Development Services Department of the City of Walla Walla. I am a Junior Economics major,
with minors in Biology and Chemistry, and I plan to study urban planning and design in the
future! For this blog post, I would like to take you through my typical day of work at the
department.
Because Walla Walla is relatively small, I usually ride my bike to the office, about 1.1miles from campus. Due to the WIG hours requirements, I only come into the office on
Thursdays, where I work a standard 8-5 workday. I usually arrive 5 minutes before 8:00 am so that I can prepare my desk for the day. Once settled, I work my way around the office and talk to the planners, picking up tasks and getting the scoop on all the projects that need to be worked on during the day. This usually takes me ten to thirty minutes, depending on the complexity and amount of the tasks. At noon, I take an hour for lunch, usually biking home or around downtown, if I want to eat out.
week are reviewed and work is kept on track. These meetings are often some of the more
interesting moments of the day, as much of the coordination between the planning, engineering and the fire departments happens here. After the meeting, I continue my work to finish up the day at 5:00pm.
The projects that I have worked on vary to include almost all of the responsibilities of the
planning department. My bread and butter projects tend to be drafting notices of application
letters to inform the public about potential changes to zoning, building demolitions and
renovations, and other such municipal changes. However, these are just some of the many
things that I do throughout the day. Oftentimes, I will research the historical records of buildings
to review applications for renovation or changes to buildings which are on the local historical
register. These are some of my favorite projects, as I get to learn more about the history of
Walla Walla – apparently, the Washington state constitution was drafted in the Renolds-Day
building downtown. Finally, I also help the planners to review land use of certain areas of Walla
Walla, making sure that the use of the land and the zoning of those parcels is consistent. In a
relatively modern approach, the City has been enacting more micro zoning policies. Micro
zoning is a more nuanced approach to euclidean zoning that takes a smaller, more use based
approach rather than broad, sweeping zoning decisions which potentially negatively affect the
residents inhabiting or using the land.
couldn’t have had this opportunity without the WIG. Being in this office has given me
perspective on what I do (and don’t) like about planning, working in government, and local
administration! I feel that I have grown over the past few months, both in professional
experience and in my own personal goals. It’s been a great time being able to serve the people
of Walla Walla, and I’m grateful to have been able to forge the connections I’ve made here at
the department.
a second round of WIG funding for this internship!