Blakely was Honorary Professor of Urban Policy at the U.S. Studies Centre at the University of Sydney, Australia. Earlier in his career, Blakely was dean at the School of Urban Planning and Development at the University of Southern California and at the Robert J. Milano Graduate School of Management and Urban Policy, New School University in New York City. He was also a lecturer and visiting professor at numerous universities around the world, including Oxford, Cambridge, the University of Venice, Rutgers, Harvard, and Penn State. He has authored more than 100 scholarly articles and published 10 books.

Additionally, he served in advisory roles for three U.S. presidential administrations. President Clinton named Blakely to serve as vice chairman of the Presidio Trust. He was also a Fulbright Scholar and a Guggenheim Fellow. He was also hired to oversee Hurricane Katrina relief in New Orleans as the Executive Director, of the Mayor’s Office of Recovery and Development Administration, City of New Orleans