Date:  October 13-18, 2019

Location: Ft. Lauderdale, FL

Sponsor: Fort Lauderdale Downtown Development Authority

Subject Area: Parks and Open Space, 10-Minute Walk

Panel Chair: Stephen Whitehouse, Starr Whitehouse, New York, NY

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Panel Background and Assignment

An Advisory Services Panel provided recommendations

on how to enhance parks and open space in the city’s urban core, and to develop a new vision for Downtown’s most centralizedpark, Huizenga Plaza, located on the iconic Riverwalk and Las Olas Boulevard. The Advisory Services Panel was conducted in conjunction with the 10-Minute Walk Campaign, a national movement focused on improving access to parks and green spaces by striving to ensure that residents of urban neighborhoods throughout America have access to a high-quality park within a ten-minute walk from their homes. The 10-Minute Walk Campaign, which has been endorsed by over 230 mayors, is made possible by a joint partnership between the Urban Land Institute, The Trust for Public Land, and the National Recreation and Park Association.

Summary of Recommendations

Key recommendations from the panel include:

• Acquire or dedicate new public land to augment downtown Fort Lauderdale’s public realm.
• Showcase new and remodeled parks with climate-adaptive components along the Riverwalk and at Huizenga Plaza and Esplanade Park.
• Begin a more robust pedestrian and bike network.
• Hire a new chief public realm officer to coordinate public space and lead the engagement process for allocating park bond funds.
• Identify resources and partnerships to supplement the bond act for open space.
• Implement a public/private partnership to manage and fully activate a unified vision for downtown Fort Lauderdale’s public realm.