Paul Suckow

Paul Suckow

Senior Planner at Harris County

Houston, Texas Area

Current
Past

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Education
  • Texas Southern University
  • University of Michigan
Recommended
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Connections
86 connections
Industry
Architecture & Planning
Websites

Paul Suckow’s Summary

I have enjoyed two careers, one in Urban Planning and Community Development, which led to the second implementing Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in large, medium and small business settings. I currently combine these endeavors as a Senior Planner with Harris County Community Services Department Office of Housing and Community Development in Houston, TX.

A holistic viewpoint arises from bridging the public and private sectors, learning history from many disciplines and scaling equivalent concern for the individual, associations and society throughout the generations and across the globe. I believe that truly sustainable development lies at the nexus between environmental restoration, economic development, social equity and safety/security.

My longstanding interest in the effects of global warming on coastal communities led me to graduate school at TSU's Barbara Jordan-Mickey Leland School of Public Affairs under Doctor Lalita Sen. TSU, an HCBU, housed the only combined Urban Planning-Environmental Policy program of its kind west of Dublin, Ireland at the time I began it in 2004. My research interests are sea level rise and adaptation planning. My goals include teaching the future to adapt to/mitigate climate change by applying then-current science and best-of-field planning tools like World Wide Web-enabled public participation, remote sensing and GIS applications.

Paul Suckow’s Specialties:

Public Policy and Urban Planning/Design - 10 years.

Teaching/Tutoring - 3 years, GIS 2401 & 1411; paid prof. tutor; TA at TSU.

General/Business - 7 Years large decentralized client and mgt. groups.

GIS/CAD - ArcGIS 9.x (7 yrs); AnySite 6.0 to 5 users, geocoding; MapInfo (8 Yrs); Tactician (6 Yrs,); 2-3D AutoCAD. Shivam Geomatics Pvt Ltd.

Internet, Database and Computer Skills - DHTML (3 yrs). ArcIMS. CGI, JavaScript, XML, COM/DCOM, ASP; Oracle, SQL, FoxPro, AutoCAD, A+ cert.

Paul Suckow’s Experience

  • Senior Planner

    Harris County

    (Government Agency; 10,001 or more employees; Government Administration industry)

    August 2008 — Present (1 year)

    I coordinate GIS services at Harris County (TX) Community Services Department. Our section conducts neighborhood planning in 42 target areas of low to moderate income outside of Houston, Baytown and Pasadena city limits. I am also currently involved in the environmental review process affecting about $12 million in CDBG/HOME/ESG federal funding. We have recently been awarded an additional $14 million in NSP funds, for acquiring and greening foreclosed properties as future affordable housing.

  • Contract Senior Demographer/GIS Analyst

    Roberta F. Burroughs and Associates

    (Architecture & Planning industry)

    July 2007 — August 2008 (1 year 2 months)

    I’ve created final maps and map data supporting New Starts applications for METRO's light rail expansion plans, including the Southeast, University and North corridors. I also provided technical assistance to other portions of the project and coordinated work with three other area GIS professionals. Supported Hobby Airport property acquisition using GIS to identify land parcels that could be affected by various options and for draft and final Environmental Impact Statements.
    I also have trained two RFB Associates in the fine art and science of using ESRI's ArcGIS software, and consider my ongoing professional relationship with Roberta extremely valuable.

  • Senior Sales Representative

    Green Mountain Energy Company

    (Privately Held; Utilities industry)

    June 2003 — June 2007 (4 years 1 month)

    Spent many off-hours switching people into cleaner electricity in Texas. Enjoyed the Renewable Energy Roundup in Frederiicksburg each autumn. Was introduced to it by the best in Texas, Mr. Greg Barker (shout out). I still like to try to move people toward cleaner energy use at home though I think I'm off the payroll at GMEC...

    http://paulsuckow.tripod.com/id12.html

    if you are in Texas and haven't yet switched to wind power!

