16 September, 2024 4 4 Comments

Vision + Aspiration=Change

September 16, 2024 By 4 Comments

West Palm Beach

I took a tour of an apartment building in downtown West Palm Beach recently.

That may not sound too exciting, but it was.

From the top floor we had a beautiful panoramic view of the downtown. My guide was excitedly describing what was happening below. I was swept away by his enthusiasm.

To the north he noted the site of a proposed Vanderbilt University campus, a $300 million vision that includes training the next generation of tech engineers and business leaders.

To the east, he noted the presence of Palm Beach Atlantic University which has an ambitious plan to maximize the potential of its urban campus.

We saw several sites purchased by Stephen Ross, the visionary chair of Related Companies who’s leading the charge on Vanderbilt, investing in gleaming new office towers and building new residential projects on sites that are currently blighted with boarded up homes.

Ross is a real estate legend.

And at 83, he’s chosen West Palm Beach as the place to cement his legacy. He’s making a bet that West Palm will become the city in a region that’s already booming.

According to Bloomberg, Ross’ Related Cos. owns almost half the office stock in West Palm Beach’s downtown and he’s building more.

But the vision doesn’t stop at offices, hotels and residential towers. Ross has also signaled that he’s going to be a player in everything from schools to health care. He has stated that he hopes to make West Palm Beach “a model city for the country.”

It’s heady stuff.

But we’ve seen examples of this before.

On the west coast, Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik is playing a major role in the growth of Tampa. We saw the vision of Wayne Huizenga shape Fort Lauderdale and Broward County. We are also witnessing the impact of entrepreneurs like Jorge Perez and Manny Medina in Miami. Their efforts have forever changed the trajectory of “the Magic City.”

So, what does this mean for those of us who call southern Palm Beach County home?

Well, certainly a rising tide lifts all boats so there will be benefits to the maturation of West Palm Beach.

But like any “renaissance” there will be winners and losers.

As noted before in this space, building and maintaining economies and cities is a complex endeavor with lots of moving parts. It’s part art and part science. There’s also a need for serendipity, which is always welcome, but can’t be counted on or plugged into a spreadsheet.

Never underestimate the magic. It may or may not visit, but it tends to be fleeting so you need to take be ready and take advantage of it when it arrives.

Still, there are also lots of unintended consequences when cities transform—some are happy, and some are not.

When catalytic entrepreneurs with vision, guts, capital and smarts show up and decide to make a splash there’s sure to be a ripple effect.

We will most likely see job creation.

Hopefully, we will see increased philanthropy.

We will benefit in a myriad of ways from the newcomers who will be attracted to all the excitement.

For those of us already here, we may see and seize opportunities. But others will be left behind. And we need to be aware of the communities at risk.

Hopefully, these mavericks and those who follow in their wake will be creating a community in which our children will sense opportunity and want to come home after going away to college. I never felt it made any sense to spend billions on pre-K through university level education only to see our best and brightest leave because they don’t see opportunity here at home.

But there are downsides as well to transformational change.

We will need to be mindful of the environment and ensure that as we urbanize, we make sure to preserve open space. (Hey governor, leave the parks alone).

It’s good to see growth happening in the urban core of West Palm. It beats sprawl, which is bad for the environment and creates traffic.

We already struggle—mightily–with affordability. And as the county attracts investment above and beyond what Mr. Ross is doing, we are likely to see even more upward pressure on housing prices.

There will be a need to preserve neighborhoods from the threat of displacement and we must find a way to house our workforce. If your essential workers can’t afford to live here, you don’t have a community, you have a theme park for rich people. (I think I saw that phrase somewhere and  I agree with it.)

As a proud resident of Southern Palm Beach County, I applaud West Palm’s transformation. I’m rooting for that city and it’s Mayor Keith James. He’s a good guy.

But I also hope and expect that our neck of the woods will find its own path forward. We certainly have unlimited potential.

Boca Raton has a robust economic development program, a business-friendly City Council, an extraordinary Chamber of Commerce, an excellent research park, top tier office product, one of the best malls in the nation, FAU, Lynn University, Palm Beach State College, a world class resort, an airport and a Brightline station.

Boca is also pondering a new downtown government campus that could reinvigorate the area. Some council members are talking about the redevelopment of the campus as a billion dollar plus project. Then there’s the continued development of The Center for the Arts & Innovation at Mizner Park, an ambitious effort that has enormous upside potential. In addition, Boca is experiencing a residential housing boom with several multifamily projects working their way through the approval process.

