Ted Clement

Hometown: New York, NY
Undergraduate Degree: Macalester College, B.A., Geography, 2006
Favorite City: Brooklyn, NY (its historic development was different from Manhattan's)
Planning Concentration: Transportation or Urban Development

 How did you get interested in planning?

I spent much of my childhood wondering about how my neighborhood and city changed over time. At Macalester College, I learned that my interests fit into the disciplines of Geography and Planning.

What kind of work experience do you have?

Between college and grad school, I worked for the New York City Department of City Planning's Brooklyn Borough Office. I also worked for a number of news organizations, because I once wanted to be a journalist.

Why did you choose Penn to study city planning?

Penn's program offers a good balance between the practical side of the discipline and the history and theory of planning. I wanted to attend a school that exemplified good planning practice and had a longstanding and constructive relationship with its home city. At community meetings that I attended as a representative the Department of City Planning in New York, Penn's relationship with Philadelphia was seen as the model of how a top university could grow in a dense urban environment.

What has been your favorite class so far?

My professors are great, but classes are best when planning practitioners visit. In my Urban Economics course, Josh Sevin, of the Philadelphia Department of Commerce, spoke about about Philadelphia's efforts to grow its knowledge-based economy and, in my Land Use and Transportation class, Mike King, of the transportation consultant Nelson\Nygaard, spoke about planning for pedestrian safety and placemaking. Since this is a professional degree, it's helpful to hear from experts who work in the field.

What are your career ambitions?

They're evolving. I'd like to move between the public and private sectors to work on urban development and suburban redevelopment. Ideally, my career will involve strengthening development around transit hubs in New York, its suburbs, and in other U.S. cities.