Photo courtesy of Smart Growth America.

Two weeks ago, Smart Growth America held an event called “Tech in the City” in Washington, D.C. Now, D.C. may seem like an unlikely place for Sarasota to look for inspiration, but cities both big and small have one thing in common: They are all challenging Silicon Valley’s dominance of tech and finance.

Figuring out how to grow a local tech industry seems like an industry all of its own. Branding is a big part of this: New York has become “Silicon Alley,” Kansas City is “Silicon Prairie” and Santa Monica is now “Silicon Beach.” Beyond branding—what are these cities doing?

Tech in the City did a good job highlighting themes:

The start-up ecosystem matters – Peter Corbett of iStrategyLabs has been building D.C.’s ecosystem, which includes MeetUps, events, a social media week, videos and blogging. He was honest: The ecosystem, vision and momentum on the East Coast belong to New York City. Perhaps as finance capital of the world, they got a leg up. But Mayor Bloomberg basically made a tech city a priority, using hack-a-thons, specialized maps, contests and hookups to get the right people together.

Philadelphia is also chasing the tech capital title, and mentor Mike Krupit uses the four-legged stool analogy:
1. Desire for Impact – the ultimate ecosystem has to be on everyone’s radar
2. Big Companies that hire and spin off talent
3. Universities that play better in the ecosystem
4. City Infrastructure

Affordability – Harriet Tregoning, D.C.’s Head of Planning, reminded the audience that more and more talent is leaving college (and mid-career training) with crushing debt. Cost of living seems like a “well, duh,” but aren’t big cities such as San Francisco, New York and D.C. expensive? This is where the big cities are doubling down to drive down costs. First, there is transportation. Even if you spend $1,000 a year on bus fare, ditching a car is like an $8,000 a year raise, according to AAA. Then there is workspace. D.C. is now negotiating shared workspace in new site plans. The old model of requiring retail in every ground-floor space is not working. We miss the fact that the goal is not retail, but activity. Vacant retail in this overbuilt environment does more harm than good. On the other hand, active tech space enlivens the street scene. The other thing about tech space is an attention to bare-bones workspaces that can later be converted to other active uses. The building materials for tech space are sold in office supply stores: Post-it notes, white boards, routers.

Photo by Lisa Nisenson.

Density – To quote Peter Corbett again, “Density is D.C.’s X-factor.” Density is how D.C. competes with the sprawling campuses in Silicon Valley. But density is really everyone’s X-factor. In fact, Silicon Valley’s giants like Google have to provide shuttles to and from San Francisco, because that is where the workers want to live. I previously highlighted how Tony Hsieh of Zappos wants to transform Las Vegas not with a catchy new name but a total package, including urban planning. More people in meaningful settings means more activity, collisions and idea-sharing.

The end game, however, is not density per se or even shifting the local job base to tech. The end game is creating great places and understanding your local strengths in a global economy where some jobs can go anywhere but many service jobs can’t. This is where a start-up mentality helps. Many start-ups are disrupters that challenge ossified thinking and routine. Start-ups also have a great tolerance for failed experiments where a prototype ultimately leads to the next, better version of a solution. Start-ups are lean, which helps in today’s environment. Finally, start-ups are obsessed with combining people, mainly through face-to-face encounters. Social media is great; social settings are greater.

With this in mind, what is Sarasota’s X-factor for building tech into the local economy?

For those of you playing along at home …

The developers in Sarasota have had their say; now it’s our turn.

On May 8, the Sarasota County Commission will consider changing the county’s long-range land use plans called Sarasota 2050. These changes are controversial because a hard-fought, expensive planning process is being cracked open as the result of not-so-open meetings with landowners and developers.

We here at This Week In Sarasota support rigorous, broad-based, aspirational, data-driven planning. For the same reasons families revisit their own financial portfolios, counties and cities need to do the same. We also believe that long-range planning is a special kind of public process, so this small effort to “fix” something absent rigorous process and data has made us less than happy.

We kind of think we know where this is going. But that should not stop a lazy afternoon of pondering the “what-ifs:”

Fantasy #1 — The commissioners give a lecture to the landowners on property rights and how zoning works. This lecture would go like this: “You want to build lots of houses—don’t buy a cow pasture.” The thing is, 2050 allows these cow pasture owners to get way more than the regular zoning. In return, the public gets lots of benefits such as large areas of filtering open space for clean water.

Fantasy #2 – The commissioners give impassioned speeches on redevelopment. Here’s the thing: Sarasota has an urban service boundary along I-75 (more or less). This is a big (and smart) deal. However, the only thing anybody pays attention to is development outside the urban service boundary. The difficult conversation is redevelopment within the boundary and what 2050 should be about—not more sprawl. Opening up more land rights outside the boundary dilutes the attention needed in town to make redevelopment work. People who live in the city and want to see activity downtown should be all over this.

Fantasy #3 – The commission points out the “market” arguments are a bunch of hooey. The landowners state that 2050’s new urbanism has to go because it hasn’t worked. The big problem for these folks is they only know how to build one thing: quick turnaround sprawl housing and strip malls. Fact is, Sarasota is desirable and they could sell the rural ranchettes that their zoning dictates, they could sell new urbanist communities and they could sell sprawl. 2050 is not about them—it’s about us, since taxpayers eventually foot the bill on services, repairs and secondary impacts that never make the impact fee list.

Fantasy #4 – The commissioners FINALLY break out the fiscal models that show the landowners are asking for the worst of all land development. The owners want to basically build lots of separate pods because that is what they know how to build. But there is a ton of great work going on by Strong Town’s Charles Marohn showing this type development is a Ponzi scheme. 2050 actually clusters development to shrink a good chunk of taxpayers’ long-term burden.

Fantasy #5 – The commissioners don’t approve any changes at all, but instead ask staff to come back with an outline of what a great planning update would look like within 90 days.

Fantasy #6 – The commissioners ask that the City be included in this new planning process.

Fantasy #7 – The commissioners ask for the type of public outreach that makes headlines. Portland, Oregon did something remarkable. Instead of sending staff to obscure meeting places around the city, Portland basically set up a grant system to have non-profits do the outreach work and funnel back feedback. It was cheaper, it got more people involved, it helped the non-profits and gave people something to get excited about: the future.

Fantasy #8 – Somebody finally says it: “What don’t we get about LONG term planning?” In Florida the words “planning” and “deal-making” get confused. Making deals is about getting to a quick yes, but long-range planning is about a lot of “no.” Because in the near-term “no” to lackluster proposals, you let the world know you are in the market for an awesome “yes.”

Here is the email for the Sarasota County Commission to let them know what you’re fantasizing about—in the subject line, put “2050:” commissioners@scgov.net

Part of Xavier de Souza Briggs’ presentation takes to task “the costly myths about building prosperity.”

Thankfully, de Souza Briggs has made his presentation available online. No matter where you stand politically, economically or geographically, the material will challenge a lot of assumptions about what’s driving local economies.

There is a lot going on here. Some of the takeaways for Southwest Florida are:

• Abandon the old ways of business, especially the race to the bottom on cheap costs and failing to understand where new jobs come from.
• The most important exercise is focusing on the 10 percent of high growth and output industries that will generate 45 percent of activity. This is how service jobs get better.
• Planning is not so much an exercise in land use, but in constant adaptation.
• Communities (and regions) need to identify assets. These are not the pillars (which tend to look backward), but assets needed to adapt.

