One of the great reasons to belong to professional organizations like the Nebraska Chapter of the American Planning Association is meeting other professional planners and building a network of people who do similar work.  The contacts you make often become mentors, advisors, colleagues, and friends. This article is the latest entry in the ongoing series of Nebraska planner profiles for the Nebraska APA Chapter Newsletter.  The goal of this series is to inform you about and introduce you to the diverse group of people who make planning and zoning happen in Nebraska. I had the great opportunity to meet Jennifer Hiatt, a planner and attorney, a few years ago and I find the breadth of her work and life experiences to be fascinating. I’m sure you will too.  

Jennifer is an Economic Opportunity Planner for the City of Lincoln in the Urban Development Department.  She earned a B.A. in History and Master of City and Regional Planning from the University of Nebraska – Lincoln, and a Juris Doctorate from the Nebraska College of Law. Jennifer is an only child and grew up in Hershey, Nebraska where there wasn’t a lot of urban planning happening. Her hobby is collecting hobbies and she is really good at it. Jennifer has made travel a large part of her personality and she tries to take a least three trips a year.  

Jennifer graciously took the time to share some thoughts about her background, her experience, and the important things to her about being a planner.  Please see her lightly edited responses to the following questions:  

Describe your current job and the current work you are doing.  

First and foremost, I’m the co-host (with Stephanie Rouse) of the Booked on Planning podcast. Everything I do, I do for the pod! Booked on Planning grew out of the idea that through reading the ideas of others we can learn and grow our understanding of how cities function and how we can ensure they function well for everyone. The podcast is an APA Nebraska Chapter project and started as an effort to expand upon the books considered by the American Planning Association as important to read in preparing for the AICP exam, the national certification examination for planners. 

Since our second year, the show has covered current literature with author interviews on a diverse range of topics including equity, housing, transportation, technology, sustainability, and more. 

For my day job, I am an Economic Opportunity Planner II for the City of Lincoln’s Urban Development Department. I work with developers on redevelopment projects and represent the city as part of our negotiating team on tax increment financing (TIF) projects as well as managing city lead TIF district projects that focus on infrastructure enhancements and placemaking activities. Some of the projects I’m working on include owner-occupied townhouses, a portion of which will be affordable to people making 80% AMI or less, providing grants for the historic restoration of homes in Lincoln’s Hawley neighborhood, commercial façade and streetscape enhancements for one of Lincoln’s historic neighborhoods, and providing a pedestrian walkway alongside bridge enhancements to provide safe access for neighborhoods in the northern part of the city into downtown and UNL’s main campus. 

This summer I also took on the responsibility of activating the City’s Food Truck Zone and implementing Wild Wednesdays at the Food Truck Zone. This lunch time event regularly has about eight food trucks and features entertainment such as fire eaters, belly dancers, and live musical acts. It’s really been something out of my comfort zone but I’ve enjoyed working with the vendors and being able to have this new learning experience. 

What other planning jobs have had and how did those jobs prepare you for your current role? 

I started my planning career with the South Central Economic Development District (SCEDD) out of Holdrege. I interned with them the summer between my first and second year of law school and they were hiring a full-time planner the year I graduated. The learning curve was steep, but it taught me what planning in small towns was all about. I’m very grateful for my time with SCEDD but ultimately, I realized that long range planning wasn’t really where my heart was. 

Next, I worked with Miller and Associates in Kearney. I was hired to do long range planning for the communities M&A worked for but was able to expand my experience in other types of planning work. This is where I first started learning about land use development under Craig Bennett. I figured out that this type of planning work was what I wanted to spend my career working on. 

Although it was not a planning job per se, my last job before coming to the City of Lincoln was working as an associate with the law firm Baird Holm in Omaha. I enjoyed honing my skills and learning from some of the best attorneys in the state. Learning the legal side of private development after working on the engineering side enabled me to see the full picture surrounding land development and the tools available to make a great project viable. 

I’ve always said that I am a planner first and lawyer second. I missed the civic side of planning. When an opportunity opened up to bring my skill set to the city I’ve lived in for the majority of the past almost 20 years, I couldn’t pass it up. 

What did you want to be when you were growing up and how did you get into planning?  

When I was little, I wanted to either be a Disney princess or train dolphins at SeaWorld. By the time I started college, I was a little more practical and started working toward being a history professor (though I still wouldn’t have said no to being a Disney princess). I was introduced to the planning profession while taking a class on the history of urban development and urban disasters in undergrad. I took a gap year after undergrad (decorating cakes at Target to pay the bills) but couldn’t stop thinking about urban development. So I enrolled in the MCRP program at UNL. 

Describe a mentor or someone who had an impact on your career.  

I can’t narrow it down to one. I am lucky enough to have many people who have helped guide and shape my career. But I have a few currently doing so that deserve a shout out. 

The first is my supervisor, Hallie Salem. Hallie is the type of planner and team leader that I aspire to be some day. She approaches every project with a broad and creative perspective. The second is Tim Sieh with the City’s law department, who continually shows me the powerful impacts a good lawyer can have on shaping projects and building a city.  

Further, peer mentorship is a vital but less recognized form of mentorship. Stephanie Rouse and Kurt Elder in Lincoln’s Urban Development department push me every day to think outside the box and look at different perspectives. Because of the friendships we’ve formed (and the friendly competition) we are able to create better projects, provide better outcomes for the city, and creatively solve problems. To have that type of working relationship with your peers is wonderful. 

What advice would you give a young planner just starting their career?  

Try everything, take every opportunity you get, no matter how small. Read widely, listen to podcasts on urban development, architecture, sociology, history, science, whatever interests you. Talk a long walk in every city you visit, take time to visit their planning departments, engage with other planners. The more you understand about every aspect of the profession and generally the world around you, the better planner you will be. 

 What has been your involvement in APA or another professional organizations and how has it helped you as a planner?  

The networking opportunities that APA Nebraska provides are amazing. The annual conference is a great place to expand your skill set and get to know planners from across the region. 

I’m also the co-chair of the APA Nebraska Legislative Committee, and we’d love to have others join! I believe understanding the legislative process makes you a strong planner and a better advocate for your community.