Hello Everyone, my name is Steven Turner and I'm currently enrolled in the MPA - Urban Management Program. I was born and raised in the East Valley area and attended Dobson High School. After high school I did a year of schooling at Mesa Community College then I served a two year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Peru. Nearly 22 months of the two years I was located in the northern part of Peru next to the border of Ecuador. After my mission, I finished my two year program at Mesa Community College then transfered up to Brigham Young University. While attending school at BYU, I met my wife and we were married in November 2008. We are now expecting a baby boy around thanksgiving and we couldn't be more excited. I graduated from BYU in April 2010 with a Bachelors of Science in Geography: Urban, Rural, and Environmental Planning. After I graduated, I started working for Eagle Mountain City, Utah as their City Planning and GIS intern. I worked there for about 4 months and that brings us to this date. I love the field I've chosen. I have a strong passion for community affairs and it is my belief that in order to help our nation change we must first change our communities. Wherever I work in the public sector my goal is to create safe communities for families. A solid family is the rock of our society. After my MPA program at ASU I hope to continue my career in city planning with the eventual goal of being a city administrator. I love sports of all types but mostly basketball, golf, volleyball, and football. I love life and I'm excited for another new beginning back in my home state of Arizona and attending ASU!
Eagle Mountain is located just West of Utah Lake and Lake Moutain which are also located west of Provo, Utah. It is also about 40 minutes Southwest of Salt Lake City. The city is very new and has grown rapidly over its short existence. It was incorporated in 1996 and by the year 2000 it had just over 2100 inhabitants. But by 2008 there about 22,000 people living in the city and the estimates to the current date are around 25,000. By land mass the city is the 3rd largest in the state of Utah with over 54 square miles. There is plenty of room to grown as only a small percentage of the land has been used. The city is made up of two different communities. "The Ranches" subdivision is located to the North while the city center area is located in a central location. One would almost think that these two areas are two completely different cities. About 2/3 of the population is located within "The Ranches" HOA and the rest live in the city center.
I began as the City Planning and GIS intern on May 10, 2010. It was a great experience as it allowed me to put to use what I studied at BYU. GIS wasn't really my area of expertise but luckily I took three classes on GIS and I tried to incorporate what I learned in those classes to help finish projects in my planning classes. I look forward creating future posts to show the projects I worked on.