This new framing poses a couple of questions for our region:

• Why are local leaders still stuck on creating a cheap business climate with outdated placemaking?
• What would the Sarasota 2050 plan or the new codes downtown look like if the focus were on strategic adaptation instead of recycled arguments from the 1980s on growth versus no-growth?
• Does the region really know where the jobs and money flow are coming from? Southwest Florida attracts a lot of retirees who never join the traditional economic and business groups. Are local leaders investigating unlikely connector spaces such as Starbucks and community houses in homeowners’ associations?
• How do we identify key trading partners? It seems like investigating supply chains and markets á la 1980 still has relevance, but 3-D printing, mobile computing, the coming disruption in education and health care, question marks about federal funding and other big-picture changes mean something.

It all seems to start with knowing your strengths and mapping their evolution. For example, bright people are beginning to exploit sports tourism, which is an offshoot of tourism. While there are a lot of activities like golf, Masters Swimming and the annual Ultimate Frisbee tournament, rowing brought new attention and a new trajectory to this asset. The trick to a “next economy” is staking out what’s next. What if sports tourism writ large were paired with health disruptors from San Jose looking to monetize preventative health care?

A slide from Brigg’s presentation showing how San Diego has mapped its assets and evolution.

Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos, delivering a keynote address for VERGE San Francisco 2012 titled “The City as Start Up.” Image from Greenbiz.com.

Zappos is an on-line shoe store—right? Well, yes, but lately they’ve gotten into a couple of sidelines, including urban planning. So how does one go from shoes to sidewalks? As it turns out, it’s part of the business plan.

Tony Hsieh started Zappos in 1999, settling in Henderson, Nev., a suburb of Las Vegas. The company grew fast and became well-known as a great place to work. But Hsieh felt like there needed to be something beyond a great corporate culture selling shoes to happy customers, so he went after another “C”: community.

In 2012, Hsieh began moving his company to the old downtown in Las Vegas, investing $355 million in buildings, venture capital and people through the Downtown Project.

So what can Sarasota learn from downtown Las Vegas? Lesson number one is that our small city by the Gulf of Mexico will never replicate what Vegas has in terms of an in-town large airport, casinos and throngs of people. But we have tourism, warm weather and a pent-up desire to do great things. Here are a couple of awesome things to glean from Zappos’ accomplishments:

1) There is a Vision: When is Sarasota going to take the time to do this? What is the vision statement? Zappos shows that if a city or county can’t muster the troops to come up with a guiding sentence, then a company can. The Downtown Project’s vision statement is: “Transform downtown Las Vegas into the most community-focused large city in the world.” This is the type of statement that will drag everyone else in: the Chamber, the civic groups, the colleges, the business community—everybody.

2) Bring Together Communities of Passion: It’s been said that “community development is more about people than real estate.” Sarasota has a lot of people passionate about a lot of things: art, habitat, rowing, education, North Port, etc. But let’s be honest—Sarasota has largely disconnected circles of passion. Who or what can bring the circles together so the former circus performer, the college president, the bird watcher and the student from Michigan rally around community?

3) Density: The Downtown Project leans heavily on the concept of serendipity (or chance encounters). These unscripted interactions are how community happens and ideas get formed, spread, refined and implemented. For downtown, they envision density at or above 100 units per acre. As any good tech company would, they cite data on performance, density and activity on the street, in bars and other places where collisions of people and their passion occur. Sarasota’s big question is whether this amount of density can be supported, in what form, and how to keep those units occupied year-round.

4) Transportation: Vegas has a heavily-used bus system and bizarre monorail. Given the density vision, the Downtown Project knew they could not rely on cars and land for parking. So last week, a new facet called the 100 Project was launched to build a new kind of shared transportation system.  This system deploys car and bike shares, Uber rides and—most notably—100 Teslas for members to hire out. This will be fun to watch and bust the mentality that public transit is the only way to provide mobility without cars.

5) Co-Work and Collisions: The Downtown Project is cross-pollinating sectors such as technology, fashion and art. But Hsieh also talks about the tourist co-worker in the “City as Start Up” speech. This visitor doesn’t live in downtown Las Vegas, but spends a concentrated amount of time inventing, interacting and hob-nobbing. Hseih describes “collisionable hours” as a metric—how much time a person is open to serendipitous encounters. Cafes and bars provide the setting, as do sidewalks, parks (and park benches), PTA meetings, film festivals, talks at Ringling College and gallery openings.

Screenshot from “The City as Start Up.” Image from Greenbiz.com

Sarasota can take away a couple of lessons:

1) Creative Tourism – Tour companies set up a string of excursions all the time. What would the “chance encounter” visitors’ guide look like (with a little beach thrown in)?

2) Homeowners Associations – Seriously. I have met some of the most creative and innovative people in master-planned communities. Many are driven by the need to reduce common area costs, so there is a lot of experimentation with solar, geothermal, transportation and better landscaping. But it is hard to collide much beyond the walls of a gated community. What would bring someone from Palmer Ranch downtown to talk and tinker (or vice versa)?

3)  Mobility – The Downtown Project does not ignore transit, but rather seeks to expand the mobility net for people who otherwise are not living or working on top of a bus or monorail stop. Sarasota is perfect for such experiments given the amount of tourism, the colleges and growing interest in biking and the Legacy Trail. The future of mobility is not only the farebox, but the smart phone.

“The City as Start Up” is a 30-minute presentation and is worth watching.

Cource: www.bigasscity.com

Right now there is a robust discussion on density, its merits and pitfalls. In the past, density came in two flavors: waterfront condos and “other.” The other has always been couched in terms of neighborhood-killing qualities. Now density has entered discussions with new flavors: walkability, affordability and sustainable design.

Unfortunately, the shorthand has landed on stark numbers: 20, 50 or 100 units per acre? Units per acre, however, is the part of the conversation that should take place later. Sarasota has skipped over some incredibly important details that ultimately inform the numbers. Let’s reorient the conversation.

1) Gross vs. Net Density
First, there are disputes about the density of several existing projects. There are actually two ways to present density. Gross density is simply the number of units divided by the total area. Net density is what happens when you subtract rights-of-way and open space. This is why two people can present two different numbers on density and both be correct.

2) Before Density: Purpose
First, we really have to ask ourselves what we are after. Here are the reasons a community (not individual developers, but communities) seek density:
• Walkability and Transit
• Housing and Commercial Affordability
• Infrastructure Savings
• Support for Redevelopment
• Environmental Protection

Does Sarasota want these things? That answer is yes—and can be found in both the Sarasota City Plan goals  and the County’s 2050 plan. All of us need to do a better job highlighting these existing goals. This is where graphic design help would go a long way.

3) Where Can Density Go? – Attributes
In some areas, density is a no-brainer—downtowns or clustering for new development, for example. There are also areas where density is obviously not a good idea. The trick is not what feels right or wrong for density, but rather the attributes of places where density can deliver the benefits (or places where retrofits can shape such a place).

The California firm Fehr & Peers is doing the best work to drive down energy at the intersection of land use and transportation, thanks in large part to California’s highly quantified climate law. They point to seven factors, or D’s, that feed into reduced Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT):

From the Fehr & Peers presentation to the Denver Regional Council of Governments.

