Meet our Alumni: Colin McArthur
Current City
Eugene, OR
What Community Service Center program(s) did you work with?
Community Planning Workshop (CPW)
What year(s) were you affiliated with the Community Service Center (CSC)?
2004-2006
My most memorable experience or greatest accomplishment at the Community Service Center and its programs was…:
I presented a finished Parks Master Plan to a Parks Board and City Council in a small community in southern Oregon (Talent). Most of the officials had participated in the process, were excited about the product, and were appreciative for the work that CPW did. During my undergrad, my experience was that most student work/projects were not taken seriously. Parks are a small part of the fabric of a community. I was struck by the weight of the action; adopting a meaningful, long-range policy document that would help shape (in a small, incremental way) a community’s future.
The most critical skill(s) I learned from being engaged in CSC programs are/is….:
How local, state, and special district governments really work. Our governance systems are much maligned and misunderstood. Working on projects for those clients provides a window into the actors, processes, and forces at play. This is experience that cannot be replicated through observation or simply reading the news. It provided invaluable perspective on the challenges that public officials face and a greater understanding of the work that they do for all of us.
What was your first job after engaging with the CSC, with what organization and where?
I was hired as a planner with Cameron McCarthy Landscape Architecture & Planning. We are a small, 16-member firm located in Downtown Eugene.
Who is your current employer and what’s your current position/title/role? What do you do in your position?
I’m currently a principal at Cameron McCarthy. I direct the firm’s planning practice, manage projects, and supervise planning and design staff. Our planning practice focuses on assisting public agencies with comprehensive planning; natural resource and infrastructure planning; implementation; and development.
What professional organizations do you belong to?
Oregon Chapter of the American Planning Association,
Oregon Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects ,
& Oregon Track Club
What advice would you give someone just entering this field?
Most of the projects we work on are multi-disciplinary. It’s common to work on a team with architects, landscape architects, engineers (civil, structural, transportation), economists, biologists, botanists, etc. The planner is often (intentionally or unintentionally) in the role of primary communicator, facilitator, and sometimes mediator. To be effective in that role, a general understanding of what each of those professionals does, what they are interested in, and what they care about is extremely valuable.
Cameron McCarthy Landscape Architecture and Planning
We look for projects that move the community along. The City of Eugene is beginning to implement a community vision for growth and change in the next 20 years. It’s a process that only happens every 20 years or so. The project is being managed by a graduate of the MCRP program and there will be lots of action at the Planning Commission and Council levels during the next couple years. Check out what’s happening with Envision Eugene.
Bio: Colin McArthur, AICP
- Principal Planner; Cameron McCarthy Landscape Architecture & Planning
- Adjunct Faculty; University of Oregon Department of Planning, Public Policy, and Management (PPPM)
McArthur directs Cameron McCarthy’s planning practice and has 13+ years of experience working in Oregon communities. McArthur specializes in assisting public agencies with comprehensive planning; natural resource and infrastructure planning; implementation; and development. McArthur is an adjunct instructor in the PPPM department at the University of Oregon and teaches courses in land use and growth management.
McArthur’s recent work includes the I-5 Willamette River Bridge Replacement, EWEB Riverfront Master Plan Land Use Implementation, and various campus and athletics projects for the University of Oregon.
More about the Community Planning Workshop(CPW)