Rookie urban planners make mistakes.  They're new to the game and have yet to realize how easy it is to make a big mistake in this field.  Here are 7 of those mistakes that every rookie urban planner makes.  Maybe you can realize that you made them before everyone can see the mistakes fully realized.

It's easy to consider plans from one direction or from just a few directions but you want to consider them from every angle.  What is beautiful when you look at it one way can be an eyesore if you're standing somewhere else.  You need to learn to look at your plans from every angle even if no one else will.

There is nothing wrong with getting inspiration from great plans you've seen but you want yours to be original.  If you're just copying plans that you like then you are not giving the project your all.  You can learn from good urban planners but don't let your plans become a carbon copy of theirs.

This point is for when you are explaining your plans to others.  It is a beautiful thing to talk about how an urban area's design will make people feel and what it will allow them to do.  You can talk about this but don't get lost in the intangible ideas.  Touch on this but focus on concrete details if you want to hold someone's interest.

You can play it safe or you can trust your gut.  Playing it safe may be safe but it isn't going to show what you can really do.  If your gut says to do something different then do something different.  The urban planners who are remembered are the ones that broke away from the mold to create something extraordinary.  You have to make your mark sometime.

Quoting Jane Jacobs has been done.  It has been done a lot.  Everyone knows the quotes and everyone is a little tired of hearing others use them.  If you want a quote then find one no one has ever heard before and not one from Jane Jacobs.

When talking about your work don't try to sound smart.  Let the work itself be enough.  Rookie urban planners have a tendency to try to make themselves sound smart and to make their work sound profound.  If your work is profound then people will know it without you trying to convince them.  The same goes for you being smart.

When you choose urban planning jobs and projects every urban planner at some point chooses a project or job for money instead of passion.  Some go for more money when they'd rather be doing something more meaningful.  Others avoid jobs that pay well because they think they have to make less to be doing meaningful work.  Do the work you love and let the salary fall where it may.

TR HEINECKER shares information with readers on how to find the greatest Masterof Urban Planning programs to fit their needs.