Fall Workshop, September 9-13, 2001 (Miami, Florida)

The fourth seminar comprised workshops in which the Knight Fellows presented their research works in progress, sessions on the annual symposium and charrette, a real estate development conference, a case study of Coral Gables, and a special session in West Coconut Grove. This seminar coincided with September 11^th, when the World Trade Center was destroyed in a terrorist attack. As a result, the seminar produced some of the most poignant and proud moments for the first year of the Knight Program.

The seminar began with a tour of Coral Gables hosted by faculty from the School of Architecture. Although it was originally conceived as a suburb of Miami, Coral Gables was chosen as a local case study. Coral Gables continues to confront the challenges of revitalizing and renewing its downtown and commercial districts. The case study included a meeting with the new Mayor, who had been elected, along with three new commissioners, a few months prior to the seminar on a platform that represented a significant shift in the City’s development policies. This session provided the Fellows with valuable insights into the political aspects of community building.

This seminar also focused on the crucial role that the private sector plays in community building through the real estate development process. Fellows attended the Urban Land Institute’s Placemaking 2001 conference held in Miami Beach, which featured sessions on the collaborative efforts of developers, municipalities, financial institutions, designers, retailers, and builders that are needed to build community-oriented main streets, town centers and urban villages. These mixed-use, pedestrian-friendly, transit-oriented projects represent the most exciting community building initiatives taking place in the real estate development field, and involve multi-layered public-private partnerships between developers, communities, and nonprofit agencies to build the infrastructure, and assemble the civic and cultural uses and housing needed to create genuine town centers for American communities. (Note: Charles C. Bohl, the Director of the Knight Program, is author of a book based on these new town centers and main streets. Placemaking: Town Centers, Main Streets and Transit Villages was published in 2002 by the Urban Land Institute.)

The sessions on Tuesday, September 11, were interrupted by news of the World Trade Center tragedy. After pausing to check on loved ones and trying to comprehend the scope of the tragedy, the Fellows chose to continue with their workshop. At noon the Fellows attended a special session in West Coconut Grove organized by School of Architecture professor Samina Quraeshi and the School’s Center for Urban and Community Design (CUCD). This session was organized in support of the Knight Foundation’s grant to CUCD to assist with community building efforts in the West Grove, and brought the collective expertise of the Knight Fellows in touch with residents, community development officials, and local developers based in the community.

Although the room was filled with the twelve Knight Fellows, professors Samina Quraeshi and Richard Shepard from CUCD, a local developer, community development officials, and longtime residents of the West Coconut Grove, the morning’s events had cast a pallor over the group and it appeared that we might be better off canceling the session. The meeting moved in a different direction when Knight Fellow Cecilia (“CC”) Holloman, an ordained minister, led the group in a prayer and moment of silence. Everyone in the room joined hands and CC delivered heartfelt words that broke the silence and brought the group of strangers closer together. CC’s words and actions made it possible for everyone to put aside the events of the day for a short time, and the meeting continued with a very active dialog between the Knight Fellows and the West Coconut Grove contingent.  It was our proudest moment of the year for the Knight Program and an example of community building at its finest.

As a result of the meeting, several of the Knight Fellows voluntarily attended a public meeting in the Grove where the revitalization of Grand Avenue was discussed. Knight Fellow Rick Hall, a transportation expert, spoke on the importance of ensuring that future roadway improvements are planned and designed to enhance the pedestrian character of the community and the quality of life for existing residents. As a result of these sessions, members of the community asked that CC Holloman be retained as a consultant to help foster a community dialog and work with CUCD and the West Coconut Grove on their community building efforts.