The surprise I have been patiently waiting to publicly share is that I accepted a new job as the Senior Transit Planner at the City of Petaluma, CA. The below map shows where Petaluma is located in California. Yes, I had to research where Petaluma is located when I applied for the job. I had never even visited Petaluma before applying for the job. Coincidentally, my Portland friend, Linn Davis, is working on this project in Petaluma for Healthy Democracy. He got me excited about accepting the job and moving to Petaluma.
My last day working at Clackamas Community College (CCC) was July 18. Even though I struggled with being asked to represent CCC and Clackamas County on regional transportation committees because I have never owned a car (most students and residents own a car), I frequently advocated for these regional committees to add more voices from Clackamas County. I enjoyed working with many on- and off-campus partners during my four years at CCC. I actually worked more time in the COVID restrictions than before these restrictions. These restrictions drastically changed my work environment and likely permanently changed the future of CCC’s transportation services. I hope CCC finds someone who enjoys working in this new work environment.
While getting COVID during my move to Petaluma forced me to work from home with my new roommate for over a week, I started working for the City of Petaluma on July 25. I plan to share more about my new job and Petaluma after I share my other surprise.
Remembering Grandma Atkinson
I actually have two surprises. Unfortunately, the second surprise is not exciting. While I knew my paternal 96-year-old Grandma Atkinson was at the age to die soon, I am still struggling with her July 16 death in a Concord, NC hospital. Thankfully, I was able to be with her during the last week of her life. My twin sister and I visited her daily in the hospital or assisted-living facility during my North Carolina vacation. Our dad frequently joined us for the daily visit. My mom and brother also visited. These visits helped me feel more at peace when my grandma died. Despite my minimal cooking skills, I want to preserve the time with my grandma by making zucchini bread, which she frequently made.
More pleasant memory in Erie, PA
Due to how much pain my grandma felt in the hospital and my desire to focus on how active and connected she was in Erie, I wanted to share a more pleasant memory from this 2017 post. I cannot believe this post was published over five years ago! My grandma knew everyone by name at her Erie retirement complex. I have difficulty remembering new names, so I wish that I had her skill to remember names. She was excited to introduce me to everyone during chair yoga. She would stop to talk with everyone in the hallways. While I am trying to focus on positive thoughts, the COVID restrictions negatively impacted her ability to socialize with everyone in her retirement complex. Even though she did not have COVID, the restrictions forced her to be isolated in her room, which made her very lonely. I was very concerned that she would die during this isolation, so I called her more frequently to give her someone to talk to.
I also enjoyed playing cards with Grandma Atkinson and the rest of my family.
Moved to Petaluma, CA to Start New Job
Since my grandma died two days before I flew to Oakland, I am still amazed that I was able to focus enough to finish moving to Petaluma. I have been debating about what to share first about my new job and Petaluma. As a planner who enjoys reading history, I think sharing Petaluma’s planning history is a good starting point. I took a similar approach when I started blogging about Kannapolis in 2014. I can cover other topics about Petaluma in future posts.
Construction Industry Association of Sonoma County v. City of Petaluma
While I did not know where Petaluma is located when I studied the 1976 US Supreme Court case Construction Industry Association of Sonoma County v. City of Petaluma for the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) exam, I believe this case is the most important case to impact Petaluma’s planning history. As this post from Petaluma historian John Patrick Sheehy shows, I can thank former Petaluma mayor Helen Putnam for taking the case all the way to the US Supreme Court in order to limit Petaluma’s sprawl in the 1970s. In addition to preventing sprawl in Petaluma, the court’s decision helped cities across the country prevent sprawl. Surprisingly, former Mayor Putnam did not envision herself as a torchbearer of the urban slow-growth movement (aka smart growth).
Another important piece in Petaluma’s planning history occurred when the city council approved the Environmental Design Plan in 1972. This plan limited new development to 500 units per year for the next five years; 250 on the east side and 250 on the west side. It also included an urban growth boundary around the city. Yes, Petaluma created an urban growth boundary before Portland created its boundary in 1979. The below map shows Petaluma’s current urban growth boundary. Since I thought this boundary would not expire, I was surprised to learn Petaluma’s urban growth boundary will expire in 2025, unless extended by the voters. I believe urban growth boundaries in Oregon do not expire.
The reason why I am focused on how former Mayor Putnam limited Petaluma’s sprawl in the 1970s is because my new job involves doing transit planning for Petaluma. Sprawling land uses are not conducive to providing good transit service. Petalumans would likely drive more than they currently do if Petaluma had not limited its growth in the 70s. While the below 2016 map does not show the current transit system, the current transit map does not have a basemap to provide context for the transit routes. As you can see from the changes that were made to the transit system, planners are still struggling to provide good transit service in Petaluma even with the urban growth boundary.
Future Blog Post
I could write more but this post is getting long. I am debating what to write about next. I could write about my new commute in Petaluma and how it could impact my goal to settle down. Since I am new to Petaluma and the Bay Area, I could write about my car-free trips in Petaluma and the Bay Area. I am open to suggestions. What do you want to read?
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It was great to read this long-awaited post, Ray! I would like to hear about your commute in your next piece.
Kathy