Urban Planning

Urban Planning/Development For my topic I chose to research Urban Planning which also goes hand in hand with Urban Development. Urban Planning integrates land use planning and transportation planning to improve the economic and social environments of communities, where Urban Development is the actual process of taking these plans and putting them to work by the selling, leasing, building of land, buildings, stores, homes, etc. For my interview I contacted Dode Harvey, who has worked in, or owned a commercial real estate firm for over 30 years. For several years Mr. Harvey owned a company by the name of Diamond T. Ranch development, and he now works for Real Estate Solutions based out of San Antonio, Texas. Because of his experience I have an owner’s point of view and not just an agent.
Specialization
In the world of Urban Development, Mr. Harvey’s specializes in urban re-development; meaning he takes property that has already been developed, but has been either run down or vacated, and brings it back to life. An example of urban re-development that Mr. Harvey gave me was the re-development of Houston Street in San Antonio. According to Mr. Harvey there was a strip of about eight blocks in the historic district of downtown San Antonio that was completely vacant and deteriorating, his company went and bought that eight block strip (about 20 buildings) for around twenty million dollars . They brought the buildings up to date and then turned around and brought several small businesses back into the area revitalizing a dying community.

Educational Requirements In Mr. Harvey’s area of Urban Development there are just a couple of educational requirements, including receiving your real estate license and participating in continuing education. As far as formal education goes there are no requirements, though Mr. Harvey did recommend that you receive a college degree to help jump start you when coming into the commercial real estate field. He also