There is also new scholarly work on the topic, which refines the place-making attributes. In a new book sponsored by the Urban Land Institute (read a review here), Reid Ewing and Keith Bartholomew look at pedestrian and transit design. They propose a set of physical factors needed, so Sarasota’s two big questions are: Where do these exist? Where can easy retrofits deliver on walkability, quality design and economic boost?

Source: Urban Land Institute

There is fascinating fascinating work on how intersection density is the most powerful attribute to work with. As we throw out redevelopment options, such as the North Trail, downtown and Bee Ridge, it is worth keeping this in mind.

Several years ago, Sarasota County began work on a “Multiple Projects” strategy to look at redevelopment areas in the county that were most ripe for investment and planning. The strategy was to hover over a couple of projects until there was a standout, thus avoiding the inevitable NIMBY response by picking one individual project. Alas, the downturn emerged, but the real problem was that the strategy never articulated the attributes of areas best suited for walkable nodes. Because of this, a neighborhood could rightly push back over being a regional experiment, absent information describing why the area is a great place to redevelop and why.

This is why the community has to articulate the purpose and attributes first, and once those areas are identified, begin looking at the scale of density based on regional, community and neighborhood systems (present and future). To read an awesome blog post on why density should not be the lead problem (or solution), also see Chuck Marohn‘s Strong Town Strong Towns post, aptly names “It’s so much more than density.”  While you’re at it, read all his stuff.

Source: The Green Car Website

Last month, Jessie Biter made headlines by proposing workforce housing downtown. One aspect of his plan for affordability is a car share program for tenants, which would lower the expenses of owning a car. Undoubtedly this suggestion left many small-town folk scratching their heads.

But the sharing economy and collaborative consumption are on the rise. The Economist featured the sharing economy on its March 11, 2012 cover. Of course the sharing economy is not a new invention (think libraries), but technology has enabled complete strangers to share cars, bikes, rooms, tools and practically anything else that could be loaned out. So how can Sarasota get in on this trend?

Cars – Fewer cars means less traffic, so car and ride sharing would definitely provide welcome relief to drivers. There are a couple of different models. As the car rental business has evolved, companies such as ZipCar provide cars in prime sharing locations. A member goes online, chooses a car and time slot, and uses a keycard to unlock the car and go. This model requires a user to return the car to the same spot, but car2go lets users pick up and park the car anywhere in a designated district. Users tap into a smartphone app to find and reserve the closest car. This company is one to watch because they prepay cities for curb space, even if there is a meter (the company paid D.C. close to three quarters of a million dollars for real estate, so don’t get rid of the meters yet). RelayRides allows car owners to rent out their own vehicles, further reducing the infrastructure needed for car sharing. As of this article’s date, the closest ride is in Bradenton.

Rides – Like rental cars, carpooling is tapping into technology to hook up drivers and riders. Craigslist, erideshare and Pickuppal are options in Sarasota. Zimride is a private ridesharing network for the colleges (the University of South Florida has a network).

Source: Deco Bikes

Bikes – Bike sharing has turned out to be a crazy popular win for cities. The craze started in Paris with Velib and is now used in cities such as Washington, D.C. and Miami. Miami Beach’s gorgeous DecoBike is growing like crazy.

Rooms and Houses – Hotels are scared of this one. Sites such as airbnb and VRBO (Vacation Rentals by Owner) are using scheduling and payment technology to link vacationers to available houses and rooms. Both these sites have listings in Sarasota.

Stuff – Craiglist devotes some of its site to shared goods, but new sites such as Snapgoods and NeighborGoods are coming on the scene for using tools and equipment.

Ideas – Sarasota has an active presence on MeetUp, with groups meeting to kayak, eat and garden. There is even a MeetUp for tall people in Sarasota. The best idea sharing site on bigger projects and programs in the community is Mind Mixer. Several communities nearby are using it for transportation and vision plans. We could totally use Mind Mixer in Sarasota for gathering input on 2050 and the city’s rewrite of the zoning code.

Aggregators – It was only a matter of time before new sites were needed to rein in the sprawling world of sharing websites. Mesh is a directory of global sites facilitating finance, food, mobility and tech. Uniiverse seeks to list the entire list of shareables. Shareable is part directory, part news site.

Of course the sharing economy relies on a couple of things, notably trust. To a certain extent, these sites devote a lot of resources to pre-screening. They tend to also work better where people are closer together, so downtown Sarasota will likely be a better candidate for car sharing than Myakka.

These new sites are also posing a lot of angst for cities and states that rely on tourism-related taxes on rental cars and hotels. Ontario, Canada banned Relay Rides at the behest of bus companies looking to eliminate competition with tough talk on licensing requirements. Cities all across the nation are trying to figure out how to collect bed taxes from new housing (and sofa) sharing sites. San Francisco decided to join rather than fight, realizing the city was home to many of the sites (and their commerce) in the sharing economy.

Tell us what sites you’ve seen—or started—that will help share food, goods, services and things for tall people.

Author Jeff Speck.

Why is walkability such a powerful index for successful cities?

Now that Walk Score actually allows us to measure it with some accuracy, the studies are starting to pour in about how walkability correlates powerfully with other measures that cities care about. These include real estate value, retail success, household spending retained within the local economy, the physical vitality (and thus reduced heath-care costs) of residents and the carbon footprint of each citizen. Walkable cities are healthier, wealthier and more sustainable cities.

What is the link between walkability and the creative sector of the economy?

There are at least three different links. Creative-class individuals are disproportionately drawn to cities, as are younger people. 77 percent of all millennials say they want to live in an “urban core,” and almost any invention you can name was the idea of someone under 30. Second, more urban places far outstrip auto-oriented places in innovation, gauged by measures such as patents per capita. Third, it is simply more efficient to work in a walkable city. In Atlanta it is difficult to fit in three meetings per day because everything is separated by traffic. In Boston, five meetings per day is a standard achievement.

In areas of a city without the older “bone structure” of walkability, how do you choose the streets that are the best candidates for pedestrian improvements?

Most places have some small-block bone structure to work with—even Las Vegas and Tuscon. It is only the entirely post-war American “cities” that have no such network at all. There is not much that I or anyone else can do for them.

In warmer climates, what kinds of things make the biggest difference for pedestrians?

A continuous canopy of mature deciduous trees can lower the ambient temperature by as much as 15 degrees. With rare exceptions, every American city should strike palms from its list of approved species; most are merely decorative, providing little environmental benefit. A healthy tree canopy also absorbs stormwater and carbon dioxide while contributing mightily to real estate value. There is no better investment a city can make.

The four elements of walkability explained in “Walkable City.”

Mark your calendars for the two events:

1) Free Public Presentation and Book Signing
Wednesday, March 20, 6 p.m.
City Hall Commission Chamber, 1565 1st St., Sarasota, FL

2) Lunch with Jeff Speck sponsored by the Downtown Sarasota Alliance
Thursday, March 21, 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.
Louies Modern/The Francis Ballroom, 1289 N. Palm Ave., Sarasota, FL

Tickets are $40 and available through the DSA events website.

If you cannot attend the events, Speck’s book is available at Bookstore 1 in downtown Sarasota at 1359 Main Street.

Urban plan as art installation. James Rojas created a dream city in Long Beach, California for people to play—and dream—with. Photo courtesy of LAimyours.com.