  • Doctoral Research Assistant

    Texas Southern University

    (Educational Institution; 1001-5000 employees; Higher Education industry)

    September 2004 — June 2007 (2 years 10 months)

    Air quality research across Texas. Completed work for Dr. Beydoun and Dr. Lalita Sen under a grant-funded contract with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) to produce an online air monitoring GIS using ESRI’s ArcIMS software; the prototype was demonstrated in Austin, TX on 16 August 2006. Implementation by state of TCEQ Air Toxics GIS Tool with ArcIMS serving live map of air quality data from across the State of Texas, for retrieval by external research teams.
    Also as
    Graduate Research Assistant, TSU BJ-ML SOPA, I
    performed research assistant duties to Associate Dean for External Affairs for the School of Public Affairs in half-time assistantship, 20 hrs per week. Research topics included independent commission drawn voting districts, gerrymandered voting districts and seat turnover. Papers with former city council person Carroll Robinson included “50 Years after 50 Years after Brown vs. Board of Education.”

  • Senior Planner/GIS Analyst/Demographer

    Houston-Galveston Area Council

    (Government Agency; 51-200 employees; Government Administration industry)

    March 2002 — May 2002 (3 months)

    ACTIVITIES: Developed a 13-County Employment Database as core product for spatial analysis of regional employment change patterns and input to Urban Sim.
    RESULTS: In three months using FoxPro and ArcView, I created an initial working product covering Harris and Fort Bend TX counties with about 180,000 establishment's 1999 and 1995 employment data. Enhanced SQL abilities to join, query, extensively analyze and update data.

  • Contract GIS Specialist

    Weingarten Realty Investors

    (Public Company; 201-500 employees; WRI; Real Estate industry)

    January 2001 — October 2001 (10 months)

    ACTIVITIES: Proficient implementation of 5-user MapInfo/AnySite Geographic Information System (GIS) on a LAN. Experience in retail location analysis used to quickly retrieve and display accurate data, including competitive and demographic information for use by leasing management and staff.
    RESULTS: In three weeks, made operational update of AnySite 6.0 with 2000 demographics and over 40,000 competitive retail points. Over the next year I improved data quality through web research and remotely sensed coverage.

  • GIS Specialist, Sr. Real Estate Analyst

    Shell Oil Company

    (Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; RDS; Oil & Energy industry)

    October 1998 — April 2000 (1 year 7 months)

    ACTIVITIES: real estate business lead, three major projects in 15 months:
    Development of proprietary web-based Intranet portal for standardized review/dissemination of real estate proposal data and milestones.
    Field-validation of external and corporate data inputs to an integrated neural network/ GIS pilot application. Produced and validated outputs to advanced Excel economic models developed with Mercer consulting.
    Served as dept. representative in an enterprise-wide Balanced Scorecard strategy/tactics/budget-alignment effort and metric development.
    RESULTS:
    The web-based application enabled quadrupled effort by 40 RE reps.
    My contributions helped 1999 property sale proceeds exceed plan, but held expenses to 40% of original department budget.

  • GIS Coordinator

    Ilitch Holdings, Inc.

    (Privately Held; 1001-5000 employees; Restaurants industry)

    July 1995 — October 1998 (3 years 4 months)

    ACTIVITIES: Researched, recommended, created, integrated and managed corporate Geographic Information System for site analysis, local store marketing and network modeling of customer propensities. Responsible for accurate geocoding.
    RESULTS: The firm's GIS investment paid back in less than one year, continuously profitable. Instrumental data manager for Key Alliance w/ Kmart Corp., which generated $60+M new retail profits while avoiding any franchise infringement.

  • Community Development Specialist

    City of Pontiac

    (Government Agency; 501-1000 employees; Government Administration industry)

    1993 — June 1995 (2 years)

    included use of GIS tools (MapInfo); grants management, public review committees and housing plan development. Bid solicitations, environmental review, and project/contract management for $3 MM of federal block grant funds. Residential relocation, building demolition, and site prep.

  • City Planner

    City of Muskegon Heights

    (Government Agency; 201-500 employees; Government Administration industry)

    1988 — 1993 (5 years)

    PUBLIC SERVICE in urban design/redevelopment included early adoption of GIS tools (Atlas GIS), grant, proposal and general/special plan drafts and presentations at city meetings, interdepartmental and intergovernmental liaisons. Successfully secured HUD Enterprise Community and Dept. of Justice Weed & Seed funding. Responsible for this city sweeping three statewide planning awards in 1991.

  • Associate Urban Designer

    McKenna Associates, Inc.

