Jeff Levine, Portland director of planning and urban development, is leaving his post to teach at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and to start a consulting practice.
In a Monday email to Mainebiz confirming the news, Levine said he’s leaving the city government on Aug. 2 to join MIT’s Department of Urban Studies and Planning.
“I will be teaching, conducting research and advising Master’s level students in the program,” he said. “I am also starting a consulting practice working with developers and cities to help find positive solutions for communities in Maine and beyond.”
The consultancy, called Levine Planning Strategies LLC, already has a website on which it lists services including representing developers for local entitlements, municipal staff support and innovative housing policy and program development.
Levine has already updated his LinkedIn profile to reflect his new position at MIT.
During the past seven years in Portland, Levine has headed a department of 25 professionals in land use planning, community development, housing, preservation, inspections and other planning activities.
He has also had an adjunct faculty position at University of Southern Maine’s Muskie School of Public Service and served on the board and ridership committee for regional transit agency METRO.
Levine earned an undergraduate degree in public policy from Wesleyan University and a master’s in urban planning from the University of Minnesota with a specialty in economic development.