Small Towns, Big Opportunities

Mary Kay Peck, AICP
Copyright 1997 Peck

This paper reveals what it is like to be a planner in a small town and offers survival tips for the practitioner.

Working in a small town brings its own set of unique challenges and opportunities. The challenges can include a small staff and small budget. However, working in a small town offers opportunities that aren't available in a large planning agency. When you work in a small town, you won't spend years working through the ranks of Planner I, Planner II, Associate Planner, Principal Planner, Senior Planner...And you won t find yourself given a narrow range of jobs.

Working in a small town means that you'll be exposed to all facets of planning--current, long-range, transportation, housing...you name it. In a small town, you'll be expected to do it all. You'll learn how to manage projects, give presentations, conduct hearings, write reports--opportunities that you could wait years for in a large agency. Small towns are different from suburbs or cities. Here, then, are some small town survival tips.

Small Town Environment

If you haven't lived or worked in a small town before, it's important to recognize that the entire environment--business and social--is different from that in a big city or suburb. The anonymity that prevails in big cities just isn't a factor in small towns. The lack of anonymity means that local officials are accessible--to you as a planner and to everyone else. They're your neighbors, and everyone else's neighbors as well. The folks testifying before City Council or the Planning Commission are likely former classmates or even relatives. There is almost always some connection if the town is small enough.

It also means that you need to be accessible as well. Expect your trips to the grocery store to take longer, because you will be recognized and asked about the latest hot issues. Expect to be stopped for questions and conversation when you walk down the street. Do things to make your self accessible. Join something that matches your interests--a civic group, church, athletic club--and become part of the community. Find out which cafe is the place for morning coffee so you can join in and find out what is really going on.

Communicate

Don't confuse accessibility and informal communications with the important and necessary formal communications. Work with your Planning Commission and City Council to develop goals and an annual work program. Meet with them regularly to keep them aware of your progress. Give them written status reports on a monthly basis. And when those special projects come up that become an immediate priority, revise your work program accordingly.

Customer Service

No matter the size of a community, customer service is critical. In a small town, with its ever-present grapevine, customer service can quickly make or break a planner. Remember that lack of anonymity? If you don't return a phone call, it could be from the mayor's cousin. If you're rude to a customer, it could be a planning commissioner's best friend. Those old sayings about small town friendliness and personalized service have a lot of truth to them. People in small towns are used to knowing their grocery store clerk, their insurance agent, their realtor, their attorney. And they are used to the courteous, helpful service that these lifelong relationships ensure. Their relationship with the city planner should be no different. Make sure you consistently offer personalized, courteous service.

Time Management

When you're striving to provide excellent customer service, it's easy to fall into the trap of trying to do everything immediately. It's tempting to always put that in person or telephone request right at the top of the "to do" list. You will, however, have many other job duties. In a small planning agency, you ll probably be expected to do a lit bit of everything, including staff reports, ordinance writing, presentations, plan updates, as well as responding to inquiries. It's important to find a way to control your schedule and make time to accomplish long range projects. If there is more than one person in your office, take turns answering walk in inquiries. Make sure that your staff is cross trained so that no one person is the only one able to answer certain questions. Be sure to schedule time to work on those long range projects.

Budgets

Small agencies often mean small budgets, so it's important to be creative and learn how to stretch that budget. Perhaps you can share secretarial services with another department. If there is a university anywhere nearby, recruit for volunteer interns or class projects. Senior citizens can also be effective volunteers in planning agencies. State extension services frequently offer planning assistance. If you have a state planning service, take advantage of them at every opportunity. Take a class in grant writing and watch for funding. Be sure to include training money in your budget. At the very least, join the American Planning Association and read every issue of Planning from cover to cover. Use the supply budget to build a good reference library. Call other small towns and swap plans and ordinances with them. When you can afford it, attend state and national APA conferences. Even if you have a small town budget, you can't afford to become isolated from the planning profession.

Personal Characteristics

Be consistent, flexible and fair. If you start doing favors or bending the rules because the person asking the question is a friend or relative, you'll lose consistency and credibility fast. Keep in mind the goal that you want to achieve through your town's plans and regulations. There is always more than one way to reach that goal, and if the applicant's suggestion will achieve the goal, go with it. Working in a small town can be a very valuable professional experience. You can gain experience in all facets of planning. You can obtain management, administration and budget experience much more quickly than in a large agency. You can work closely with appointed and elected officials and learn invaluable political skills. However, the most important lesson that can be learned is that planning can make a difference. The scale of small towns makes it possible to see the results of your efforts, and that is one of the best professional rewards you'll ever have.