I’m Going To Grad School
Yesterday I received the official letter from Saint Louis University that I have been accepted to graduate school. I will be pursuing a Master of Arts in Urban Planning and Real Estate Development (program website). When I received my Bachelor of Science in Environmental Design from the University of Oklahoma in 1991 I didn’t think I’d ever return to school, but here I am at 39 years old doing just that.
I’m still debating taking two or three classes this Fall. I do know that one will be ‘The Metropolis’ taught by Professor Todd Swanstrom, PhD., a Tower Grove East resident. Swanstrom, a Princeton graduate, is said to be an excellent instructor. I’ve certainly enjoyed the conversations (and debates) I’ve had with him. Update: I keep getting Swanstrom mixed up with Joseph Heathcott, PhD!
Last August I did a critique of Matt Bauer’s “Capstone” project from this program (read post). I was pretty critical of some assumptions but in general agreed with much of what he presented. A good friend of mine, a PhD in Communications, commented that he was glad I was not on his dissertation committee! So now I must subject myself to my own scrutiny as I complete this program over the next 2-3 years. I will likely post much of my class papers here so that you can all give me a dose of my own medicine.
As I spend more time at SLU I will end up doing more posts about the physical relationship between the city and campus. You can also expect that I will start pushing for scooter parking around the campus as well (see post from March).
Dr. Swanstrom is a class act and the BEST instructor, but he does not live in Tower Grove East, rather he is a county resident.
Congrats, Steve!
Congraulations Steve. Coincidentally, I just received word of my accepatance to SLU’s evening MBA program on Monday. Maybe I’ll see ya around campus.
I’d be interested in your thoughts on Davis-Shaunessey/Cook business building(s).
good luck – you’re a glutton for punishment!
I don’t envy you one bit, Becker. I finished my MBA at SLU in 2001. I’m glad I did it, but I certainly wouldn’t want to do it over again.
Good luck!
Todd lives in U-City. Among other things, he is on the Citizens for Modern Transit Board.
Congratulations on taking the big leap. I am looking forward to reading your papers.
And I am sure class discussions will be interesting.
I guess I’ll be seeing you in the halls this fall, and I’ll probably be joining you next fall after I graduate this spring. Congratulations.
As you recall, I was made aware of your intent at the end of last semester. Congrats. It is a good program in that you get both the developer’s perspective as well as the public policy side.
You will recognize the Mayor of Affton by my Trapper Keeper crammed with folders. Do not decide on your capstone project on your way in. Mine hit me like a ton of bricks well into the first year.
Best of luck!
The Mayor of Affton
Congrats. I sincerely hope you are able to wield the degree into a career that puts you in a position of influence on St. Louis’s built environment.
You can take the classes, you can be hired to give “urban” advice and charge nicely for knowledge, and you can preach what planners dream for but cannot easily obtain in this mixed transit culture of car and some train, BUT?
Can you live the life >……
Welcome to Urban, City, & Regional Planning;
prepare to think critically and have an open mind.
So excited to see you there Steve! If you see us PhD students dragging, be supportive!
Congrats, and I’ll see ya if you ever need any books on campus. I have a feeling you’ll be using the electronic versions of all the services I provide rather than the in-person version, but hey, perhaps I can still say hello by making the password to all the courses you take be “stevesmells.” 😉
I will be interested to see what you post about the relationship between the city and the campus, because I think it definitely could use some discussion and criticism, to put it mildly. There are days when I feel like walking around campus in a shirt reading “YES I LIVE NORTH OF DELMAR, YES IT IS SAFE, NO I AM NOT NUTS!” I am looking forward to reading what you have to say about Father Biondi’s dolphin fountain (hey, St. Louisans weren’t using those dense, urban historic buildings there anyway…oh wait, they were…). There is an info board you should check out that’s on the third floor of the library (right as you cross from the addition to the main building, toward the stacks) that shows “before” and “after” of SLU’s urban renewal projects in Midtown. Trust me, you need to see it.
As for scooter parking, there definitely needs to be some in an official capacity. But FYI, lots of people seem to leave their scooters outside the library near the northernmost bike rack, and they never get hassled that I can tell. It’s the unofficial spot, for now.
By-the-way
Join the Missouri APA Chapter at the student rate and come to the First week of October State APA conference in Springfield, MO. We need more contact between SLU, MSU, and UMKC planning students. You guys should start a student chapter like ours called Missouri Association of Planning Students – Missouri State division.
Steve…if you think you are poor now, just wait…First it is tuition, but then you can’t learn without books. That my friend, for all the love I have for SLU, is a rip off. I just spent 200$ for 2 books. Your time is coming – save your pennies now!