Granted, the Wal-Mart saga is not over. The deep-pocketed bulldog of a retailer is not known for throwing up their hands and just walking away. An appeal is likely, though the outcome is not guaranteed.

One thing is certain, however. A lot of people in the city have gotten interested in things such as vision, the comprehensive plan and zoning codes. Like other cities, Sarasota is moving away from an era where public investment in things like parks and infrastructure was driven by a conclave of experts, elders and patrons. The rise of technology, crowd-sourcing and the “digital city” means technical experts no longer have sole dominion over planning and codes.

Of course, old habits die hard, and really it’s hard to take planning to the people unless the people are completely stoked about planning. The question used to be, “Is Sarasota ready to take the next steps?” Wal-Mart showed that we are. The real question now is: “What are the next steps?”

There are three important and related activities on the table:

1. The Wal-Mart site – Even if they win in court on zoning, the site plan is atrocious and the city has a lot of supporting material to keep sending them back to the drawing board until they get a store design that fits the urban edge.
2. An overhaul of the City of Sarasota’s zoning code.
3. Revisiting Sarasota County’s long-range comprehensive plan (called “Sarasota 2050″).

These activities are in addition to several other initiatives underway in town, such as Ringling Colleges’ Imagination Conversation, the Sarasota Chamber of Commerce’s Sarasota Tomorrow plan, Gil Water’s remaining checklist on a walkable downtown, and the HuB’s spotlight on downtown housing. These are all great activities, but are not a substitute for what is really needed to form a strong, guiding vision shared by all.

This Week in Sarasota doesn’t have the crib sheet on this. But what we can do is look at how other places are handling the challenge and putting pieces together. We are well aware there is a certain fatigue with “what other places did” and having experts parachute in to tell us what to do. But if America is learning anything about the new economy, it’s this: the more ideas, the better.

It also doesn’t hurt that cities and urban planning are suddenly sexy. Granted, there are some folks out there who think planning is a communist UN conspiracy to control our lives, but that only makes planning more entertaining. For those of us who want to have an educated say in how our community and region takes shape, this is for you.

So, here are things we could cover:

• The Ingredients of the Creative City
• Density and Traffic – What’s the connection?
• You as Planner – New toys and tech for planning
• The Gold Standard – How Portland, Oregon is killing it with planning
• Asset Mapping – You can’t think about what you want until you know what you have
• What is Sarasota’s Vision Statement?
• Codes that Match the Vision – How new codes in comic book form are all the rage
• Street Secrets – Architects’ design tricks

All of these will be insanely visual and helpful. What else should we look at?

We did some investigating in long, boring documents and found that Mr. Litchet has been doing some cherry-picking of his own. Here’s the deal. In Florida there is not just one legal document (zoning code), but two (Sarasota Comprehensive Plan + zoning code). In making decisions, it’s not either/or, but rather a one-two punch. The code is meant to implement the lofty goals of the comprehensive plan, which also instructs how individual buildings fit in and flow with the rest of the community beyond property lines. The comp plan comes first.

So what does the comp plan say?

• Well, the comp plan says a lot on stuff like transportation, coastal areas, open space, blah, blah, blah. We turned our attention to the chapter called “Future Land Use,” because we’re talking about Wal-Mart in the future tense.
• Did you know the city has six strategies for future land use? In 2004, the City Commission adopted “Sarasota’s Approach to Strategic Planning:”

o An attractive, environmentally-friendly community that is safe and livable and provides an array of cultural and aesthetic enjoyments.
o Viable, safe and diverse neighborhoods and businesses that work together.
o A workplace that attracts and retains an outstanding workforce.
o A responsible and accessible government that has sound financial and administrative practices.
o An economically sustainable community.
o Well maintained and future-oriented infrastructure.

• 

  Southside Village: This is what “Neighborhood Commercial” looks like and acts like.

  The other thing? The Wal-Mart site is the largest designated “Neighborhood Commercial” site in the entire city, though there are even larger areas for “Community Commercial” sites intended for more intense uses. The irony is, there’s better direction on “Community Commercial” than “Neighborhood Commercial” regarding design and new urbanism. What to do here? Design a Wal-Mart for Community Commercial and cut it in half?  Anyone interested in this case would be smart to dig up hearings on the Southside Center on Osprey Avenue and Hillview Street (where Morton’s Gourmet Market is) to see how the city described the parameters of Neighborhood Commercial.

The Ringling Shopping Center is listed as a Neighborhood Commercial site on the city’s Future Land Use Map. There are also smaller neighbohrood commercial areas along Osprey Avenue. The more intense Community Commercial areas are in red. Source: City of Sarasota Future Land Use Map

Come on. This is one of the richest damn businesses on the planet, and Sarasota City Commissioners should feel comfortable telling Wal-Mart “we’re not ready for prime time” as many times as they need to in order to get a store that fits the comp plan. If they can’t do it,  Sarasota is home to lots of architects who we bet would be willing to draw what a Wal-Mart has to look and function like under Sarasota’s plans and code. This is how to handle Wal-Mart.

On another note, Wal-Mart tried to dismiss Mr. Taylor as an expert witness because he did not have official credentials called A.I.C.P. (something about “certified planner”). You know who else doesn’t have A.I.C.P.? The planning directors of Washington, D.C. and San Francisco. These cities are on fire about taking planning, transportation and green building to the next level. All this under the leadership of “non-experts.”

Okay, people—what is your take on Wal-Mart, the Sarasota Comprehensive Plan and future-oriented infrastructure?

As has been detailed by Sarasota Herald-Tribune scribes, including Tom  Lyons and other SHT journalists, a funny thing happened on the way to the city commission chambers—someone forgot to read the Zoning Code before giving Wal-Mart a green light to go forward.

In a nutshell, the guy who wrote the City’s Zoning Code for the past 20 years (retiring just this past year) has written a 42-page memo, and will testify on Tuesday night that approving a Wal-Mart SuperCenter Discount Department Store at Ringling Plaza is illegal. Doing so will expose the City to yet another lawsuit where they can spend our tax dollars fighting citizens, instead of cleaning downtown’s sidewalks (among other opportunity costs).

Is this like busting Al Capone for tax evasion? Maybe—but hey, if it’s illegal and not allowed, then Wal-Mart should obey the law just like any other TWIS reader (are you escuchando, Bentonville? Oops, we almost forgot about Mexico! Laws? We don’t need no stinking laws!). It seems like the Wally folks heard that Sarasota was good with Ponzi schemes and fond of confidence games. Walmart played a good con for about six months, telling the world that they “had their zoning and all the entitlements they needed to build a SuperCenter”—in other words, telling the community, “Suck it, we’re going in, and you can be grateful if we give you some Ringling College public art on the outside of our pre-fab walls sitting at the gateway to your downtown.” (They actually did do the Ringling art bit.) It was smart until someone actually asked if this was true. Then when asked, retired Senior City Planner Mike Taylor revealed that it really wasn’t.