    (Privately Held; 51-200 employees; Architecture & Planning industry)

    1986 — 1987 (1 year)

    McKenna Associates began with four employees. Company has since grown to over 50 planners, economic development specialists, becoming the predominant planning consultant in the Michigan/Ohio region.
    ACTIVITIES: I performed assistant planner tasks and the company’s urban design needs as its Associate Urban Designer. Attended city meetings, performed site plan, special use and rezoning review services.
    RESULTS: Wrote complete urban design plan for Belleville, MI. Authored historic and sign design guidelines. Completed display maps and designs for Belleville, Ypsilanti, Ecorse, Bay City, Hazel Park and aerial renderings of Southfield, MI. Involved in billboard battles along the Michigan highways.

Paul Suckow’s Education

  • Texas Southern University

    PhD , Urban Planning-Environmental Policy , 2004 — 2009

    In Barbara Jordan-Mickey Leland School of Public Affairs UPEP program, I currently approach comprehensive examinations for doctoral studies in Urban Planning-Environmental Policy. Research interests include:

    ADAPTIVE PLANNING - Human and environmental effects of global warming in coastal cities; imagery, the Internet and GIS applied to public education and participation for identifying sustainable energy resources and land use templates; multiple hazard mitigation and urban planning for designing strategic metropolitan trajectories.

    Activities and Societies:
    Student Planning Organization, 1st VP
    International Student Association, member
    Student-staff to Assistant Dean

  • University of Michigan

    BSc, MArch , Architecture, Urban Design , 1982 — 1986

    The College of Architecture and Urban Planning, now Taubman School awarded my Master of Architecture degree in Urban Design, and Bachelor of Science degree in Architecture.

    Activities and Societies:
    Urban Design concentration under Gerald Crane and Christopher Wzacny
    Intervarsity Christian Fellowship

Additional Information

Paul Suckow’s Websites:

Paul Suckow’s Interests:

ADAPTATION PLANNING, energy planning, global warming, planning theory, social equity, economic development, environmental protection, secure space

Paul Suckow’s Groups:

American Planning Association (APA), Texas and Houston Chapters of APA, International Association of Space Entrepreneurs, International Network of Social Entrepreneurs, TSU Student Planning Organization 1st VP, International Student Association

  •    eOffice
  •    GIS Expert
  •    International Network of Social Entrepreneurs
  •    Grist
  •    University of Michigan Alumni
  •    Int. Urban Planning & Regional Planning Group
  •    Sustainability Working Group
  •    GIS
  •    Location Intelligence Conference
  •    Association of American Geographers
  •    Sustainability Professionals
  •    Green
  •    GIS Week
  •    global geospatial xperts - GIS
  •    Tweeple
  •    Geographic Information Systems Day ... GIS Day
  •    New Voice of Business
  •    Urbanist
  •    Virtual Startup
  •    ULI-the Urban Land Institute
  •    American Planning Association
  •    National Geographic Society (NGS) ♣1500+ members ♣
  •    GIS Professional & Networking
  •    Participatory Geographic Information Systems & Technologies
  •    Gulf Coast Green
  •    Houston Area Arc Users Group
  •    University of Michigan Taubman College of Architecture + Urban Planning TCAUP

Paul Suckow’s Honors:

· Green Mountain Energy, avoiding 156,400 pounds of CO2 annually, 2006.
· Certificate of Participation, TSU Research Day, 2005.
· Leadership Award, Student Planning Organization, 2004-05.

Presentations
· TCEQ Presentation of the TSU Air Toxics GIS Tool, 2006
· Speaker at national URISA Conference, "GIS in a Large Business Organization", 1997.

Academic Papers
· Does the country of origin play a role in the choice made by Hispanics to use "contract for deed" form of home purchase? An analysis of data from Harris and Fort Bend Counties in South East Texas. Coauthor with PhD candidate Vickie McBride. To be presented at the AAG annual meeting on March 26, 2009 at 4:30 pm.
· Houston and Rapid Climate Change.
· Transportation Infrastructure in Houston and its Third Ward.
· Lobos Air: A Houston, TX Case Study of Environmental Justice.
· A Suggested ArcGIS Curriculum for Texas Southern University.

Paul Suckow’s Contact Settings

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