (we’ll be talking about Social-ecological resilience on Nov.... Continue reading

Posted Nov 2, 2011 at 2011 A+ Number One Team

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"Future Proofing" New Orleans

Why should we rebuild New Orleans? This question surprised me. Is it really the first question that people ask Rob Olshansky in regards to his findings? It baffles me that in this day and age we wouldn’t want to rebuild after an urban disaster like Katrina. Regardless of the ills... Continue reading

Posted Oct 30, 2011 at 2011 A+ Number One Team

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No Regret with the Charette

I quite enjoyed this week's charette and after all the crazies -er, I mean opinionated residents- that I've seen at City Council meetings I was excited to share my own voice as well. Initially I felt that the information that I was given about my character was insufficient, and I... Continue reading

Posted Oct 28, 2011 at 2011 A+ Number One Team

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Stakeholder input -Lynchburg, VA

Lynchburg, Virginia boasts it's high-quality schools, numerous parks and public facilities which are abundant for a town this size. On paper (or the city homepage: http://www.lynchburgva.gov/) the city appears to have a high-quality of life with urban amenities spread equitably throughout the city. Unfortunately, this never tells the whole picture.... Continue reading

Posted Oct 24, 2011 at 2011 A+ Number One Team

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Drawbacks of Normative theory

I was pretty bummed that I couldn’t stay for Emily Talen’s lecture on Wednesday, especially after the ideas that she brought up in class. She didn’t necessarily respond to the diversity issue that we were discussing, but her ideas were valid nonetheless. Intuitively I wanted to push back on her... Continue reading

Posted Oct 21, 2011 at 2011 A+ Number One Team

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Happy Resident = Happy City

This set of readings provided interesting and interdisciplinary perspectives on what constitutes a healthy diverse city, or a “just city.” Fainstein’s theory outlines five requisites for a just city: democracy, equity, diversity, growth, and sustainability. These do not necessarily directly translate to design, such as Talen discusses in her article,... Continue reading

Posted Oct 16, 2011 at 2011 A+ Number One Team

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Kelo Compensation

Not only did the Planning Feud ramp us up at the beginning of class, the subject material and controversial discussions were quite captivating. I especially enjoyed the debates regarding the questionable ethics of the given situations. By relating the class discussion back to the reading, you can see that everyone... Continue reading

Posted Oct 7, 2011 at 2011 A+ Number One Team

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Ethical Planning - FasTracks

The controversy over the FasTracks public transportation expansion project highlights the tension between environment, society and economy. In 2004, voters in the Denver-Metro region approved a special sales tax to help fund the project, and regardless if certain communities individually vetoed the tax everyone in the region is paying for... Continue reading

Posted Oct 2, 2011 at 2011 A+ Number One Team

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Not the only crayon in the box

I appreciate the organization of this class; in that we've discussed each approach to planning separately in order to really get a sense of the style. But I don't necessarily think that they need to be so separate. We touched on this a little bit in class; that advocacy planning... Continue reading

Posted Oct 1, 2011 at 2011 A+ Number One Team

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Advocacy v. Complete deadlock

Planners are inherently advocates for something, as they are only human. We all have our own agenda and priorities at some level, and maybe we shouldn’t have to conceal it. In this sense, I agree with Davidoff: “…[the planner] should be an advocate for what he deems proper.” But alternatively,... Continue reading

Posted Sep 25, 2011 at 2011 A+ Number One Team

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It's a real dilema...

History is almost always written by the winners, and this case is no different. From what we read for last class, the resolution for the Devil's Tower dilema was upbeat and satisfied everyone's concerns. But I don't think that really represents the whole truth. We discussed the validity of the... Continue reading

Posted Sep 23, 2011 at 2011 A+ Number One Team

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Public Consideration and Compromise

In the “Tower Dilemma” case, I don’t believe that any planner could enact a successful resolution alone. The stakeholders involved have such differing views of this particular site that a compromise on the side of both parties must be reached. For this, education and understanding is key. By facilitating a... Continue reading

Posted Sep 17, 2011 at 2011 A+ Number One Team

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Current political environment in Brazil

I was pretty excited about this last week’s readings and discussion, because of my experience with Brazil, but I would’ve liked to talk a bit more about the differences in urban planning in cultures. I’ve noticed that so far in class we approach planning like it’s either A or B,... Continue reading

Posted Sep 17, 2011 at 2011 A+ Number One Team

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The Planning Dance: Curitiba to Minneapolis

I have to admit that the more theoretical details in Altshuler’s argument flew right over my head, so hopefully the lecture and discussion in class will help iron out the ideas for me. That said, I think Altshuler has a logistical case for middle-range planning even though he didn’t quite... Continue reading

Posted Sep 11, 2011 at 2011 A+ Number One Team

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Visionary justifications for razing slums are rarly justified

After initially reading Jane Jacob’s The Life and Death of Great American Cities a few years ago, I felt like I really knew her. Her personality and voice is so strong in her writing. And I really enjoyed the little mini-documentary of her not only because it gave me a... Continue reading

Posted Sep 10, 2011 at 2011 A+ Number One Team

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Form v. Function and Idealism v. Realism

The discussion about comprehensively planned cities versus organically planned cities comes down to a disconnect between form and function. It’s like composing a music score for a movie that you’ve only seen on mute. Jacobs articulates this distinction quite accurately by citing specific observations and interactions with her urban surroundings... Continue reading

Posted Sep 4, 2011 at 2011 A+ Number One Team

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Not-so-distant theories

Even though the allotted time to discuss the readings was cut short during the last class period, I think the overall class discussion/lecture adequately synthesized the material. The video clips were helpful tools to get us to think about real-world cases, and it definitely helped solidify my interpretation of the... Continue reading

Posted Sep 2, 2011 at 2011 A+ Number One Team

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Miriam McGilvray is now following Brugo

Sep 1, 2011

Modernist/Post-Modernist Planning, Internationally

Similar to our own country’s planned capital, Washington D.C., the president of Brazil at the time (circa 1960) Juscelino Kubitschek de Oliveira, decided to design and build a completely new city to house the country’s new capital. The well-known architect, Oscar Niemeyer and the urbanist Lúcio Costa were hired to... Continue reading

Posted Aug 28, 2011 at 2011 A+ Number One Team

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