MPC Welcomes Three Interns
Three student interns from UT have joined MPC for the summer, coming from different backgrounds and bringing some unique talents and skills to the agency.
(L to R) Payton Lockhart, Trey McCarter, and Evan Williams
Payton Lockhart graduated from UT in December in Global Politics and Economy with a Business minor. He is splitting his time amongst a few projects, one of which is helping Amy Brooks, Integrated Planning Manager with the Knoxville Regional TPO, on the Mobility Plan 2040. The Mobility Plan is the TPO’s long-range transportation plan for our region, and the 2017 update is currently underway. He is also helping Terry Gilhula update MPC’s annual Facts and Figures brochure and assisting Mike Reynolds with a city zoning ordinance project.
Payton says he’s enjoying the internship this summer and wants to go to D.C. afterwards to pursue studies in either public policy or public relations. Equally interesting to him is a program at Rutgers that combines planning and public policy.
Trey McCarter is currently getting his Master’s Degree from UT Memphis in City and Regional Planning. He is helping Kaye Graybeal, MPC’s Historic Preservation Planner, with a number of projects. Working to expand the H-1 historic district for the Park Ridge community, he is drawing up new boundaries for the local area. He is also working within the neighborhood to gather data and images to help complete the project.
Trey graduates next May and hopes to continue working in historic preservation planning. He says it’s a great way to tie together his interests in housing, architecture, and history.
Evan Williams is a student at UT and has one year left before graduating with a Master’s Degree in Public Policy and Administration. He is splitting his time between two projects. The first is to answer whether or not there is enough affordable workforce housing in Knoxville. He says this project has been more consuming because of the issues involved with it: location, the housing crisis, transportation, and more. The remainder of his time is spent researching tiny home ordinances and best practices, preparing for next year’s city zoning update. He is learning as much as he can from other communities to see how they have handled the new trend and to help MPC prepare for it.
Once he graduates, Evan hopes to work for local government in some capacity. He says that the best talent often jumps at the opportunity to go to the national level, but that good people are needed locally.