As for Delray, when I think about the future my mind goes back to the city’s Cultural Plan which was done about 20 years ago.

In that plan, the consultant noted that Delray needed to find its place in the cultural landscape. It was recommended that the city not compete with West Palm’s Kravis Center or the Broward Center for the Performing Arts but rather carve its own niche by offering unique and intimate cultural opportunities. The larger point is you need to find your  positioning in the marketplace based on local sensibilities (and sensitivities, i.e. no tall buildings), what’s possible and perhaps what’s missing.

With West Palm and Palm Beach Gardens anchoring the northern part of the county and Boca off to the races, where does Delray fit in?

That’s the challenge and the opportunity. I do know that the best way to determine the path forward is to engage the community in a visioning process. It’s been a while since we’ve had one.

I also know that if you fail to plan, you plan to fail. You can’t control the market, but you can shape your own destiny.

Thoughts…

Do you ever scroll social media when you are on a boring call?

I admit that I do, sometimes anyway.

That’s what I was doing last week when I came across a post from a former teacher of mine who announced that he had just lost his wife hours earlier to Alzheimer’s.

This was not just any teacher; this was my favorite teacher. I had him in 4th grade and incredibly we are still in touch although I haven’t seen him in person since 1973.

Back then, he was a young teacher just starting out. He left an impression on all of us. He stayed in touch with many of my classmates and a whole lot of other students he impacted during a career that saw him scale great heights as a principal and administrator.

I enjoy following his adventures on social media. Trips to great locations, ski vacations and family celebrations always with his beautiful wife alongside him.

Even though I never met her, I did feel I kind of knew her. She must have been awesome because my friend is very special.

I knew they met as teenagers. He went to her Sweet 16 and their first date was a Billy Joel show back when he was playing Long Island bars and bowling alleys. My friend’s wife went to school with Billy.

Over the years, we tried and failed to get together during my infrequent trips home to Long Island. It just never worked out. That saddens me, because I would really love to be in the same room with this special teacher and learn even more about his life. I can’t pinpoint the exact lessons he imparted when I was a kid, all I know is I learned a lot and had a good time.

It was around 4th grade that I fell in love with writing. I’m sure my teacher encouraged me, that’s what great teachers do.

I didn’t know my friend’s wife had Alzheimer’s. What an awful disease, you end up losing people twice. My heart aches for him and all those struggling with this disease.

 

Remembering Johnny Pun

Johnny Pun

Also on social media, I saw this post from the Delray Beach Police Department honoring Officer Johnny Pun on the 19th anniversary of his death. Johnny was a friend of mine. During my newspaper days, I rode with him many times on midnight warrant sweeps etc.

Johnny had an infectious smile, an expansive view of what a police officer can mean to a community and was a lot of fun to be around. Here’s what our PD said. It’s a beautiful tribute.

Honoring the Memory of Officer Jean “Johnny” Pun

This week, we take a moment to honor and remember a true hero, Officer Jean “Johnny” Pun, who tragically passed away on September 10, 2005, in an off-duty motor vehicle accident. Officer Pun was more than just a colleague; he was a cherished friend, a source of strength, and a leader within our community.

Officer Pun made an incredible impact in Delray Beach, especially in fostering connections between law enforcement and the city’s Haitian population and youth. His dedication to community policing and building trust with residents set him apart, creating a lasting bond that continues to inspire us today.

Officer “Johnny” Pun’s legacy is one of unity, love, and compassion—values that continue to guide us in serving this great community. We will forever carry his memory in our hearts.

9/11/

From Morning Brew: “Last week, New York officials revealed a sobering statistic: For the first time, more FDNY first responders have died from their exposure to toxins at Ground Zero (370) than were killed on the day of the attacks (343), including 28 in the past year. Union leaders are imploring Congress to extend funding for the World Trade Center Health Program, which runs out in 2028, through 2090, to ensure that every survivor can receive care.

The FDNY said urgency is needed before 9/11 fades from people’s memories: It soon plans to hire people born after Sept. 11, 2001.”

We must never forget.

And I don’t think we will.