For more, we now go to TWIS master documentarian (look out, Ken Burns) Stephen McFadden, who’s created a video overview to educate us all on the merits of the case:

In case you don’t recall who that young African-American woman was on the floor of the Senate, that was Cheryl Mills back in the cold winter of ‘99—an impressive young professional of the late 20th century, who at 33 years of age went to the Senate floor to defend President Bill Clinton from impeachment. Stephen didn’t include it in his video in support of Clinton or to open some side-bar Kabuki discussion of Monica again, but rather because her quotes on the rule of law seem to be particularly pertinent for this city commission:

“The Rule of Law applies to the rich, strong, weak and the poor … If you love the rule of law, you must love it in all of its applications. You cannot only love it when it provides the verdict you seek; you must love it when the verdict goes against you as well. We cannot uphold the rule of law only when it is consistent with our beliefs. We must uphold it even when it protects behavior that we don’t like.”

There are some commissioners who have said that this Wal-Mart will be good for jobs (we disagree); for increasing property taxes paid to the City (we also disagree—mixed use on that site will provide 10 times the return in property taxes); for removing a run-down shopping center from the ’50s (true that). For some, these could all be laudable reasons to want to say “yes” to a Wal-Mart—but the first obligation of our elected officials is to uphold the law. We obligate them to do that on their very first day in office. In doing so, they “yes” to every investor and property owner in the city that relies on that expectation every day.

The SRiQ “Vision” Thing

Finally—after commissioners understand their obligation to uphold the law—we implore them to get back to the long-term visioning exercise, going after what Commissioner Paul Caragiulo (who paradoxically voted against a Wal-Mart appeal public hearing on Jan. 7) spoke so eloquently about just two years ago. (Forward to 0:36 – 0:52 for our favorite sound bite.)

So here’s a Valentine Vision for Paul and his Mystic Mardi Gras Krewe: This past year, Sarasota Magazine and Mr. Chatterbox, Bob Plunkett, named the Gardens of Ringling Park and Paver Park area surrounding this site as one of the fastest up-and-coming neighborhoods in all of Sarasota County, where people can buy an affordable house (low $100s), renovate it and walk to downtown. The potential for enhancing the city tax base throughout the area of 1,000+ homes as they revitalize is tremendous. Couple this with the future mixed-use project on School Ave. fronting the City’s new $12 million Payne Park and something similar instead of a big box Wal-Mart, and there is tremendous potential for this area to take off over the next five to ten years. Now we need our elected commissioners and city staff to have this long-term vision and ensure that what is eventually built here is the best project for Sarasota.

TWIS hopes to see you all there on Tuesday night in yellow. 

“Hacker Home” listed on airbnb.com for internet tourists seeking out Google Fiber.

March 30 marks the second anniversary of Google’s decision to install high-speed internet in Kansas City (actually two Kansas Cities: Kansas and Missouri later this year). Sarasota, along with 1,100 other communities, competed for the internet giant’s attention, but eventually KC won out. Last week, SRiQ was in Kansas City and decided to see if the results are living up to the hype.

The answers are “yes,” “no” and “it’s coming.” There were a couple of things worth noting, given Sarasota’s investment and energy into getting Google here. First, despite Google’s imaginative call for entries, the fix was somewhat in. Kansas City had two important ingredients: first, a location where major communications trunk lines intersect with a willing power and cable company at the ready to help the installation. Second, the monthly pricing scheme is for homes at $120 each for 1 gigabit per second TV and internet, or $70 for internet alone. One gigabit per second is about 100 times faster than average home plans. Thus, businesses are not really the main audience.

Moreover, the service only recently went live, so this article is really about prep, not execution. So what did Google do for KC aside from supplying super fast home internet? Cameron Cushman of the Kaufman Foundation distilled the impact best: Google Fiber made Kansas City have a conversation with itself. Here is what came out of those conversations:

The Chamber of Commerce got active – In the summer of 2011, the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce launched what they called the “Big 5” by asking the question, “What would you do if you were the CEO of Kansas City?” The idea was to get ideas related to KC’s strengths (not necessarily just Google Fiber) from every corner of the larger community and pin down five big, doable things. Submissions poured in from several mediums including the Chamber’s website, local radio stations, blogs, community newsletters and emails. While the Chamber was ultimately responsible for the outcome, they formed teams to actually make it happen.

From a list of 182 ideas, the final 5 top actions under the “Big 5″ initiative in Kansas City

The Kaufman Foundation got really active – The Kaufman Foundation is a big patron of all things art, culture and science. But the foundation has now moved into entrepreneurship and neighborhoods. Among the sites are Kaufman Labs where the most interesting concept is something called “1MC,” or 1 million cups of coffee. Launched to help connect employees within the sprawling Foundation, the idea extended to the community and start-ups. These caffeine-infused collisions of people was seen as key to helping match start-ups with people who could help (even beyond funding). But observers are now seeing that it’s not just Match.com for ideas and money. These coffees are bringing together people who would never meet, which is precisely what is building a greater, cohesive community.

The start-up community got really active – Google’s pricing scheme has had a couple of effects. First, because it is offered in homes and not businesses, a new model emerged called “Homes for Hackers,” where Google Fiber users rent their houses to entrepreneurs. Because Google Fiber is going into neighborhoods, the effort is more place-based than office-park based, spawning the “KC Start Up Village.”

Readers are likely thinking that we already have these activities here. The Chamber has its Sarasota Tomorrow effort with four areas: Higher-paying Careers For Residents, Support For Existing and New Businesses, Creating New Partnerships and Promoting “Green” Business. The HuB is taking initiative in the community rivaling that spawned by Google in KC. Ringling College has its Imagination Conversation with a list of industries such as Young Leaders, Health, Real Estate, Sports and Transportation.

But something does not feel quite right. It seems like there are circles at work right now that yield helpful, but ultimately isolated results. Kansas City offers a glimpse in how to do this better. First, TWIS has been advocating a visioning process that starts with identifying assets and strong points to rally around. Second, as KC shows, this need not be a long affair, but one that commits to touching every part of the community.  Third, holding meeting in halls and meeting rooms is one part of shaping a future, but unless you are chatting people up on buses, on the sidewalk, at fairs and in everybody else’s newsletters, you are bound to fall short.

The lesson from Google Fiber and entrepreneurs is that it’s not about circles but collisions. Google made different worlds collide in KC, so the question is: Can Sarasota do this on its own?

The study was covered nationally, but did not seem to make a splash locally. One of the problems is that the county is gigantic and has abundant land. Looking at tax revenue on a per-acre basis doesn’t really hit any nerve endings when there is land aplenty.

But here in the city, the use of acreage in a largely built-out, small city is a big deal. So we decided to look at the 10-acre Ringling Shopping Center site using the information from Misters Katz and Minicozzi, the consultant. Consider this analysis ballpark-y; we barely know how to figure out tips. Luckily, pretty charts help. The chart below is from a 2012 conference presentation. From the yellow circles, the “tax yield” in property tax per acre for Wal-Mart was $8,374 and for Palm Avenue, over $92,000.

Looking at this image, the math is pretty clear for property taxes. For the Ringling Shopping Center, TWIS thinks Palm Avenue is the best fit (and most conservative estimate) for comparison. The bottom line? For this prime 10-acre site, the chart boils things down to a basic question: Do you want to eventually capture about $100,000 a year in revenue—or closer to $1 million in property taxes?

Now, we bet you are thinking this is not complete because we are not looking at sales taxes. Sales tax in Sarasota County is 7%. The state minimum for sales tax collection is 6%. Sarasota County adds one percent (referred to as the “Penny Tax”) for infrastructure. Of that 1%, schools get one fourth, the county gets about half  and the cities (Sarasota, North Port and Venice) split the remaining quarter based on population. There is also revenue sharing and a half-cent portion of sales tax which is redistributed back to cities based on population and other factors. (If you are waiting for a punch line, it’s this: Cities don’t get 7% from the cash register—they get crumbs after the cash is routed through Tallahassee).

