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I have several years experience in urban planning site acquisition, and military planning. I have a masters degree in Urban and Regional Planning, I am certified by the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP). I also own my own development company.
As the son of a general contractor, I grew up helping my father at construction jobs wherein I witnessed many triumphs and catastrophes in the building industry. I lived in different kinds of urban environments and a whole strata of neighborhoods and areas (from NY city to rural Texas). I currently live in Florida. I feel like I can help people by writing this book and thereby transferring some of this knowledge to people like you. Usually, when people come to me at a city office, they have already made a purchase and it is usually too late for me to help them. Sometimes I feel like a life guard at a quicksand swimming hole. If they had this book, they wouldnt be in a bad situation to begin with. Also, I purchased my first home from the ACME Development Company, which provided inspiration for this book. To avoid being sued by this nationwide developer, I will not mention the developer's real name, but if you ever do business with them, I hope that you have my book. Let's just say that some developers care about their reputation and some do not. I happened to buy my first house from one that didn't. I know what you're thinking, "Why didnt he use his vaunted Planning skills to avoid buying the house from ACME?" Well, now I do, and I wont make the same mistake again. You may remember a character on Television who was giving away all the secrets of magic. He would come onto the show wearing a black mask because he apparently was afraid of what his fellow magicians might do to him for revealing all of the secrets that magicians had used on stage for many years. On the final episode, he revealed himself and stated that he did what he did for the love of magic. He witnessed firsthand the resurgence of interest in magic as young people learned how its done. In a way, I feel that this writing may inspire people to learn about urban design issues, and how important it is to them. Because, essentially, that is what this book teaches. It's also about being part of a development process instead of just being a subject of some market study. Once the general public understands the Planning process and certain urban design issues touched upon in this book, maybe we will see improved standards of life for all of us. |
