Riley sets plans for planning degree

Former City Council Member Chris Riley, long a policy wonk while he served on Council, will be pursuing a master’s degree to continue planning as a profession. Riley said Tuesday that he has been accepted as a graduate student at the Pratt Institute in the Urban Placemaking and Management program, starting in September. The Pratt Institute, which is in Brooklyn, offers what it calls a “professionally oriented education to a student body with diverse cultural, educational and professional backgrounds.” The institute focuses on community engagement while stressing a “multidisciplinary approach to the development, design and programming of public space,” according to its website. Riley was attending Tuesday’s meeting of the Central Texas Democratic Forum, where he won a door prize. Ironically, his prize was a Hillary Clinton bumper sticker. Riley rather famously has no car and prefers to travel by bike.