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.

The noise ordinance, homelessness and now mobility — we need your turnout on Thursday, Nov. 1 at one of two 90-minute sessions (one at 4 p.m. and the other at 6) held at City Hall. The Mobility Study (see the flyer here) is more than a transportation plan. Done well, it will be the support framework for a creative city. Before we get to details, it’s good to think big picture. Here is our short list of the principal ideas to drive the effort (so to speak): • Develop different [...]

David Byrne knows how to make muti-modal transportation sexy. The Talking Heads frontman is an avid bicyclist and (who knew?) bike rack designer in New York City. With support from many others, such as Mayor Mike Bloomberg , NYC is transforming the city by elevating the role of feet, bikes and transit. Like NYC, the city of Sarasota has a plan for mutiple modes of transportation, which was the subject of the June 13 Planning Board meeting. You want less traffic and more fun getting around? This is where you [...]

It’s tough getting readers up-to-speed on urban design — but luckily Walmart, urbanism’s favorite whipping boy, provides a decent crash course right here in Sarasota. Walmart is going to plop down two stores within our urban fabric: a smaller “neighborhood” store at the corner of Myrtle and US-41 on the North Trail and a “small Supercenter” at Ringling and Lime on the edge of downtown. It was not supposed to be this way. These two areas were supposed to be higher-density, mixed-use places close to downtown where the decisions to drive, [...]