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Practice Exam #1 FALL 2014 PRACTICE EXAM #1 (1) A SmartCode Transect: I. Typically contains seven zones from Rural to Urban II. Is a way of locating and understanding a variety of different types of human settlement within a comprehensive web of natural and human habitats III. Has a historical linkage to Geddes’ Valley Section IV. Has its origins in Howards’ Garden Cities concept (A) I, III (B) I, IV (C) II, III (D) I, II, III, IV The correct answer is (C) The concept of the transect was borrowed from ecology. Patrick Geddes, in his above “Valley Section” of the early 20th century was among the first to proclaim that human settlement should be analyzed in the context of its natural region. To systemize the analysis and coding of traditional patterns, a prototypical American rural-to-urban SmartCode transect has been divided into six Transect Zones, or T-zones (below), for application on zoning maps. SEE: http://www.transect.org/transect.html & http://www.transect.org/natural_img.html (2) Among the leading American "advocate planners" of the late 1960's was? (A) Paul Davidoff. (B) Jane Jacobs. (C) Henry George. (D) T. J. Kent, Jr. The correct answer is “A” Paul Davidoff (1930-1984) founded the Suburban Action Institute in 1969. The institute challenged exclusionary zoning in the courts, winning a notable success in the Mt. Laurel case. This led to the requirement by the state supreme court of New Jersey that communities must supply their "regional fair share" of low-income housing. Davidoff developed the concept of "advocacy planner" where a planner serves a given client group's interests and should do so openly; a planner could develop plans for a particular project and speak for interests of the group or individuals affected by these plans. (3) Compact fluorescent lights (CFL) can last up to how many times as long as a standard incandescent light? A) 2 B) 4 C) 7 D) 10 The correct answer is “D” Compact fluorescents are an efficient form of lighting; CFL bulbs use one-quarter to one- third as much electricity to give the same light output as a standard incandescent bulb while creating much less heat, and last up to 10 times as long as a standard incandescent light (10,000 vs. 1,000 hours). LEDs (Light emitting diodes) last more than 6 times longer than CFLs and use about half the energy. (4) As part of a comprehensive planning program, which of the following is the best way to solicit citizen input? I. Publish information in local newspapers. II. Contact neighborhood group leaders. III. Organize a citizens committee. IV. Run announcements on public television. (A) I and II (B) II and III (C) III and IV (D) I, II and III The answer is “B”. The best way to give citizens the opportunity to have meaningful input on the development of plans and programs is to directly involve people in the planning process. (5) What do you call a situation where you need to build consensus around an issue that is ill defined and has no alternatives? (A) Feedback (B) Wicked problem (C) Trial balloon (D) Ethical dilemma The correct answer is (B) Planning for climate change is an example of a “wicked problem” - a problem that is difficult or impossible to solve because of incomplete, contradictory, and changing requirements that are often difficult to recognize. Moreover, because of complex interdependencies, the effort to solve one aspect of a wicked problem may reveal or create other problems, and the issue becomes difficult to build consensus on. (See Randall Crane and John Landis (Autumn, 2010) Planning for Climate Change: Assessing Progress and Challenges, JAPA Vol. 76; No. 4; pp. 389-401) (6) By 2040, the population of the United States is projected to most likely exceed: A) 350 million B) 400 million C) 450 million D) 500 million The correct answer is B) The Census Bureau’s middle population projection for 2040 is for the U.S population to be approximately 405 million (based on 2010 Census). http://www.census.gov/population/www/projections/2009projections.html http://www.census.gov/prod/2010pubs/p25-1138.pdf (7) Strategies to help combat climate change by planners involve the following: I. GHG Reduction II. Increasing VMT III. Adaptive Reuse IV. Water Conservation (A) II (B) I, III, IV (C) I, II, III (D) I, II, III, IV The correct answer is (B) Increasing the Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) would not be a way to counter climate change. The other options all combat either the causes or impacts of climate change. Most climate and atmospheric scientists agree that the earth's climate is warming, and that the most likely cause of this phenomenon is increasing human-induced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Adaptive reuse of existing buildings as an alternative to demolition and replacement helps reduce the new GHG emissions that