Happy New Year

Celery Fields Mount Oct. 26, 2010

Celery Fields Mount Dec. 31, 2010

An initiative in Broward

Creative Broward 2020 is an effort to blend economic and cultural development into a 'Creative Economy Business Association,' or a 'Cultural Chamber of Commerce.'

Read about it in detail here.

Civi-physics

We know that "civics" derives from the Latin word for "city." But what is a city?

A physicist named Geoffrey West felt something key to our understanding of cities was missing:

“We spend all this time thinking about cities in terms of their local details, their restaurants and museums and weather,” West says. “I had this hunch that there was something more, that every city was also shaped by a set of hidden laws.”

West and others now aim to reduce the concrete metropolises spread across the globe to abstract equations, says the New York Times:

West and Bettencourt discovered that all of these urban variables could be described by a few exquisitely simple equations. For example, if they know the population of a metropolitan area in a given country, they can estimate, with approximately 85 percent accuracy, its average income and the dimensions of its sewer system. These are the laws, they say, that automatically emerge whenever people “agglomerate,” cramming themselves into apartment buildings and subway cars. It doesn’t matter if the place is Manhattan or Manhattan, Kan.: the urban patterns remain the same. West isn’t shy about describing the magnitude of this accomplishment. “What we found are the constants that describe every city,” he says. “I can take these laws and make precise predictions about the number of violent crimes and the surface area of roads in a city in Japan with 200,000 people. I don’t know anything about this city or even where it is or its history, but I can tell you all about it. And the reason I can do that is because every city is really the same.”

In terms of the language of Civics 101, this has implications:

It suggests, for instance, that modern cities are the real centers of sustainability. According to the data, people who live in densely populated places require less heat in the winter and need fewer miles of asphalt per capita. (A recent analysis by economists at Harvard and U.C.L.A. demonstrated that the average Manhattanite emits 14,127 fewer pounds of carbon dioxide annually than someone living in the New York suburbs.) Small communities might look green, but they consume a disproportionate amount of everything. As a result, West argues, creating a more sustainable society will require our big cities to get even bigger. We need more megalopolises.

There's a lot more to the article and the thinkers it features, including this insight from Jane Jacobs: The city wasn’t a skyline — it was a dance.

Resource Stewardship and Conceptual Models

Consider this post a placeholder - I hope to develop it more when time permits. The most striking elements of Civics 101 for me related to the two areas noted in the header. (Note: the images used here are merely illustrative, not drawn from course materials).

First, folks intimately involved with the daily operations of infrastructure - water, landfill, sewer, rescue, transportation, land - spoke most intensely when discussing the limits on priceless resources, the costs of operating the systems that use them, and the reasons and methods of real sustainability. I think about the energy involved in delivering a gallon of water to my faucet in ways I hadn't before.

Second, it was enormously instructive to hear various department heads lay out the thinking that informs their work. The conceptual models now in use by Planning, Environmental Services, Parks, Traffic and more. The thinking is often innovative, interdisciplinary, drawing upon advanced global research and pragmatic approaches to prudent stewardship of public goods. It was eye-opening to learn the ways in which Sarasota County is a leader in key areas, and a place where others come to learn.

Legacy Trail Open House, Health Dept. Volunteers

Friends of the Legacy Trail are having an Open House Join the Friends of the Legacy Trail at an Open House on Tuesday, Jan.4, 2011, at the Phillippi Estate Park. Preview the upcoming programs, events and Legacy Trail improvements. (MORE)

Season of Sharing: volunteers contribute over $5 million in service hours In this "Season of Sharing," the Sarasota County Health Department (SCHD) recognizes the contributions of its 251 volunteers who serve at seven sites throughout the county. Additionally, the SCHD has oversight of the Senior Friendship Centers' medical and dental clinic volunteers. Collectively, these volunteers provided 29,623 hours in essential roles over a one-year period, saving taxpayers $5,334,025. (MORE)

Public Art Intersections Installation Completed

Sarasota, FL: The twelfth and final piece of the ‘Intersections’ public art project will be installed Friday, December 17, 2010 at 1:00 p.m. at Selby Five Points Park. Eleven other pieces are now strategically placed at prominent locations throughout the downtown to encourage people to visit downtown as a destination and take a walking tour of the art pieces included in “Intersections”. The Public Art Committee is collaborating with the Sarasota County Arts Council and the Sarasota Convention and Visitors Bureau to market “Intersections” as another interesting attraction in downtown Sarasota.

Twelve artists were selected by the Public Art Committee to display their work at high profile locations throughout downtown. The installations began in October and the pieces will be on display until November 2011. At that time, the City Commission with input from the Public Art Committee and the community, will choose one sculpture to become part of the City’s permanent art collection.

For more information about "Intersections" contact Dr. Clifford Smith, public art staff liaison: 941-954-4195.

City of Sarasota on Twitter:
http://twitter.com/#!/cityofsarasota

Advisory Board Applicants for City of Sarasota Needed

Sarasota, FL: The City of Sarasota is seeking individuals who are interested in their community to serve on City Commission Advisory Boards. The following positions are now open:

Board of Rules and Appeals:
- One seat for a mechanical contractor
- One seat for a fire alarm contractor

Bobby Jones Golf Course Advisory Board:
- One seat for an individual with a financial services background
- One seat for an individual with experience managing a recreational facility
- One seat for an active user of the Bobby Jones Golf Course facilities

Citizens With Disabilities Advisory Board:
- Two seats with no seat requirement

Civil Service/General Personnel Board:
- No seat requirement

Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) Advisory Board:
- One seat for an individual involved in planning or design in the Downtown Redevelopment Area
- One seat for an individual involved in construction development in the Downtown Redevelopment Area
- One seat for a representative of the Economic Development Board
- One seat for an individual involved in finance or banking

Human Relations Board:
- One seat with no requirement

Newtown Community redevelopment Agency (CRA) Advisory Board:
- One seat for a representative of the Economic Development Board
- One seat for an individual involved in planning or design
- One seat for an individual involved in finance or banking

Nuisance Abatement Board:
- Two seats with no requirement

Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall Advisory Board:
- One seat for an individual who is a City resident

Preference is given to people who live or own property within the City of Sarasota. All positions are voluntary and are appointed by the City Commission of the City of Sarasota. To apply for an Advisory Board position, visit www.sarasotagov.com and click 'Citizen Advisory Boards' or visit the Office of the City Auditor & Clerk, 1565 First Street, during regular business hours.

For more information contact City Auditor and Clerk Pamela Nadalini:
941-954-4169.