Summary of First Florida CNU Statewide Meeting

The first Florida CNU Statewide Meeting was held on 12-14 January at Rollins College in Winter Park. Both the campus and the town provided an exquisite venue for the Meeting, which looked to present a model of how to incorporate the CNU ideals with practice. Over 200 people registered for all or part of the program.

The first day was devoted to New Urbanism 101, a primer on planning and design practices. The seminar attracted 84 people to the Annie Russell Theater at Rollins, where they saw five well-known Florida new urbanists highlight key elements of their practices. That evening, these presenters plus additional panelists reviewed and critiqued the City of Winter Park’s plans to densify its downtown and expand century-old Central Park. This session was taped for Orange TV (Greater Orlando's public access station) and the Orlando Sentinel printed an article about the session in its Sunday edition.

Thursday’s daytime sessions were devoted to the work and relevance of John Nolen, seen by many as the father of modern town planning, and a key figure in the early development of Florida. Professor Emily Talen from the University of Illinois discussed the origins of modern planning in America, highlighting four distinct strains that inform the design of our communities, and showed how Nolen’s work fit within this historical context. Professor Bruce Stephenson from Rollins College presented an overview of the work of John Nolen within the state of Florida, including current and historic images of plans and communities. Tom Low, AIA, a practicing architect and town planner from Charlotte NC, ended with an engaging discussion of how ideas and concept from Nolen’s work directly inform current planning and urban design approaches.

These presentations and discussions prefigure the release of a new book, John Nolen in Florida to be published this Spring by CNU Florida and the New Urban Press.

That evening, the Florida Chapter of CNU awarded the first John Nolen Medal to the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council, for their long-term contribution to improving the quality of urbanism in the State of Florida. The summation of the evening was a 90-minute presentation by Professor Vincent Scully, one of the world’s foremost historians of architecture and urbanism. Professor Scully’s oration traced the antecedents of today’s New Urbanism to the practices of 18th century colonial settlers. He demonstrated the linkages between the colonial town of New Haven and the much-heralded modern project of Seaside FL. While establishing the position of the New Urbanism as the inheritors of America’s urban heritage, Professor Scully ended his lecture by encouraging new urban practitioners to find a place and role for contemporary architecture within their efforts. Avant garde architecture, he told his standing-room audience of over 300 rapt listeners, is also a crucial element of American urban tradition, and one that helps enliven and invigorate our cities and communities. The Orlando Sentinel is running a biographical feature on Scully.

The second day of the Meeting was devoted to case studies and practice. Don Martin, planning director for Winter Park, reviewed the tremendous strides that his community has made in the last decade. Recognizing the critical role of precedent and history, Winter Park residents have learned to appreciate and build on the city’s traditional design pattern. Developer David Pace completed the morning with a presentation revealing the decommissioning of the Orlando Naval Training Center and the construction of the Traditional Neighborhood Development of Baldwin Park. Pace began his presentation by inviting the audience to question and challenge both his presentation and the practice of developing Baldwin Park, and highlighted both the successes and the challenges of creating such a place. Both Winter Park and Baldwin Park were featured in afternoon walking tours.

The Meeting ended with a presentation by Tim Jackson, outgoing president of 1000 Friends of Florida, on the “Future of New Urbanism in Florida,” in which he counseled the audience to focus not only on helping urbanize the state’s communities, but to also create effective policies for promoting strong rural environments as well. Florida, he suggested, needs a balance between the urban and the rural, between built places and un-built natural environments. Jackson was later joined by Professor David Brain of New College, and Juan Mullerat, a graduate student at the University of Miami, for a 45-minute open forum on these issues.

Conference participants also received a special handout – a CD containing material collected for the second edition of the Guidebook to New Urbanism in Florida. The information on the CD reveals a rich depth and breadth of New Urbanist plans and projects produced throughout the state. You can order a copy of the CD online. The second edition of the full guidebook will be available in the late spring.

The Meeting was received very positively by the attendees, who viewed it as an opportunity to learn more about issues critical to New Urbanism within the State of Florida, and to meet and network with others. Meeting organizers were delighted with the turnout and lively nature of the three-day event, and have already announced plans to hold the second Statewide Meeting, again at Rollins College, on Wednesday – Friday 11-13 January 2006.