As a planner I sometimes find myself in conversations with other planners bemoaning the fact there are lots of Rock Star Architects….Starchitects we call them, like Rem Koolhas and Zaha Hadid but no Rock Star  Urban Planners.  And if we had some Rock Star Planners, then planners would get a little more respect and have more positive impact on our cities…. and definitely wear black more often.

I think there is a possible candidate for Rock Star Planner status and he has just moved to Tennessee from Cornell University.  His name is Ken Reardon and he is the brand new head of the City and Regional Planning Program at the University of Memphis, the certified urban planning program in Tennessee.

Ken has a 50-page vita. It’s more than you ever want to read, but once you meet him and see his energy, you understand how he has managed to teach so much, write so many articles and studies, lead so many planning processes, and impact so many cities and neighborhoods and students.  Energy has to be a requirement for Rock Star status.  So does imagination, and Ken is helping us at the University of Memphis imagine new ways to approach the profession and what it can bring to cities and neighborhoods of the 21^st Century. 

In just a few weeks on the job, he has worked with Michael Hagge, Director of UM’s Architecture School, to organize the Memphis Regional Design Center’s first Urban Design 101 course for city stakeholders. He is also partnering with other departments for a far-reaching look at a key area in South Memphis, and helping the Memphis-Shelby County Office of Planning and Development analyze its future. Later this month, he will drive a van-load of students all the way across Tennessee to the TAPA conference in Johnson City.  

Oh yeah… he is also finishing a book.  

Keep an eye on the planning program at the University of Memphis….I can hear guitar chords already.  I’ll let you know when the T-shirts arrive. 

Ken Reardon