would be associated with the obtainment and movement of new construction materials and the disposal of tear-down materials. Water conservation will both help protect the availability of such resources in areas where climate change may adversely impact water resources, and reduce the GHG emissions that would be involved with the additional development or transport of water resources in such areas. SEE: 2011 APA Policy Guide on Planning and Climate Change http://www.planning.org/policy/guides/adopted/climatechangeexec.htm (8) What movement is Washington, D.C. an example of? (A) Public Health (B) City Beautiful (C) Garden City (D) City Efficient The correct answer is “B”. The first explicit attempt to utilize the vaguely classical Beaux-Arts architectural style, which emerged as the “City Beautiful” movement” from the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893, was the Senate Park Commission's redesign of the monumental core of Washington D.C. to commemorate the city's centennial. The McMillan Plan of 1901- 02, named for Senator James McMillan, the commission's liaison and principal backer in Congress, was the United States' first attempt at city planning. http://xroads.virginia.edu/~cap/citybeautiful/plan.html (9) Tonight you are to present before City Council a report that speaks about the economic impact a proposed land fill would have on the community. Your report supports the land fill based upon the data that your staff has prepared and analyzed. Prior to the meeting, a Council person approaches you. This particular Council person was elected with the platform of not supporting the land fill. He asks that you go against your findings because he sees the numbers differently. You know from all of your work that this is not true and that it is a wrong way of looking at the data. Just before the meeting starts, hundreds of protestors march in against the land fill. Which of the following is the BEST option for you? A) You realize the effect that this Council person could have on your career at the City, you change your recommendation at the meeting to go against the data and the land fill. B) You realize that the community is showing strong support against the land fill, and even though your responsibility was to provide economic effects, you decide to change your stance against the land fill. C) You and your staff are responsible for providing the Council, with clear and accurate data, they are the decision makers, you should continue to present your report as planned. D) You are not sure now on what you should do, so you ask to pull the report from the agenda and go back to the drawing board with your staff to alter the data to support not building the land fill. The correct answer is “C” The BEST option is Answer “C”. Your task was to present a report based on economic facts that showed whether there would be an economic benefit for the land fill to be located in the City or not. Answer A would have you going against the data and therefore not presenting clear or accurate data. Answer B would have you changing your stance based upon the hundreds of protestors that showed up to show their support against the land fill. As stated earlier, your report was based on economics, and it is up to Council to weigh all of the facts. Answer D, would have you changing your analysis away from what the data clearly says, this obviously is the wrong thing to do in this case. Source: "Professional Practice Manual" by Les Solin, AICP, American Planning Association, Washington, DC, Chicago, IL, 1997, page 10. (10) Section 404 of the Clean Water Act authorizes the: A) Army Corps of Engineers to issue permits for the discharge of dredged or fill material into the navigable waters of the United States B) Environmental Protection Agency to fine polluters of groundwater and surface waters C) Department of the Interior to issue permits for the discharge of sewage in federal land holdings D) Coastal Zone Management Agency to issue permits for off-shore drilling The correct answer is A) Section 404 establishes three classes of permits: nationwide, general, and individual. Jurisdiction under this law is broad and extends to lakes, rivers, streams, wetlands, mudflats, and sandflats, of which the use, degradation or destruction could affect interstate or foreign commerce. (11) The Planning Director for Geneva asks you put together a new general plan for the city. Some of the following steps you’d propose to undertake would occur in the following order: I. Preparing plan II. Collecting data and analysis III. Identifying issues and stakeholders IV. Stating Goals, Objectives and Priorities (A) II, IV, III, I (B) I, II, III, IV (C) III, IV, II, I (D) III, II, IV, I The correct answer is (C) Often, the planning process consists of the following steps and order: 1.
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