does it have to be in Columbus? Or even in Ohio?

No, anywhere in the world!

It just has to be photographed/documented enough so that I can do around 16+ slides of analysis and a 2 page essay.

Orlando, Fl.

Seriously. It has some of the oldest and newest master-planned communities and it also has some of the most bizarre planning practices.

i always like to compare the edge of detroit - to suburb..

if you like to go the sociological route... if not... detroit suburbs are among the sprawliest! im sure you can find some physical planning differences.

portland, oregon's urban growth boundary

willets point vs pretty much anywhere else in nyc...

perhaps Reston, Virginia (the older portion near Lake Anne). It was originally planned as a stand-alone community, but the spawl of DC has almost swallowed it up. Or try a little closer to downtown with the Rosslyn-Ballston Corridor or Downtown Silver Spring.

Near Chicago, try Evanston/Wilmette/Winnetka and Riverside.

riverside is probably one of the easiest.

also radburn, new jersey.

Yea, I looked into Riverside and it seems like a pretty nice option for the planned 'edge' (or Park Forest).

Isn't Evanston a planned community? Also, I tried looking up Wilmette and Winnetka but not much was there. I'm considering Rosemont as the unplanned edge, but again, not much information is out there on it, and it seems like a really nasty conglomeration of hotels and event centers.

Anyone have suggestions for unplanned, more organic suburbs/neighborhoods of Chicago?

The only truly "unplanned" suburbs you will find are in Houston.

Houston lacks a formal planning and zoning framework.

Though Houston lacks formal zoning, much of it does have in place an elaborate system of private deed restrictions which govern things like land use, height/bulk, setbacks, etcetera. (The first municipal zoning codes were based on elaborated private deed restrictions.)

So, Houston has been planned in many respects, just via different means.

I should add that Houston's planning has also been accomplished via the normal web of regulations governing subdivision layouts, parking, etcetera, not just deed restrictions.

a brief description

So, while there's no zoning, there's plenty of planning.

yep... your comments about Rosemont pretty much sum-it-up. Its defining monument is the water tower that is painted like a rose.

Naperville is also nice, although it seems slightly contrived and therefore must have been planned.