From early on in his career, Brian Mooney was interested in how communities change over time and how planning can affect how well people thrive. As his career developed, his interest in community growth and public participation blossomed through environmental planning and public engagement.
Brian began dedicating more time to planning assistance work, using his experience to help communities navigate planning challenges and think through their long-term priorities.
“I’ve been in leadership roles, both with the Association of Environmental Professionals (AEP) and the American Planning Association (APA), and by nature, we’re idealists. When you want to create great cities, you want to create great cities for all people. In our code of ethics, one of the things that we focus on is giving back. Ultimately, that’s a large part of our identity as professionals.” —Brian Mooney, RICK Principal Emeritus & Senior Advisor
Brian Mooney has always known he wanted to make a difference in communities across the United States. He grew up on Cape Cod with a father who was a Naval Architect and amateur archaeologist, and they lived near Native American communities on the eastern coast. He attended San Diego State University (SDSU), where he studied anthropology with a focus on archaeology and urban anthropology. While at SDSU, he became heavily involved in academic and student organizations, including publishing research papers for SDSU’s Petroglyph. He was recruited to the role of Environmental Planner with the County of San Diego and entered planning at a time when the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) was still relatively new and environmental review processes were still developing.
At the time, environmental studies were beginning to happen earlier in projects, rather than as an afterthought. Projects began to involve public meetings while plans were still evolving, and residents would have the opportunity to discuss and react to proposals.
For Brian, public meetings became one of the most interesting parts of planning. His background in anthropology led him to become naturally drawn to public engagement and conversations around growth and change. In 1979 he formed his own company, ultimately called Mooney & Associates, specializing in community and environmental planning integrating public engagement and environmental values into comprehensive master plans.
Brian also took on leadership roles within professional organizations and later began teaching ethics courses for planners across the western United States.
He found himself returning to a question he had long thought about throughout his career: who gets access to planning decisions, and who gets left out of them? He said planning often feels inaccessible to the communities most affected by it.
“Planning by nature is a mystery to a lot of people. What is zoning? How do you determine where you’re going to build a hospital, where you’re going to build houses? How do you help low-income communities with a lower level of investment get some of the land uses they need, such as schools, grocery stores, and some of the simple things?” —Brian Mooney
By the time Brian joined RICK as Principal for Planning and Design, he had already built a long career in planning. After founding Mooney & Associates, he became involved in public conversations around planning and spent decades teaching ethics courses for planners across the United States.
His interest in planning also carried into public education and storytelling. Brian later directed Connecting Paradise, a film project exploring the planning history of San Diego and showing how planning decisions continue to affect the communities people live and work in today.
He has also remained an active leader in organizations, including the American Planning Association and the Association of Environmental Professionals.
One of the ways Brian gives back is through organizations such as the California Planning Assistance Team and the Planners Emeritus Network, which connect experienced planners with communities that may not otherwise have the funding or technical experience to navigate planning on their own. The work varies greatly depending on the community and often begins with public engagement before any recommendations are made.
One pro-bono project brought Brian to South Oroville, a historically Black community in Northern California that had experienced decades of disinvestment and aging infrastructure. Over time, the area had become home to growing Hispanic and Hmong populations, and the community faced challenges related to poverty and limited public investment.
Working alongside residents and local leadership, Brian and the planning team held community meetings and developed strategies around the community’s priorities. Some of the concerns were immediate and practical, like sidewalks and street lighting, and the project focused on helping the community organize priorities and move toward long-term improvement and change.
Community involvement and planning assistance have remained an intentional part of Mooney’s work. When Brian joined RICK as a Principal and Senior Advisor, he continued his professional leadership and pro bono planning work, and RICK has wholeheartedly supported his continued involvement. Brian sees community engagement as an essential piece of the planning process and an opportunity to help communities thrive.
“So obviously what I preach, and what I teach, I want to make sure I’m doing.” —Brian Mooney
Congratulations to Brian on his semi-retirement and continued involvement in the profession and communities that have remained such an important part of his career. We look forward to seeing what this next chapter brings.