The proposed Wal-Mart Super-Duper Center is 97,000 square feet. A quick Google search gives a range of sales per square foot, but it looks like $450 in sales per square feet is solid. (Some estimates give $600/square foot of sales, but that includes Walmart.com merch, which is not taxed.) Math says this size store can anticipate about $43,000,000 in total sales each year. That’s about $3,000,000 in total sales tax sent to Tallahassee. Of that, the Penny -tax surcharge sends around $430,000 sent back to County and the cities would split up about $100,000 based on population. If Sarasota gets half, that’s only $50,000 a year in tax revenue for the surtax. Based on a generous interpretation of historical returns, another $100, 000 might come from the other sources. This assumes that the dollars spent at Wal-Mart are not just substituting sales within the same shopping area.

But it gets worse. Hopefully the commissioners are aware that staff is planning for a downtown streetcar or other circulator. Some of the routes include a loop near Payne Park, which was chosen because of the redevelopment and service opportunities at the eastern end of the city. Looking at stats from other cities such as Cincinnati, cities can expect new economic activity as transit draws investment. But a city can’t enjoy this return on investment if it locks in low-return, low density suburban land use at prime station areas.

TWIS was kinda disappointed when the city sold public land at the intersection of Fruitville and Beneva to the lowest bidder. We don’t expect city leaders to get every decision exactly right, but we expect a lot out of this one. Guess how we’re feeling right about now.

Imagine having this to show to Walmart instead of outdated zoning codes. From Montgomery Co., Maryland.

This is a pivotal week for one of the city’s biggest assets that was never treated like one: the old Ringling Shopping Center. The Sarasota City Council will decide whether or not to go forward with an appeal on the decision to allow Wal-Mart to build a super center on the shopping center site, which is now vacant.

At first it seemed like Wal-Mart was a shoo-in—a dead shopping center razed for another shopping center. But zoning codes are tricky things. Wal-Mart and the Planning Board that approved the action will need to defend several points related to store footprint, “department store” status and whether it is compatible.

Wal-Mart is well-known for both super-low prices and a super-large legal department. There are likely dozens of lawsuits around the country where Wal-Mart tried to argue they are a department store to fit into zoning in some places, and argued they are not in others, depending on the code language. We don’t know how they will argue the compatibility issue. “Compatibility” is a funny word and in Sarasota, used often as a form of syntax: subject-verb-compatibility. While it’s pretty clear living next to a slaughterhouse is not compatible, there are lots of people who would be fine living next to a higher-density, mixed-use project, and lots of people who say it’s not their cup of tea. We understand the importance of the word compatibility, but it’s too often abused to argue for no change, or stretched to mean anything.

If the commission rules that an appeal will go forward, Wal-Mart will likely come back with one of two things: more evidence they fit, or a request for a variance. They can do that and it happens all the time.

But here’s the thing—while the future of the site remains in the balance, the community never did a great job outlining what any future would look like. Sarasota spends a lot of time articulating what it does NOT want and too little (if any) time saying what aspirations for a workable, wonderful place would be.

In our view, this is because the city relies on two levels of planning—the site level code and the large-scale comprehensive plan—when there should be three. Other cities have figured out that there also needs to be middle-scale neighborhood planning that bridges the broad comp plan language and the minutiae of code. The shopping center site was at one time going to have this middle-level planning and design guides. Sure, these planning guidelines are not as forceful as zoning codes, but they help define the terms we face now—such as “compatible.”  They also provide graphics, like the one above, which is worth a thousand words.

There are many TWIS writers, readers and advertisers who live along this eastern edge of downtown, but all of us are interested and have a stake. The fact is, there are few places in Southwest Florida with the “bone structure” to support walkability, biking and circulators in a downtown. It is important that this site is done well—not just for the neighborhood, but for all of Sarasota. The region is plagued by traffic because we dumb down plans, buildings and infrastructure to the point where everyone has to drive. A one-story, traffic-generating, pedestrian-repelling store on a great last site in downtown is not only incompatible with the neighborhood, but for us all.

The Herald-Tribune is arguing for a Wal-Mart, but in our view it’s not one of two things: a vacant lot or a Wal-Mart. The real question is, “If not Walmart, what?” The “what” could be really great projects that add vitality to a dead center, that link the neighborhood with downtown and provide the in-town housing so desperately needed. The commissioners are voting on code, but in reality they are voting on “what could be” on a site that didn’t seem important—until Wal-Mart showed up.

1) Urban Spaces - Yes, we have them, and they are fabulous.

2) Whimsy – This is one of those aspects of city life that escapes definition.  Whimsy is what makes you stop and do a double-take. A tractor landscaping project, ballerinas, small-scale graffiti … things that make you smile.

3)  Art – Art is everywhere, and it’s clear we care about it. Art is making largely-dismissed parts of the city, such as alleys, come alive.

4) Design – Sarasota is so attached to design we even have our own architectural style.

5) Signs – Cities around the country fight over signs: where they are placed, what they look like and whether Business A is getting a bigger sign than Business B. Perhaps our design cred lifts us above the fray. We have some damn great signs around town.

6) Newtown – Sure Newtown has had its problems, but there is a quiet renaissance underway. There are new buildings, entrepreneurs (happily a lot of BBQ entrepreneurs) and energy on the street. The Orange Blossom Park has become a hub.

7)  The North Trail – The North Trail is undergoing a slow-cook kind of revitalization. Last Friday, would-be patrons of the new Chinese restaurant Yummy House had to wait for parking spaces to open up.

8) The Finale – Nothing says “celebration” like a waving guy on a bike riding around a highly controversial roundabout, next to a highly controversial park with a big ole grin on his face. Happy Holidays!

Image of station area plan for a Community Center. Image from Florida DOT.

As promised, we are sharing the highlights of the Transit-Oriented Development workshop, the last of five held on Dec. 3 and sponsored by the Florida Department of Transportation.

Here are what someone mildly interested in transit but hugely interested in making a great city should know:

All of the presentations are on www.fltod.com under the tab “agency training.” The presentation on Place Type Analysis was really good and easy to understand.

One really interesting tidbit: One attendee was from the advocacy group Reconnecting Lee County. Yeah—the same Lee County where the not-so-transit-friendly Tea Party got started. We don’t have a Reconnecting Sarasota County, but fear not—you have This Week in Sarasota.

TWIS is teaming with the monthly networking gabfest called Green Drinks, the next installment of which is on Thursday, Dec. 18 at 5:30 pm at eat here on Main Street and Links. While targeted to sustainability professionals, in a place like Sarasota that pretty much means everybody.  TWIS  has plans to make drinking and planning (usually not two activities used in the same sentence) something you want to do. More next week, but mark Dec. 18 at 5:30 p.m. on your calendars.

Streetcar route presented in a Nov. 15 workshop. Image from Tindale Oliver.

So the streetcar is getting closer to reality. For TWIS readers, this will open up a whole new world for bar-hopping, hooking up and texting in motion with ZERO guilt.

