Planner Profile: Meet Kestride Estil, AICP
Planner Profile is a series spotlighting the unique experiences of our peers who are making a difference in the profession and at APA.
Kestride Estil, AICP, is a planner, designer, and project manager in Atlanta, Georgia. Estil is also a member of the Georgia Chapter of the American Planning Association.
How did you discover planning as a profession?
Kestride Estil, AICP, is a planner in Atlanta, Georgia. Photo courtesy of Kestride Estil.
I was initially studying architecture and was looking for a way to avoid taking electives that I didn't think related to my major or that I had already taken in high school as AP or honors classes. After speaking to my academic advisor, she told me that all the urban planning courses served as electives for architecture and vice versa. By taking those courses, she also explained to me that I could essentially get a double degree. I had no idea what urban planning was at the time, but to my overachieving ears, the idea of a two-for-one sounded really appealing. That started my love story with urban planning and urban design.
Other people in my architecture program didn't really understand my fascination with urban planning at the time, but to me, the more I learned about the field, the more it made sense to me, and I couldn't understand why almost no one in my architecture program was talking about it, since it affects so much of our built environment.
After my undergraduate degree, I went on to also pursue a master's in urban planning, where I elected to write a thesis that combined both my architecture background and urban planning studies. As a professional today, I still think the two are very interconnected, and I am lucky enough to be working in a position where I use both professions daily.
What aspect of your work have you found most fulfilling?
I really enjoy the master planning process. As someone who grew up in Haiti, urban planning, let alone master planning, is unheard of — although it is so needed.
I love the idea that through the master planning process, I am able to help people visualize a better future for their communities. I've worked in many communities that, in the planning field, we would describe as blighted communities. To be able to work with community members, city officials, and planning department staff to help them create what essentially becomes a blueprint and a call to action for their communities is the most meaningful to me, and I feel so grateful and empowered when I am able to be part of that process.
If you could create the perfect community, what would it be like?
If I had an infinite amount of money, I would purchase acres of land and masterplan a self-sustaining agro community with a mix of housing types, a variety of lot sizes, and community gardens.
The mix of housing and lot sizes would create built-in affordability into the project to allow people of all economic conditions to afford a home and allow people to age in place without the need to move. The buildings would be built out of sustainable materials, and we would use sustainable sources such as solar panels and geothermal for our energy sources. Our civic buildings would be built out of mass timber and feature green roofs.
Everything would be, of course, walkable or bikeable. I would also find a way to lure a major company into having its headquarters in our urban core as an economic anchor for my little community.
What is your favorite third space?
My favorite third place is my local coffee shop. Oftentimes, you will see me there, a coffee in hand and a tablet in front of me, reading a book. I find it to be the perfect way to get out of the house and be around people without necessarily needing to be social — unless you want to.
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