As one of the few remaining subscribers to the Orlando Sentinel, I am always amused at some of the commentary issued by Mike Thomas on the area's development patterns (http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orl-mike-thomas-new-urbanism-102909,0,5070693,full.column). And, as a resident of Avalon Park, I seem to be squarely in the cross hairs of Mr. Thomas' ire toward development in the "hinterlands" of Orange County (funny how the "hinterlands" is fifteen minutes from the nation's third largest university, fifteen minutes from the nation's seventh-largest research park, fifteen minutes from the nation's tenth largest airport - at least when Alafaya Trail finally punches through next year - and twenty minutes from downtown Orlando; where I grew up (Fairfax, VA) that's inside the Beltway!). Apparently, Mr. Thomas believes that we are destroying the fabric of central Florida by willy-nilly locating development at the fringes, and he points to Avalon Park as the poster child of growth gone wild.
I'll be the first one to say that we've historically done a very poor job of managing growth in the region. However, Mr. Thomas has himself chosen a very poor example of invoking this mis-management in Avalon Park. What Mr. Thomas fails to understand, and which leads me to conclude that he does not understand what is happening in today's unfolding creative economy, is that proper economic development requires the constant creation of attractive places with available (and appropriate) housing that are globally connected, supported by a strong educational and healthcare system, with access to recreational facilities and respecting the natural environment in which they are located. Finally, they must be of a collaborative scale, with the ability to house multiple forms of transit linked to nearby job centers (Mr. Thomas somehow believes that your job must be located with sight of your front door - not likely).
Given those requirements, I will put Avalon Park up against any community in Florida. Does it have problems? Sure - much of the transportation network has yet to be built (see: Alafaya Trail) but the point is that the community has been designed in such a way that it can facilitate that network when it appears. But, on the whole, the conditions exist that make Avalon Park a great place to live, to work, to play, and to study. Maybe Mr. Thomas is threatened by the existence of such a place, as every community (whether here in central Florida or in Walla Walla, Washington) must ask itself how it plans to attract the talented people necessary to compete in today's global economy.
And that is the point - sprawl can no longer be defined as development on some kind of mythical urban edge. Rather, sprawl is the placement of development in poor proximity to major economic centers (either existing, like the Central Florida Research Park, or under development, like Lake Nona). Once we understand this distinction, Mr. Thomas' arguments seem archaic, and that's one trait this community can't afford to be labeled with.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Convention Center vs. Arts & Environment
Today's Orlando Sentinel brought word that Orange County is planning to spend an additional $50 million to support its convention center (http://www.orlandosentinel.com/orl-orange-county-convention-center-funding-102709,0,2590649.column) while drastically trimming its spending on the arts (http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_politics/2009/10/orange-leaders-new-favorite-whipping-boy-the-arts.html) and preserving the County's sensitive natural lands (http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orange/orl-green-place-budget-102809,0,2086962.story). Since politics can be defined as the allocation of scarce resources (how about "extremely scarce" in these troubled times?), it seems like there is a stark contrast between continuing to rely on attracting visitors to the area versus creating conditions that attract talented people to settle here permanently in the pursuit of their careers. What do you think?
Monday, October 26, 2009
The Times, They Are A-Changin'
"Seasons change and so do I - you need not wonder why..." - The Guess Who
Actually, we do need to wonder why - why is it that this is not your grandfather's (or possibly even your father's or second-cousin-once-removed's) Orlando? For, in order to understand where we are heading, we have to understand where we have been. We've been blessed with unbelievable growth that brought decades of prosperity to our region, transforming our once-sleepy agricultural town into a household name worldwide. Along the way, we built theme parks, accumulated people, constructed a bunch of roads, and dotted the area with schools. We invited people in to our state by flaunting our low taxes and comparatively low cost of living, making room for those northern refugees by madly constructing homes at the edges of our cities. Each year, we madly financed growth by encouraging more growth - times were good, people were happy (well, except those unfortunate souls who had to travel on overcrowded roads - shout out to my friends on Alafaya Trail - or attend overburdened schools), and Orlando was flying high as a beacon of the New South.
And then...the music stopped. Seasons changed. Our number one industry took a nosedive - oh, tourism has dipped, but I'm talking about construction. Our "ponzi scheme" ecomony (as described by my favorite resident Orlando economist, UCF's Dr. Sean Snaith) collapsed upon itself. In hindsight, we probably shouldn't have been surprised. After all, a city can only live on the promise of growth so long before it must tangibly contribute to the global economy.
Fortunately, we are starting to build some of those tangible industries that can serve as a sustainable base for future economic growth - industries like modeling, simulation & training (MS&T), digital media, biotechnology, and cleantech. Combined with our formidable tourism industry (and leveraging that industry's creative talent), Orlando has the ability to rise from the catastrophic crash of its old growth-on-growth economy and thrive in a new globally-connected economy. This rebirth will feel different, though, and will force us to think and act in a much different manner than before, particularly with respect to the types of people we need to attract to the area (hint: retirees generally do not flock to digital media clusters) and the types of amenities we need to provide (another hint: schools, and the funding thereof, are pretty important).
