City Planning

I presented to four 3rd Grade classes at Oneka Elementary School for Junior Achievement. As part of the program, the students were learning what it was like to be a city planner. I shared with them a series of recognizable pictures from within Hugo and some from outside of the city. We talked about zones within the city of Hugo (commercial, industrial, residential, agricultural.)

The students were very engaged in the discussion, especially since they could relate to most of the buildings in the pictures. We talked about what buildings should go in which zones in a city and discussed which things they would like to live next to, and which things they wouldn’t want in their neighborhood.

For example: When asked, most kids wanted to live right next door to McDonalds, but when we thought about it more they started to change their minds. We talked about the drive-thru lane, the noisy cars that would line up there, and the people who shout into the order box speaker. Most of the kids thought it would get annoying listening to the guy taking orders though the order box speaker all day and all night. We talked about the parking lot lights and the traffic, ect. Eventually, they decided it would be best if McDonalds wasn’t next door, but it would be nice if it was still nearby.

They were all good listeners and eager participants, and it was an enjoyable experience for me. Afterward, some of the teachers requested their students to draw zoning maps of their bedrooms. They sent the completed maps to me. It was obvious that the students thought hard about how to zone their bedrooms, and the maps were quite good!

Bryan Bear
Hugo Community Development Director