On Nov. 15, the City of Sarasota held a workshop and soon thereafter, consultant Tindale Oliver came out with a revised route. The new route is 1.8 miles long and connects the Rosemary District, downtown and the new Walmart site at the old Ringling Shopping Center (a route advocated by TWIS as more of a transportation and livability move than recognition of big box insanity). But the route is great and looks like it can serve lots of students, tourists, residents, shoppers, business people and pub crawlers. It also looks like it will serve people along Sarasota’s crazy income spectrum and begins to make use of downtown assets on relatively higher ground (see: Hurricane Sandy, New Jersey, storm surge). This is good work.

As shown in the picture, there is a green haze overlay zone, which sends signals on development. It’s important to note that:

• Other than the two terminal stops, it’s not clear where the stops will be.
• The areas immediately adjacent to the stops are where the transit value is greatest.
• However, the value can be boosted by enhancing the pedestrian walkways and shortcuts.
• It’s not clear how this thing gets funded.

So here are a couple of things worth considering:

• Now that the state doesn’t dictate every single detail of development, it is up to us to get up to become experts on how to do this stuff. There is a workshop on Dec. 6 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. sponsored by the Florida Department of Transportation on Transit Oriented Development (see fltod.com). TWIS is on it, and if you can’t go, this link takes you to registration and all the material. We’ll have highlights.
• A lot of the research and information on streetcars is based on (1) other transit technologies like subways, or (2) from streetcars in large cities where the trolleys feed into rail. That ain’t us, so we need to be honest about comps.
• The Sarasota Streetcar Initiative is a great place to start, convene and grow talent. They also have a good Facebook page. Here’s an idea: Pastry Art has open mike night. Every once in a while they should have open plan night where planning and transit goobs get together with maps and web sites and Post-It notes for a giant, coffee-fueled study circle.
• The affordability and equity thing is a real risk because fixed-route, fancy transit brings investment. The best way to ensure that this thing doesn’t push renters, artists, and small business owners in Rosemary out is to think this thing through now. One of the best examples is the Funders Collaborative in St. Paul Minnesota.

Perhaps the biggest question is funding for the $15 million project. The trick is to make sure there is support, the land use pays off in taxes and fun, and outdated assumptions and egos stay in check long enough to form a coalition working to a shared vision. Ready?

Asset mapping with Post-It notes.

The election is over and attempts for a strong mayor and/or strong manager still languish. Still alive though, is a desire for leadership qualities now regarded as in short supply: accountability, a cohesive story, and vision. But here’s the thing: Cities with vision typically don’t do so because there is one, and only one, person with vision. Strong, visionary leaders need citizens and community leaders who are willing to be part of creating this vision together with others.

So SRiQ thought we’d look at how a vision gets done, strong mayor or not. While we were expecting hefty tomes, the vision thing really boils down to three basic questions: (1) What do you have? (2) What do you want? and (3) How do we get there?

Before we look at these questions, it’s important to note that community planning in Florida has been largely viewed as a technical exercise in solving problems. While this seems like a worthy way to get things done, it gets to be a bummer when the priorities are always near-term “problems.” It also leaves out most people because technicians drive the process with models and spreadsheets and analysis. There really are good reasons to do things differently. Let’s focus on the first question: What do we have?

This seems like a silly question, but is essential to get straight before asking what you want. There are several terms to describe this activity: asset mapping, community inventory, or part of scenario planning. What are the benefits?

Community asset tag.

1. It creates lists of assets – human, programmatic, natural, economic, events, etc., … Information is power, and think of all the time and money we are wasting because community groups have no idea who is doing what with which resources. We are fans of Big Data for better decisions and these inventories are key.
2. It starts with the positive – Communities key in on strengths. This is important because “problems” are flipped on their head. How can vacant lots, storm water ponds or unused space be used?
3. It catalyzes relationships – No matter what your end products are (maps, databases, economic portfolios), one of the largest benefits is what happens during the process of coming together around the positives of our region.
4. It puts asset classes on a level field – In Sarasota, the environment and economic development have always been pitted against each other — at least rhetorically. As part of a working inventory, green space is not a feel-good hippie hang-out, but valuable infrastructure.
5. With technology, assets can be assembled in one place, or in layers that matter for workforce development, highlighting a local supply chain or articulating priorities.
6. Almost every region in Florida is doing this: Southeast Florida, Tampa Bay, the I-4 Corridor. They will be eating our lunch if we don’t play with Manatee County and Tampa to the north, and Charlotte to the south.

For a good example, check out how Portland, Oregon asked these questions.

On December 14, there is an important all-day workshop on Asset-Based Community Development. The conference is $79 (early bird by Nov. 15) to cover costs. Topics covered will be: Introduction and examples; Why place-based strategies and engagement are essential; The role of institutions; Tools for ABCD; and building connector-leaders.

Let us know in comments if you’d like more bite-size articles on visioning, technology and other topics. Also let us know where  you’ve seen examples.

• Develop different strategies for different places.
• Make places where people choose to be out and about.
• Make walkability as the base unit for design — you can operate cars in a pedestrian-dominated environment, but it doesn’t work the other way around.
• Provide options for getting around.
• Link land use, building design and transportation for the system.
• Double down on information to make walking, biking and transit easier.
• Conduct a “lessons learned” from the parking fiasco to provide better parking — a critical piece of mobility.

Image courtesy of the City of Sarasota.

Cheat Sheet – The cranks will be out screaming about the “Immobility Study,” greedy developers and congestion. All the arguments have a superficial appeal, but have the effect of stopping good redevelopment. To whit, they complain about density and traffic — but if this were true, downtown would be the most congested area in Southwest Florida. It is not thanks to the underlying street patterns, alleys and connections. They assert that no development can take place until the “infrastructure is in place.”  Well in Sarasota, it is — it’s called a city, and the Mobility Study is all about using that infrastructure better. Here are the four main areas:

Mobility Districts – If you look at great, livable cities, they aren’t one big blob; they are a collection of great places often led by great plans that stitch these places together. Sarasota really doesn’t have that yet, but the Mobility Districts look like they could be good land use planning — not just for transportation. The trick for Mobility Districts is the street network: The denser the pattern and greater the connections, the better suited for walking, use mix and density. In some areas of the city, actually making more connections via new streets or even walking paths will be needed, though not necessarily more density. 
What to look for: Where the mobility districts are, how they are linked and how the city looks at the land use/transportation framework for each individual mobility district.

Complete Streets – The complete streets movement started a couple of years ago when streets were designed for one mode: cars. Since then, even Florida has caught on with more sidewalks, bike lanes and room for other modes of getting around. The trick for complete streets is not just painting more bullshit bike lanes on extra-wide streets. Performance is not just the existence of a sidewalk or land, but how it fits to really make walking, biking and transit comfortable, safe and convenient. 
What to look for: There will be trade-offs since streets are essentially valuable real estate. How will the city balance pedestrians, bikes, cars, landscaping, outdoor dining and so on? Is the city focused on the mere existence of the parts, or on how they fit together with land uses, economic development and connections?

Financing Strategy – To entice redevelopment, over time cities have reduced or eliminated the fees developers pay to cover infrastructure. This leaves a conundrum: How to stimulate redevelopment, but recognize some financial support for the infrastructure that makes the developer’s project viable in the first place.
What to look for: A lot of people who oppose the mobility study and only want you driving in cars don’t want to swap road impact fees for multi-modal fees. But cities are not sprawl — you cannot add lanes. The trick is to fund infrastructure improvements that get more mobility incrementally using the most of the infrastructure you have in place.  Even NYC is doing this effectively. Look for a fee system that funds effective walk, bike and transit infrastructure.