And so, the times, they are a-changin. But nobody ever said building an innovation-based economy would be easy.
Actually, we do need to wonder why - why is it that this is not your grandfather's (or possibly even your father's or second-cousin-once-removed's) Orlando? For, in order to understand where we are heading, we have to understand where we have been. We've been blessed with unbelievable growth that brought decades of prosperity to our region, transforming our once-sleepy agricultural town into a household name worldwide. Along the way, we built theme parks, accumulated people, constructed a bunch of roads, and dotted the area with schools. We invited people in to our state by flaunting our low taxes and comparatively low cost of living, making room for those northern refugees by madly constructing homes at the edges of our cities. Each year, we madly financed growth by encouraging more growth - times were good, people were happy (well, except those unfortunate souls who had to travel on overcrowded roads - shout out to my friends on Alafaya Trail - or attend overburdened schools), and Orlando was flying high as a beacon of the New South.
And then...the music stopped. Seasons changed. Our number one industry took a nosedive - oh, tourism has dipped, but I'm talking about construction. Our "ponzi scheme" ecomony (as described by my favorite resident Orlando economist, UCF's Dr. Sean Snaith) collapsed upon itself. In hindsight, we probably shouldn't have been surprised. After all, a city can only live on the promise of growth so long before it must tangibly contribute to the global economy.
Fortunately, we are starting to build some of those tangible industries that can serve as a sustainable base for future economic growth - industries like modeling, simulation & training (MS&T), digital media, biotechnology, and cleantech. Combined with our formidable tourism industry (and leveraging that industry's creative talent), Orlando has the ability to rise from the catastrophic crash of its old growth-on-growth economy and thrive in a new globally-connected economy. This rebirth will feel different, though, and will force us to think and act in a much different manner than before, particularly with respect to the types of people we need to attract to the area (hint: retirees generally do not flock to digital media clusters) and the types of amenities we need to provide (another hint: schools, and the funding thereof, are pretty important).
And so, the times, they are a-changin. But nobody ever said building an innovation-based economy would be easy.
Friday, October 23, 2009
Excuse Me, Orlando - You've Got Potential!
Hello Orlando! Well, I've been wanting to have this conversation with you for a long time and there's lots to talk about, but let's start slow and see where we go. Like you, I love this place - my neighborhood, my friends, my visits to the theme parks and beaches, my basking in the brilliant sunshine all contribute to this feeling. So, like you, I desparately want Orlando (and when I say "Orlando", I mean the entire metropolitan area) to realize its potential, not just as the world's foremost tourist destination, but also as an innovative community home to some of the most dynamic industries in the world; industries like modeling and simulation technology, digital media, biotechnology and life sciences, and cleantech. And, hey, being home to the nation's third-largest university, seventh-largest research park, and tenth-busiest airport doesn't hurt our chances.
For all of our promise and potential, though, it seems to me that we've still got a ways to go. For one, we've got serious transportation challenges, a legacy of four decades of almost unbridled growth. Until very recently, we've had trouble building enough schools for our children, and we still face significant ongoing funding problems in our classrooms. And, the flipside of living in a tropical paradise is that you have to be very cognizant of the environmental jewels in your midst, some of which we tarnished beyond recognition but much of which remains in danger of devaluation (not to mention the small problem of our dwindling water supply). All of which makes this a critical point in the history of Orlando - moving toward our potential while overcoming the present challenges in our midst.
Okay, Orlando, let me stop here and see if we're on the same page. Do you feel like I do (apologies to Peter Frampton)? I'd like to talk this through - to see if we can come to some common understandings about who we can be as a community, what we can accomplish, how we can get there, and what kinds of decisions we need to make. I'm suggesting that during this exercise we can understand the secrets to realizing a truly innovative Orlando community, creating great places and attracting talented people in the process. What do you say, Orlando - can we talk about your potential?
For all of our promise and potential, though, it seems to me that we've still got a ways to go. For one, we've got serious transportation challenges, a legacy of four decades of almost unbridled growth. Until very recently, we've had trouble building enough schools for our children, and we still face significant ongoing funding problems in our classrooms. And, the flipside of living in a tropical paradise is that you have to be very cognizant of the environmental jewels in your midst, some of which we tarnished beyond recognition but much of which remains in danger of devaluation (not to mention the small problem of our dwindling water supply). All of which makes this a critical point in the history of Orlando - moving toward our potential while overcoming the present challenges in our midst.
Okay, Orlando, let me stop here and see if we're on the same page. Do you feel like I do (apologies to Peter Frampton)? I'd like to talk this through - to see if we can come to some common understandings about who we can be as a community, what we can accomplish, how we can get there, and what kinds of decisions we need to make. I'm suggesting that during this exercise we can understand the secrets to realizing a truly innovative Orlando community, creating great places and attracting talented people in the process. What do you say, Orlando - can we talk about your potential?
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