Jim Mazzocco is a planning administrator for the city of Tucson, Ariz., and has a master's degree in urban planning from the University of Arizona. He held various internships throughout school and started working in urban planning within a single jurisdiction. He eventually moved his way up to higher positions, and then on to the position of planning administrator. He oversees planning efforts for the city of Tucson and is head of a department that conducts city development review. Mazzocco refers to the field of urban planning as one that has the potential to truly improve quality of life and leave an impact on future generations.

What do you do, and why did you decide to pursue this career field?
My title is planning administrator, and I am a division head in a department that handles some policy development and development review for the city. My group mainly works on land use policy development (preparing and researching for new planning standards) and does zoning code administration. The key issues today are making codes more sustainable, i.e. greener, creating more infill opportunities and moving away from the predominance of suburban/car-oriented development. We also have a public counter that handles various zoning permits for residential properties and small businesses. I decided to pursue urban planning because, at that time, I was looking for a career area, but was not sure what to do. I had been living overseas teaching English. I came upon urban planning, and my research suggested that it would be a profession that I was capable of doing and that was in demand in the Southwest, which was where I hoped to live.

What type of preparation did you do to get into this field?
My planning education made me familiar with how a planning department of a jurisdiction works and the terminology and tools that they use to deliver their public service. As far as work experience, I was lucky to have an internship in a couple of jurisdictions where I did everyday tasks. I also worked for the city on a portion of a major rewrite of their zoning code.

What types of classes and projects did you have to do?
I received a master's degree from the University of Arizona in urban planning. We studied statistics and modeling, environmental planning, public finance, land use law, site planning, public administration, land use regulations, planning theory, regional planning and similar courses. We also had a projects class whereby a team of students had to prepare a major project together and then present it to a group of community leaders.

How did your education help you in your career?
I was able to meet local planners and make contacts with them through various functions at the university. Most of the course work was applicable in being able to understand what was basically going on in a planning office. Much of what you learn in a particular job, though, includes a lot of new information that is not covered directly during your course work. Also, there are many different types of urban planners with different areas of specialty, such as transportation planners, development review planners, geographic information system planners, environmental planners, and housing planners. There are more, but these are common examples that work in either the private or public sectors.

What was your career path like in this field? 
I stayed with one jurisdiction for a long time and advanced through vacancies and opportunities that arose. I gained a good reputation for doing good work and not being a problem. I eventually attained a high position. After that, advancement became more political because of the few opportunities for higher positions. There is an element of luck to advancing in one's career. Sometimes there are not vacancies for long periods. I have seen people who hooked on to a powerful mentor who gave them opportunities that, on their own, they would not have had. Many are just at the right place at the right time. The right balance is being talented, having a higher education and certification as a professional. Just being talented without an education, or having an education but not being very talented, does not always work out. When you pick a certain place to live and are not willing to move, that can affect your opportunities to advance, especially if the place has few planning opportunities.

What types of skills is someone required to have to work in your position?
Having a basic understanding of how land use planning works, good computer skills and some familiarity with computer mapping is a plus. Those are basics. Being a good public speaker, having above average writing skills and having above average research skills separate the average from those who move ahead. Also, understanding project management and personnel issues is a big plus. Finally, those who have good personal skills with people are the ones who move ahead. I have seen very bright people with horrible personal skills top out at a low position and stay there for their entire career.

What do you do on a typical workday?
Here are some typical tasks: I deal with incoming work, i.e., emails, people at the door, in-basket paperwork, phone calls from the public, and I meet with staff on the status of issues. Also, I have meetings to develop or assess tactics involved with a particular project. I review materials prepared by subordinates who are going forward to public meetings of elected officials. I meet with the director to discuss how we will handle a public presentation—what questions to anticipate and their answers. I prepare materials for public presentations with community stakeholders. On new projects, there may be an initial brainstorming to review the tasks, resources, staffing and timing that we need to prepare. Then we come up with an initial work plan to proceed.

Do you plan to advance to another position within your career field?
At this stage of my career I am not planning career advancements. A professional from their 20s to mid-50s should think in those terms. Older professionals are more concerned with doing relevant work that will improve the organization and community after they leave. With that said, if career advancements come my way, I would not shy away from them. I just am not pursuing them any longer.

What type of person do you think is best suited for a job in your field?
I think someone with a strong sense of wanting to do work that makes a better place to live would be attracted to a field like planning. There may be other fields that make a better world, but planning has that possibility. As far as skills, being a very good public speaker, a very good writer and having good people skills are the traits of all the best people I have met in this profession. They don't really teach these skills in planning schools, but I believe they are more important in being effective than all the technical training one will receive.

Do you have any advice for those who are looking to launch a career in your field?
It is very common to be frustrated in this field because you are not the decision maker; the elected officials are the decision makers. You may not politically agree with the elected officials' or the city/town managers' approaches to things. It takes a mature and seasoned person to see this and deal with it. A lot of positions have the planners speaking in public and at public meetings. A person with poor judgment, or who becomes self-indulgent in expressing their own thoughts, will not go far. So, if being basically a consultant to public officials and elected officials is not appealing to you, this profession may not be for you. Going back to an earlier comment, if you want to do something to make a better place to live, planning is one of the professions that at least has that potential.