On Sept. 11 I was at a meeting at FAU’s Schmidt College of Medicine. Before we began our meeting, one of the participants asked us to pause to think about those we lost on that fateful day. He asked whether we knew anyone personally who perished in the attack. Three of the four meeting participants said they did lose someone they knew. I guess they call that “Six Degrees of Separation”.

We lost 3,000 plus people and yet our small group had personal connections. Very powerful indeed.

Michael Boyle, NYFD, your classmates will always remember you.

 

 

 

26 June, 2017 0 Comments

An Evening @ Bourbon Sprawl

June 26, 2017 By Leave a Comment

Note: Last week, I had the opportunity to speak to a wonderful group of urban planners, activists, bloggers, architects and redevelopment advocates at an event known as Bourbon Sprawl on Clematis Street in West Palm Beach. It’s a great group and I thought I’d share some of my presentation from that evening. It was followed by great conversation.

Like Tip O’Neill— I’m a firm believer that all politics are local…and like many Americans —both Democrats and Republicans—I believe that Washington D.C. is broken…unable to solve problems, unwilling to collaborate, unable to compromise and challenged to seize opportunities.

So if we are going to solve problems—whether inequality, climate change or race relations—we are going to have to do so on the local level.

If we are going to have successful communities we have to get our cities right…and in order to get our cities right we need to attract the best and brightest to public service—both on a staff level, a volunteer level and as elected officials.

If we can do this—there is no doubt in my mind that our cities, towns and villages will succeed. But if we don’t—there is simply no way our communities will thrive.

I’m sure of this…because I have experienced it in Delray Beach where I have lived for 30 years and I have seen what switched on leadership can do in cities large and small in a variety of geographies…unfortunately, I have also seen what corrosive “leadership” can undo or prevent and it’s not pretty.

The challenges and opportunities facing our communities today are complex….they require serious thinking by serious people. And I often wonder if our “system” is designed to attract the polar opposite personalities…

I have seen what wins local, state and national elections—and it’s a combination of fear and blame. We are told what to be afraid of and we blame our opponents for causing the problems. But we never seem to get around to solutions…we never talk about collaboration, compromise or the need to marshal our resources to either make things happen or to begin to solve problems that threaten our future…

We are here the day after the most expensive House election in American history….$50 million spent—mostly on negative advertising—to elect a single representative— who regardless of who won—would most likely have a negligible effect on the issues facing our nation….the content of that spending will be forgotten in a few days and then the fundraising begins again….an endless cycle. Can you imagine what $50 million could do in your community…if it was invested in start-ups, non-profits, placemaking, research, science and education? Do you think the impact would be greater than $50 million spent on attack ads?

We seem to be caught in an endless spiral toward the bottom…and we have created an atmosphere in which serious people avoid the public square, walk away from public service and in many cases fail to exercise the basic pillar of our Democracy…the right to vote.

There was a time when small towns might have been somewhat immune to this disease… I’ll tell you about my own story in Delray Beach…the basis for my book, Adventures in Local Politics… I saw what good leadership can do…

I moved to Delray Beach in 1987….and the physical gifts our city has, have not changed in those 30 years.

There’s a grid system, good ‘bones’ as planners like to say, a glorious beach and good geography since we have proximity to several regional powerhouses—West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale and our next door neighbor Boca Raton.

But Delray was a very different place in the 80s than it is today…I can describe to you the blight, the vacant storefronts, the crime, the drugs and the disinvestment…but instead I will quote one of my best friends a restaurateur who was an early pioneer in Delray….”this town was circling the bowl, before it was saved.”

A colorful quote…vivid, descriptive and accurate. Three words: circling the bowl.. says it all.

So when you do a SWOT analysis of Delray and examine its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats you’ll find that alongside some incredible strengths and opportunities are some daunting weaknesses and threats….schools that struggle, deep generational poverty, racial division, a lack of high paying jobs, a lack of a diverse housing stock, a proliferation of sober homes –many run by irresponsible and exploitive operators, poor citizen participation as measured by a lack of civic engagement and poor voter turnout…

And yet….tremendous value was created….we have a dynamic and vibrant downtown, our tax base is growing faster than most of our neighbors, blighted neighborhoods have seen improvements, crime rates —while still troublesome— were improved, culture and art have taken root and we have seen an improvement in race relations since the 80s, particularly between the Police Department and our minority communities.

This did not happen by accident…or by policies pushed by our county government, our friends in Tallahassee or our representatives in Washington.

