Areas of Practice
What you must know
Expect scenario questions that require picking the right tool for a substantive field. Housing: area median income tiers, the 30%-of-income affordability standard and cost burden, Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (9% and 4%), CDBG and HOME, housing choice vouchers, inclusionary policies, and affirmatively furthering fair housing. Transportation: level of service and its critique, complete streets, Vision Zero, travel demand management, and transit-oriented development. Economic development: economic base and multipliers, cluster and target-industry analysis, brownfields, and incentive evaluation. Environment: NEPA's environmental assessment and environmental impact statement path ending in a finding of no significant impact or a record of decision; Section 4(f) for parks and historic sites; Section 106 review under the National Historic Preservation Act; wetlands and floodplain management; climate mitigation versus adaptation. Also urban design and placemaking, CPTED, health impact assessment, parks and open space planning, historic district regulation, hazard mitigation, and rural and tribal practice.
Traps
Mixing up an EA with an EIS, or NEPA with a state analogue such as CEQA. Confusing Section 106 consultation with Section 4(f) evaluation. Assuming 60% AMI is 'low income' when program definitions differ. Treating a multiplier as universal.
Rule of thumb
Identify the legal trigger first (federal funding or permit, historic resource, parkland), then the analytic tool. The trigger determines the process; the tool only informs it.