PLAN 1010

Borderline communist in approach, but then again it's a pretty easy A. If you treat it as an easy A though, you probably won't get one. He's a really cute guy who is really passionate about the field of urban and (especially) environmental planning, but as long as you agree with him in your essays, you'll secure an A without breaking your back. Pro tip on the midterm and final: Don't go a mile wide and an inch thick; study some of the terms a little deeper and forget the rest. His midterms will give you a list of 20-30 terms and ask you to write about 7-10 of them. His review sheets will have a lot of very specific things (such and such a building in the Bronx) and some general ideas (adaptive reuse); the specific things probably won't be the terms on the exam. He's more likely to put more general items like adaptive reuse, green roofs, community gardens, etc. and you HAVE TO know at least one example on each topic you choose to write about (a city that has a community garden). Follow these tips and should be a pretty easy class

Warning - trap class! Seriously though, if you are looking for a joke of a class to take for an elective, look elsewhere. While easy to get a good grade in, Beatley is a long and annoying lecturer and makes each class drag on and on. Focus most of your work on the planning analysis, and for the tests study a smaller group on terms than he recommends, but know them dead. I took this class because I was interested in sustainability and urban spaces, but this class was ultimately unsatisfying to me because it never went deep into the material and talked about the same ideas over and over again.

Beatley is beat

The content of the class itself is pretty interesting, but sitting through the class can be quite boring. However, Professor Beatley is a pretty pleasant guy, and not a very strict grader. Readings aren't super helpful (besides the book Walkable City), and just make sure to be detailed and thorough when writing your final paper. Exams aren't too difficult, focus on knowing a few things really well and you'll do fine.

Very easy class. I found the lectures to be interesting, but you do not need to go to the lectures if you don't want to. There are readings, which are also very interesting, but you don't need to do the readings if you don't want to. Beatley is very interesting person who loves urban planning and sustainability and can talk for hours. He hands out a very extensive study guide, where most of the answers can be found online, or in the main planning textbook. The tests are very straightforward and if you do the study guide and memorize a good chunk of the study guide, you will do fine. Note that he isn't looking for a one word answer, but a fairly decent explanation. The only other grade for the class comes from the community analysis paper, which is pretty straightforward if you look through your city/county's general plan. He also posts example papers that are very good references for what he is looking for. I would definitely recommend this class to anyone in the college who is looking for an easier class with little workload and for those in the A school who are required to take it, know that it does not require much of your time or energy, but is still fairly interesting.

Easiest class at UVA. The professor is extremely passionate, but the course content is really self explanatory and very much common sense. To be honest I didn't go to a lot of his lectures. Once you've been to them for a month, you get an idea of content for the class. Just be sure to study the notecards for the midterm and the final. There is even a quizlet of the vocab needed for these exams. For the final project, based on your home town and how it can be improved in terms of planning... I basically wrote the whole 10 page paper in first person, using personal stories and experiences the night before it was due and did well on it. Nothing to fret over at all.
He says the readings are necessary, but they really aren't. I honestly wouldn't even recommend buying them.

Easy A. You only have to work hard 3 times in the semester: the midterm, the paper, and the final which are all of your grades but easy. The midterm and the final consist of terms and a short essay. Prof. Beatley gives you a list of ~200 terms that he will choose ~20 from and you will have to define ~10 of them: what they are, their significance in terms of planning, and maybe an example from class. There are flashcards online, but I found it easier to remember them if I googled them myself. The essay is an overall planning issue, such as housing, Biophilia, food, etc. DON’T BUY THE BOOKS. I made this mistake despite other reviews saying that you will not need them. You really don’t need them. They weren’t expensive, but still money I could have saved. Professor Beatley is a really nice guy and renowned in the planning world, but his voice makes it very easy to fall asleep, unfortunately. The material was pretty interesting and common sense/easy to understand. Therefore, attending classes is not even necessary, but helpful for the essay portion of midterm/final. The paper is 10 pages, so it was agony for this engineer to write, but it should be pretty easy if you’re used to writing papers. It’s just a planning analysis for your hometown and you can write in first person. Overall, highly recommended if you’re looking for an interesting easy class.

Probably the best class for an easy A at UVA. There are 2 exams and a paper. The paper is graded pretty easily, and the exams are non-cumulative vocal tests where you pick something like 7 out of 12 terms and 1 of 3 long response questions.

All the vocab is already on quizlets and doesn't change much year to year. For the vocab, you have to give examples and how the term relates to planning. Usually some terms are the examples; for example "gotham greens" might be a "rooftop garden." Just know the broader concepts really well and have one or two examples down. Beatley is a really knowledgeable person, but the lectures are dry. He cares a lot about nature and biophilia; he even let people take the exams wherever they wanted like "under a tree," or more realistically, in a library.

You don't have to go to class. I was interested in this stuff and still only went to about 4 lectures the entire semester; I got an A. That being said, if you don't cram well for the exams, you will probably get 1 or 2 points off each definition (out of 10) and could end up with a B+ or A-. I actually learned some cool stuff from studying the terms for the exams. They're usually cool buildings or projects that you wouldn't think about normally. I learned a decent amount, had a 3 credit class I didn't go to, and got an A, pretty solid experience.

Beatley is one of my favorite professors at UVa; he is so passionate, excited, friendly, and cares about each student. His class is very interesting and doesn't require much work outside of the classroom. It's an easy A if you put in the effort on the final paper and study for the midterm and final. He allows extra credit opportunities if you need it and often holds class field trips around Charlottesville. I highly recommend this class.

Beatley is such a nice man and truly loves what he does. Most people don't go to class since there is no sort of attendance and all of his notes are online. There is no homework and the only grades come from exams and one 10-15 page paper. The exams are pretty easy and he lets you leave the classroom to take them. Overall its a chill class if you're looking for a break in a hard schedule.