Downtown Circulator – Downtown merchants have clamored for years for a circulator of some sort. Given how spread out the downtown and attractions are, this makes sense.
What to Look for: Ask questions on the goals of a circulator and focus on which routes and stops link meaningful trips. If the goal is to reduce traffic, then linking Walmart would do the trick, but the trolley would carry riders past other stores. If hotels are major stops, then where do tourists want to go? What about condo residents? Workers on lunch breaks?

What is your number one priority for moving Sarasota’s land use and transportation into the 21st century?  

These five events (many free, some with free snacks and drinks) seem to fit that bill. Choose an event (or several) and sign up (just because we are creative and good-looking doesn’t mean we can just show up):

The unconventional RV park designed by Carlson Studios.

Green Drinks – Tour of the LEED Wellness Center at Sun-n-Fun - Thursday, Oct. 25, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Sponsors: Stewart Engineering and Gulf Coast Chapter of American Institutes of Architects
Location: Sun N Fun, 7125 Fruitville Rd., Sarasota, FL 34240
The What: A tour of Sarasota’s newest LEED Gold building, Sun N Fun’s Lifestyle Wellness Center, hosted by the Green Drinks networking group, Carlson Studio Architecture and the U.S. Green Building Council
What You’ll Learn: This kick-ass, green RV park captures rainwater, uses the pool for cooling and uses local materials. Architecturally it blends the best of Sarasota modern design and frugal resource use. 
Details: Free, nibbles provided. Please RSVP at info@aiagulfcoast.org.

Honey Beekeeping 101 – Saturday, Nov. 10, 9 a.m. to noon

Sponsors: University of Florida/IFAS Sarasota County Extension
Location: UF/IFAS Offices, 6700 Clark Rd., Sarasota FL 34241 (just east of the intersection with I-75 at Twin Lakes Park).
The What: A morning class on honeybee biology with instruction on building a beehive, equipment, pests and practices.
What’ll You’ll Learn: The guy leading the class was in a February New York Times article on urban farming. Beekeeping is becoming one of those cool hipster things to do. Can urban sheep be far behind?
Details: $10 to attend. Registration is open until November 10. Visit the Sarasota County Extension website.

Sarasota Bay Water Festival - Saturday, November 17, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Sponsors: Sarasota Bay Estuary Program
Location: Ken Thompson Park, 1700 Ken Thompson Pkwy., Sarasota FL 34236
The What: The first-ever water festival to celebrate and link a healthy bay to economic development and fun. There will be live music on the main stage, local food trucks, a Creative Arts Tent displaying local wildlife photographers and artists selling their work, the I Love Sarasota Bay Photo Contest, a fishing clinic for kids, vintage boats, exhibits and demonstrations about boating, kayaking, fishing, paddle board sports, scuba, birding and more.  
What you’ll Learn: Science can be fun.
Details: We love this: Special treatment for bus riders, bikers and pedestrians, since parking will be tight. Dogs (on leashes) allowed. Check out the event’s Facebook page.

“Green Building – So What’s It Worth?” – Tuesday, Nov. 27. Networking begins at 6:30; program 7 – 9 p.m.
Sponsors: Sarasota Green Realtors Alliance, U.S. Green Building Council
Location: Sarasota Association of Realtors (SAR) Auditorium, 3590 S. Tuttle Ave., Sarasota, FL 34239
The What: A presentation on how to assign value ($$) to green features in homes. This includes six elements worth knowing, pending legislation that will affect green, and how to estimate the dollars of green features in a house or condo.
What You’ll Learn: If you need a fast track to understanding the value of green, realtors are a good bet because they need to know them in making the sale.
Details: $10 (or $5 for members of SAR, USGBC, Home Builders Association of Manatee-Sarasota and students). Click here to register.

Dan Duncan, faculty member of the ABCD Institute at Northwestern University, will be one of the presenters at this seminar.

Asset-Based Community Development – Monday, Dec. 14, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Sponsors: Asset-Based Community Development Institute
Location: ArtCenter Sarasota, 707 North Tamiami Trl., Sarasota, FL 34236
The What: This is a BIG DEAL. Asset-Based Community Development is one of the elements of visioning—and frankly, most of the decisions in this community are driven by problems, not by building on the assets and strengths that we have.
What You’ll Learn: What ABCD is, how it is used in other communities to mobilize people and institutions, how to build the stakeholder map, and how to deploy technology and tools to identify assets.
Details: The cost for this one-day workshop is $99 with an “early bird discount” of $79 if you register by Nov. 15. To register, click here.

No --- this will do just fine. Photo by Paul Wick.

We’re taking a leap here and assuming TWIS readers are behind rebuilding cities. But just in case, raise your hand if you think we need to go tear up more cow fields to build McMansions over water supplies. Thought so.

Both Manatee and Sarasota Counties are climbing out of the foreclosure pit enough to think about the future. Several news organizations are covering this one, and the local pols seem to be saying the right thing, even though the state basically gutted growth management last year.

But here in Sarasota, growth management does not equal more redevelopment. It equals nothing. Several groups (Google “growth Sarasota”) want to be the guardians of controlling rampant growth. In doing so, it seems like they not only fight sprawl, but redevelopment as well. They fight everything.

A couple of points:

1. You can’t be against sprawl and be against redevelopment at the same time.
    
2. One of the tools no-growthers rely on is something called traffic concurrency. We looked up “traffic concurrency Florida” and found a curious paper called “Rethinking the Florida Transportation Concurrency Mandate.” Since we are lazy, we went straight to the end, and there’s a sentence that says “achieving this objective (avoiding congestion) is possible only by allowing low density development in the midst of large arterial roadways and substantial freeway networks.” WTF?  The no-growthers are pushing policies that backfire.
    
3.  Concurrency basically says build more roads as growth comes in, but that can’t happen in cities. The whole concurrency thing is a ruse to stop development. Yes, we need to make sure roads, parking and such is in order, but plenty of cities have added plenty of redevelopment and lived to see people moving about nicely. They usually do it by coordinating land and transportation planning, something concurrency doesn’t let you do and something the no-growth crowd is fighting. They not only fight the problem, they fight the solution.
    
4. No-growthers also have this thing about new growth paying its own way. So those of us who are newcomers are “the problem.” But look around: All those bursting pipes and beach closings show that old growth actually never paid its way.
    
5. Finally — and we can’t say this enough — the market is craving more work and living space closer to where there is a “there,” like downtowns. Folks with high SRiQ scores actually like to walk, enjoy the fact that transit is there for us, and don’t think that taller buildings send out toxic killer plumes. We like the things no-growthers fight because they are part of great places and a better deal for taxpayers, and it’s about time we said so. Loudly.

Sure, there can be rotten redevelopment just as there is bad sprawl. However, with the growth rules lifted, that means that opposition to redevelopment will send demand to where it is easy to build. It’s called sprawl.

We are fired up on this one just like TWIS is fired up about the noise ordinance and how people are treated downtown. We are fired up about how to make a great city. In four sentences or so, what would you tell the city about planning for the future?