CNU launches developers’ forum

Board Members meet with new urbanist developers to identify concerns and set an agenda for action. CNU’s Board of Directors took a major step forward at our last meeting to initiate a working relationship with the development community. With the help of 16 developers who came to San Francisco to participate in our Winter Board Meeting, we have agreed to form a new Developers Task Force and launch a series of activities aimed at supporting those who are actively engaged in building new urbanist communities. The CNU Board has recognized that developers are the primary implementors of the New Urbanism, but the organization has not, until now, reached out to them in the same way that it has to design and planning practitioners, who make up the bulk of our membership. Several developers have complained that CNU has been somewhat hostile to “the big bad developer” in its quest for higher standards. As a first step to change that perception, the Board hosted a fact finding forum with a small group of developers. The goal was to gain a better understanding of developers’ experiences and difficulties with new urbanist projects, and of how CNU could support developers’ efforts on such issues as research, marketing, the entitlement and permitting process, addressing public concerns and financing. Breaking the ice Though most of the developers had been involved with New Urbanism for a number of years, many did not know each other. As an ice breaker, each participant was asked to describe their project and some of the issues that arose during planning, permitting, and construction. These “war stories” raised a number of compelling concerns, including: 1) Design practitioners must adequately educate developers so they can effectively follow through with implementation; 2) A well-designed project does not necessarily make a successful or marketable project — so more communication is needed to inform designers about what’s marketable and encourage developers to try new strategies; 3) An outreach effort to builders and their trade magazines, engineers and surveyors is urgently required so that industry standards can change; 4) The formation of a network of developers, city planners, and consultants who support the New Urbanism would be useful. New Task Force proposed Ultimately, the group recommended that the Board explore creating a Task Force for Developers to integrate them into the working mix of the organization. The participants also suggested that the other task forces focus a portion of their efforts on gathering and documenting data and case studies that demonstrate the feasibility of new urbanist communities. All in all, the forum was highly successful. I hope that it will be a model for forming alliances with other groups. At our Fall Board Meeting, for example, we will be conversing with leaders of the environmental movement to explore ways to form tighter relationships and coalitions. Robert Davis Chair, CNU Board of Directors