We’d like to point out that most cities would DIE for what we have, and we don’t just mean the weather, water and palm trees. So in this season of joy, here are some elements of our fair city worth celebrating …

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, [...]