I know that it often seems like I'm more critical than positive suggestion here, but I have some news to share that may be of interest to some of you who come here often and know about the sorts of subjects I find of interest.
I received a very interesting Google Alert this morning about Bernard Zyscovich in my email today, which is one of the great benefits of using it, in that it does all the detective work for you.
The radio program that he has appeared on, Smart City, is one you ought to check out, as I've listened to the program before and it's usually quite good!
Not too much jargon or unrealistic pie-in-the-skly stuff.
I haven't listened to this specific one yet, but will probably go to website later, though I doubt he specifically mentions what he and his firm are up to in the City of Hollywood.
Zyscovich's zoning/design plans are supposed to be coming out around March 10th, and the romantic/producer/advance man in me almost wishes a high school band could be conjured up so that when he comes into Hollywood City Hall and makes his presentation, the band could play a fanfare and do orchestral music in the background to make it even more impressive.
Yes, I'm quite the showman!
Have it set up with townspeople listening to speakers outside City hall cheering like a 1940's Warner Brothers film, where a band greets a victorious local team coming back to town via the train station after a road win.
That was sorta the case in one of my all-time favorite films, Knute Rockne, All-American, when the Notre Dame band, students, fans and residents of South Bend and environs gathered to greet the victors after they return from their historic upset of Army in that famous 1924 game at Yankee Stadium, a game that went a long way toward making Rockne
and The Irish national icons, in part due to Grantland Rice's famous prose:
Outlined against a blue-gray October sky the Four Horsemen rode again. In dramatic lore they are known as famine,
pestilence, destruction and death. These are only aliases. Their real names are: Stuhldreher, Miller, Crowley and Layden. They formed the crest of the South Bend cyclone before which another fighting Army team was swept over the precipice at the Polo Grounds this afternoon as 55,000 spectators peered down upon the bewildering panorama spread out upon the green plain below.
Trust me when I tell you, I've known many people, especially in the Midwest, who know that whole thing by heart.
My knowing it once helped me clinch a trivia contest in D.C. that got me and a guest a delicious dinner at a well-known steak place famous for its media clientele.
I guess you could call that turn of phrase my meal ticket!
Knute Rockne, November 7, 1927
Once Zyscovich formally hands off the plan and it's adopted, it'll be up to local business people in South Florida to actually step up to the plate and take advantage of what he and his team have crafted for them to make the city more dynamic, attractive, fun and inviting.
They're being given some valuable tools, but you have to know how to use them, whether that's a full-service bookstore near an educational outlet of some sort that appeals to adults, a specialized movie theater that's near reasonably priced
I was fortunate living in Arlington County in that I already lived in such a community, with areas that generated buzz and fun on their own merits, and not because of any PR spin, like the areas between the Rosslyn and Ballston metro stations, where I knew every building like the back of my hand.
It doesn't Smell Like Teen Spirit, but rather New Urbanism, with a heavy dose of Transit-Oriented Development (TOD).
Speaking of which, reminder, Tuesday night will be the City of Aventura's night to host a SFECC meeting.
| DATE: | Tuesday, February 24 |
| LOCATION: | Aventura Community Recreation Center Classrooms 1A, 1B and 2 |
| ADDRESS: | 3375 NE 188th St. |
| TIME: | 6 - 8 p.m. |
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Resilient Cities and Real Urbanism This Week on Smart City
We'll speak with two people with grand ideas for the future of city living.
First we'll speak with Tim Beatley co-author of the book Resilient Cities: Responding to Peak Oil and Climate Change
. He says it will take intelligent planning and visionary leadership for cities to respond to environmental and economic crises now and in the future.
And we'll speak with architect Bernard Zyscovich. Bernard has designed many buildings all over the U.S. but he's turned his eye to urban design in his new book Getting Real About Urbanism: Contextual Design for Cities"
We'll speak with two people with grand ideas for the future of city living.
First we'll speak with Tim Beatley co-author of the book Resilient Cities: Responding to Peak Oil and Climate Change
. He says it will take intelligent planning and visionary leadership for cities to respond to environmental and economic crises now and in the future. And we'll speak with architect Bernard Zyscovich. Bernard has designed many buildings all over the U.S. but he's turned his eye to urban design in his new book Getting Real About Urbanism: Contextual Design for Cities"
