CNU Tampa Bay Region
The following is a summary of the most recent CNU Tampa Bay Regional
Meeting, held on Wednesday, 21 April 2004. Additional information
on this local chapter will be posted shortly.
West Park Village Meeting
Twenty Six People attended this meeting, which began at 4:30 PM with
a walking tour and critique of West Park Village, led by Ray Chiaramonte.
West Park Village is currently the Tampa Bay area’s largest
and most complete TND. Even on a weekday evening there was a large
amount of activity within the village center and adjacent neighborhoods.
Andres was in town for a charrette in south Hillsborough County,
and he joined the group in the middle of the walking tour and contributed
immensely to the subsequent discussion.
From 6:00 – 7:00 PM, the group met in Belissimo, the Italian
restaurant in the village center. James Moore presented an overview
of the FL CNU efforts to-date, including a summary of the kick-off
meeting in Orlando, the upcoming Salon at CNU XII in Chicago, and
the preliminary plans for the statewide meeting in Winter Park in
January 2005.
Much of the group discussion focused on local and state-wide needs,
and the roles that FL CNU could play. Specific topics and discussion
points included:
- The need to create some sort of outreach program for elected and
appointed officials and even public sector staff. It’s frustrating
to have to constantly repeat basic concepts and principles. Potential
approaches include short courses on NU principles; CDs or DVDs;
invited speakers; etc.
- The point was made that many planners do not have a background
in physical design and often are not well equipped to address such
issues; any assistance we could help provide to overcome this would
be well received.
- We might look to compile examples of design for them to reference;
labeling these examples as “good,” “better” and “best,” with
some explanation of what contributes to these qualities.
- We might think about ways of enhancing basic graphic skills for
non-design professionals, including regulators so that they feel
comfortable dealing with developers, architects and landscape architects.
- The point was made that it is difficult for many officials to
differentiate between “true” NU design and “pseudo” NU
designs that incorporate a few features of New Urbanism but are
not tied to the fundamentals. This is a particularly frustrating
situation inasmuch as viewers and critics either get a wrong impression
of what is entailed by good design, or they unjustly criticize all
of New Urbanism because of bad examples.
- It was pointed out that we should not underestimate the value
and the power of individual citizens, many of whom are essentially
self-taught about New Urbanism. An individual citizen in front of
a commission or council can have much more impact on a project than
a roomful of professionals. We need to know how to reach out to
citizens as well as professionals.
- Other points that were brought up included the importance of state
and regional organizations as opposed to national ones. Often, a
statewide conference will be much more valuable to local and regional
attendees in terms of lessons learned and contacts made than an
annual national conference. Our challenge is to make the regional
and statewide FL CNU events relevant and accessible.
- Andres pointed out that it is in the nature of the CNU to be inclusionary.
Everyone is a colleague, there is a lot of work to be done, and
it’s important that we support and reinforce each other.
- Additional topics included the importance of in-depth case studies
of good projects; compiling and overseeing these might be a key
role of the state chapter.
- Lobbying, in any official sense, was not seen as an important
activity for the chapter. It was pointed out that ULI distinctly
states that it does not lobby. Rather, its goals include research,
education and outreach, and that these should be key missions for
the state CNU chapter as well.
I think everyone who attended found it a useful and informative session.
Special thanks to Ray for providing the venue and leading the tour.
Special thanks to Andres for coming by to meet with the group.
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West Park Village
Event Photos
(click to view)
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