Members' 25-Year Reminiscences

Paul G. Vitale, AICP

Vallejo, California

With four years of Bay Area planning experience under my belt and a city planning degree from the University of California-Berkeley, Kathleen, my wife, suggested that we go into the Peace Corps. So, in November of 1963 we set out on what we thought would be a two year experience in Ecuador. Thirty years later, we had lived in four Latin American cities, and had traveled extensively, with respites at our stateside address in Reston, Virginia. We had gotten hooked on international living and work.

On one of my stays in the states in the mid-sixties, I contacted Bob Williams, the executive director of AIP and my former boss at the Alameda County Planning Commission. I asked Bob if AIP was or would be interested in some kind of international planners' exchange. It was a busy time at AIP and as I recall, the idea was not adopted.

Happily, in 1973, I received an invitation from Robert Einsweiler, AIP, and President of AIP, to become a member of an AIP committee on Developing Country Information Exchange. Since that time, AIP and then APA have sought to expand our awareness of the problems and solutions of planners from around the world. As we ushered in the new millennium, we also witnessed, for the first time in human history, more people living in cities than in rural places. And with the growth of cities around the globe, we are also witnessing a commonality of problems and interests among planners to learn about how others are solving problems.