It happened through visioning, collaboration, solid execution of citizen driven plans, the adoption of new urbanist principles, and a business friendly government that was focused more on outcomes than process. It happened because of leadership: among staff, elected officials, business leaders and volunteers….

And so I suspect that the rest of our nation’s cities have this opportunity to transform…or to be left behind….it all hinges on leadership….all of it….People matter, more than anything…and we better do what we can to attract the right people to the Public Square and frankly keep the wrong people from the levers of power…

People matter….leaders who empower rather than stifle a community—make progress possible.

Because the word impossible loses all meaning if the right people show up and agree to work together….but the word impossible becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy if the wrong people show up and talented citizens sit on the sidelines or decide that the level of toxicity is too high for them to participate….

Again, my city is a case study….

Because as far as we have come….a CRA district that went from $250mm in value to over $2bn in 30 years, recognition as an All America City, the first city to win the John Nolen award recognizing our implementation of smart growth policies, Florida Trend naming us the best run town in Florida and hundreds of millions of dollars in private investment—we are far from done. And far from being bullet proof….

Every ounce of progress cities make is vulnerable to being rolled back. Every dollar spent can yield a return on investment or a loss….and the headwinds we faced 30 years ago remain headwinds today….schools that struggle, the devastation of heroin, neighborhoods on the brink as a result of bad sober home operators….crime, violence and now profound and embarrassing political dysfunction.

None of these problems are intractable—if you attract the right people to the public square.

But all of them are intractable, if you have a mindset predisposed to failure or lack of collaboration—as we see in Washington and in cities that struggle with toxic politics.

Benjamin Barber—who works at the City University of New York–wrote a book called “If Mayors Ruled the World: Dysfunctional Nations, Rising Cities”.

It’s a manifesto…passionately written and convincingly argued—that local governments are uniquely positioned to save the planet and themselves. I agree with him.

Mr. Barber builds a strong case for an informal parliament of cities, perhaps several hundred strong, which would in effect ratify a shift in power and political reality that, he argues, has already taken place. He sees modern cities as incubators for problem-solving while national governments are doomed to failure.

 

“Because they are inclined naturally to collaboration and interdependence, cities harbor hope,” Barber writes. “If mayors ruled the world,” he says, “the more than 3.5 billion people (over half the world’s population) who are urban dwellers and the many more in the exurban neighborhoods could participate locally and cooperate globally at the same time — a miracle of civic ‘glocality’ promising pragmatism instead of politics, innovation rather than ideology and solutions in place of sovereignty.”

I like the ideals espoused by Dr. Barber…but I am a realist as well.

And so the key to success is not just home rule and collaboration among cities…the key is making sure the right leaders are in the right positions to build cities that are sustainable…and that the right leaders feel supported and nurtured by caring citizens.

So we must invest in leadership, which we are not doing…we must encourage people who are courageous…and we must invest in not only the appearance of the public realm but the attractiveness of the public square..because if the public square is toxic and resembles a sewer—good people will find other ways to spend their time.

That does not mean we shun or discourage debate…but it does mean that we confront the civic bullies that all of us working in public policy are all too aware of but are reluctant to talk about….we have to make it safer—not safe—safer and more attractive for promising leaders to succeed. We have to confront the bullies that rob us of aspiration, inspiration, progress and productivity.

If we don’t….the cities that do— will thrive. And the other cities will wither and die…and there is too much at stake for us to allow that to happen…we have a responsibility to the past, the present and the future.

We should strive to preserve the best of our history, serve our stakeholders today and plan to give future generations a better future…it can be done.

It must be done….

So I will leave you with two ideas….and then I want to talk to you guys…because you are the type of leaders we need to fan out across our region to build great places…

Idea #1: Some university in our county…Lynn or FAU needs to step up and build a Public Leadership Institute…we train doctors, we train lawyers, we train puppies…we need to train public sector leaders…don’t you think that will yield ROI?

Idea #2: New Urbanism, Smart Growth, sustainable development—whatever you want to call it, needs a marketing makeover because it is just too damn easy for NIMBY’s and naysayers to derail progress. We need a political strategy that matches the intellectual underpinnings of what we know to be solid public policy. We are starting to see this with the beginning of a YIMBY movement, but we have a long way to go. If we don’t…we will lose any and all opportunities to create a sustainable future for our kids.