MICD Miami Session Addresses Issues of Community Revitalization
MIAMI — The Mayors’ Institute on City Design held a special session on community revitalization in Miami on February 21-23. Hosted by Miami Mayor Mayor Manuel Diaz and in partnership with Bank of America, the event was attended by Baltimore Mayor Martin O’Malley, Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, Charlotte Mayor Patrick McCrory, Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley and St. Petersburg Mayor Richard Baker. Each of the mayors presented a challenge faced by his city in redeveloping a neighborhood. Following the presentation experts in architecture, urban planning and housing policy joined the mayors in a discussion, offering advice on everything from urban design and traffic considerations to community centers and plans for implementation.
The event began with a reception and dinner sponsored by Bank of America in Miami. National Endowment for the Arts Director of Design Jeff Speck, American Architectural Foundation President and CEO Ron Bogle, Bank of America Community Development Corporation President Jim Grauley, and United States Conference of Mayors Executive Director Tom Cochran all gave opening remarks. In his opening comments, Cochran reflected, “We’re incredibly proud of the Mayors’ Institute. This program gives mayors the valuable opportunity to reflect on their cities and to make decisions that will impact their futures for many years to come.” Mayor Diaz concluded the evening by giving remarks about the ongoing revitalization of downtown Miami.
Mayor McCrory opened the session with a presentation on the Eastland Area of his city. Plagued by a dying mall, commercial corridors without adequate pedestrian access, and a lack of comprehensive transit, the area is not currently seeing the boom in economic investment that the rest of the city is enjoying.
Mayor Daley presented the “Little Village” neighborhood of south Chicago – a neighborhood that has enjoyed considerable success as a commercial destination for Hispanics residing in the Midwest. The concerns that he brought to the Institute were that the neighborhood has very little park space, an under utilized industrial site, and a new school that lacks adequate connection to the neighborhood.
The City of Baltimore is looking to capitalize on the recent development of the University of Maryland Bio Park near the Poppleton Area, which is just west of downtown. Mayor O’Malley presented an ongoing initiative to plan and redevelop a section of the neighborhood into a coherent community. This area would consist of market-rate housing, commercial development, affordable housing, and neighborhood services with ties to a proposed transit line.
Mayor O’Malley commented, “The Mayor’s Institute provided me the unique opportunity to discuss some of Baltimore’s urban redevelopment plans with some of the best minds in the country and to get their honest feedback. I really enjoyed my discussion with some of the best mayors in America who shared their own vision for their cities. I don’t get to do this very often, but the Design Institute allowed me this great experience.”
Following the success of its Midtown revitalization, the City of St. Petersburg has turned its attention to the Childs Park area of the city. Mayor Baker rendered a portrait of the neighborhood plagued by crime and consisting of a high concentration of youth. Primarily residential, the neighborhood lacks sustained commercial development and community services.
Mayor Menino discussed the Dudley Square neighborhood of Boston. A large bus terminal is currently the center of activity in the neighborhood, and the Mayor is looking to develop surrounding sites to create a more vital center and to provide services for those living in the neighborhood.
Mayor Menino reflected, “I came here with a variety of ideas already in my mind – now, I’ll go back to my staff in Boston and let them know I’ve got new ways of thinking about this project. [The MICD] opened my eyes to a lot of possibilities on this site.”
Joining the mayors at this special session were resource team members: Paul Brophy, Founder of Brophy & Reilly LLC; Don Carter, President of Urban Design Associates; Fernando Costa, Planning Director for the City of Fort Worth; Julie Eizenberg, founding partner of Koning Eizenberg Architecture; James Grauley, President of Bank of America’s Community Development Corporation; Ann Sewill, Vice President and California Director for the Enterprise Foundation; and Audrey Singer, Immigration Fellow at the Brookings Institution.
The session was the first of two to be sponsored by Bank of America this spring. The next session, “Great Neighborhoods for Working Families” will examine how mayors can positively affect the social well-being and economic vitality of their cities and will be held in San Francisco June 28-29, 2006.
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