Better Planners Podcast

• Stories and Advice from Planners Across Oregon

  Welcome to another episode of the Better Planners Podcast! This time Mary is joined by four other planners who also happen to be our podcast volunteers! They bring stories and advice from all across Oregon with various backgrounds and expertise. In particular, we focus on the good, bad, ugly, and funny parts of working in urban and rural planning. We also provide some good advice for new planners or folks in planning grad school or people who are looking into planning as a career. We hope this episode brings fun, relevant, and informative stories to new and old planners alike. Article mentioned by Alexa as part of her funny story: https://vtdigger.org/2019/06/23/westfords-middle-finger-there-to-stay/ Enjoy! Want to be a part of the podcast? Send in an email! The team behind the upcoming Better Planners podcast wants to hear from you about the real life issues you handle as a planner. What are the honest, gritty, wicked problems you find yourself managing? To share your experiences, email [email protected] Your message might end up in one of the upcoming podcast episodes. You can be as anonymous or as identifiable as you want. Where to find us:Website: https://oregon.planning.org/community/betterplannerspodcast/Instagram: @betterplanners

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• Orchestrating the Vibes - Planning like an Artist

  In this episode, Mary and Shelley interview planner and artist: Miguel Vazquez! He is a FAICP planner who likes to mix the worlds of art and planning together. We discuss how to think like an artist to become a better planner and why that is important. We also discuss various projects he's been involved in where art was used to assist in planning activities.Miguel is also heavily involved in the Latinos in Planning Division of the American Planning Association (APA) and the California Chapter of the APA.In the episode, Miguel discusses an activity around dancing and movement as part of that year's annual conference for California APA. You can watch the outcome of that here: https://youtu.be/IogrB6cyGfc?si=yW0p-thoMY25PVPRWant to be a part of the podcast? Send in an email! The team behind the upcoming Better Planners podcast wants to hear from you about the real life issues you handle as a planner. What are the honest, gritty, wicked problems you find yourself managing? To share your experiences, email [email protected] Your message might end up in one of the upcoming podcast episodes. You can be as anonymous or as identifiable as you want. Where to find us:Website: https://oregon.planning.org/community/betterplannerspodcast/Instagram: @betterplanners

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• Hands-On Play as Community Engagement

  The Better Planners Podcast is back for 2025! In this episode, Shelley and Mary interview James Rojas and John Kamp to talk about their new book, Dream Play Build: Hands On Community Engagement for Enduring Places and Spaces.They talk extensively on their process with using hands-on community engagement methods to create an equal playing field for everyone to get involved in community planning work. Find their book at Island Press.Find James Rojas at PlaceIt.org. Find John Kamp at Prairieform.com. Want to be a part of the podcast? Send in an email! The team behind the upcoming Better Planners podcast wants to hear from you about the real life issues you handle as a planner. What are the honest, gritty, wicked problems you find yourself managing? To share your experiences, email [email protected] Your message might end up in one of the upcoming podcast episodes. You can be as anonymous or as identifiable as you want. Where to find us:Website: https://oregon.planning.org/community/betterplannerspodcast/Instagram: @betterplanners

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• Pocket Park Ep: Pacific Northwest High Speed Rail

  Welcome to another installment of a pocket park episode! In this one, Mary and Shelley discuss all things high speed rail, including the new federal funding to study a potential high speed rail line in the Pacific Northwest. What are the exciting opportunities, but also what are the pitfalls? Is it worth it to be able to go from Portland to Seattle in 1 hour, but it'll take years to fund? What about the existing Amtrak line? We talk all about it in this episode. What is a pocket park episode? It's a shorter episode on highly relevant, planning related topics that are happening in the public realm in real time. Episode Resources:WSDOT Ultra High Speed Rail Study https://wsdot.wa.gov/construction-planning/search-studies/ultra-high-speed-rail-studyPresident Biden Announces $8.2 Billion in New Grants for High-Speed Rail and Pipeline of Projects Nationwide https://www.transportation.gov/briefing-room/president-biden-announces-82-billion-new-grants-high-speed-rail-and-pipeline-projectsFY22 Corridor Identification and Development Program Selections https://railroads.dot.gov/elibrary/fy22-CID-program-selectionsHigh-speed rail projects get a $6B infusion of federal infrastructure money https://www.opb.org/article/2023/12/08/high-speed-rail-projects-get-a-6-billion-infusion-of-federal-infrastructure-money/Lawmakers introduce bill that would require ultra-high-speed rail project to extend to Eugene https://www.opb.org/article/2023/02/25/cascadia-bullet-train-pacific-northwest-transportation-portland-seattle-eugene-politics/Rail Advocates Still Pushing For Northwest Bullet Train Despite Anti-tax Mood https://www.opb.org/news/article/bullet-train-portland-seattle-vancouver-car-tab/Cascadia bullet train stuck at the station as feds dole out big bucks for rail https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2023/12/08/cascadia-bullet-train-stuck-at-the-station-as-feds-dole-out-big-bucks-for-rail/.What I learned from taking a train across the US (VOX) [Video] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=von_IMi97-wWant to be a part of the podcast? Send in an email! The team behind the upcoming Better Planners podcast wants to hear from you about the real life issues you handle as a planner. What are the honest, gritty, wicked problems you find yourself managing? To share your experiences, email [email protected] Your message might end up in one of the upcoming podcast episodes. You can be as anonymous or as identifiable as you want. Where to find us:Website: https://oregon.planning.org/community/betterplannerspodcast/Instagram: @betterplanners

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• Pocket Park Ep: Offshore Wind Energy in Oregon?

  Shelley and Mary have a second pocket park episode for you all! This one is a shorter episode on a very interesting topic: Offshore Wind Energy. Is there going to be one along the Oregon coast? We talk about how this federal project got to this point, where it is today, and the controversies surrounding the project. Will there be environmental issues, public engagement concerns, tribal nations engagement, and more. What is a pocket park episode? It's a shorter episode on highly relevant, planning related topics that are happening in the public realm in real time. Want to be a part of the podcast? Send in an email! The team behind the upcoming Better Planners podcast wants to hear from you about the real life issues you handle as a planner. What are the honest, gritty, wicked problems you find yourself managing? To share your experiences, email [email protected] Your message might end up in one of the upcoming podcast episodes. You can be as anonymous or as identifiable as you want. Where to find us:Website: https://oregon.planning.org/community/betterplannerspodcast/Instagram: @betterplanners

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