The public is invited to attend a free presentation, given by New Urbanism expert, Jeff Speck. This presentation will take place at Figge Art Museum auditorium at 225 West 2nd Street on Thursday, August 14, 2008. Doors open at 5:00 p.m., were attendees will enjoy hors d'oeuvres. A cash bar will be available. The presentation starts at 6 p.m., with a reception following at 7:30 p.m. The presentation is hosted by Downtown Partnership and the City of Davenport. Mr. Speck is helping launch a new downtown planning process and providing the foundation for an updated Downtown Master Plan.
Last year, Mr. Speck presented in Davenport to an overflow crowd of 150, comprised of interested citizens, business owners and city government. During that talk he covered New Urbanism in general terms. This year's presentation will focus on specific recommendations for continued downtown Davenport revitalization.
Mr. Speck is very familiar with Davenport and visits the area often, as his wife is from the Quad Cities. He is also the co-author of Suburban Nation: The Rise of Sprawl and the Decline of the American Dream (along with Andres Duany and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk).
During his time in Davenport, Mr. Speck will meet with stakeholders and conduct a survey of the downtown area. He will then provide specific recommendations for improvements. Some areas covered will include making downtown more pedestrian friendly, alternative transportation, building the attractiveness of the downtown area, and strategies to attract the Millennial generation. Mr. Speck has recently coordinated projects of similar nature with Grand Rapids, Michigan and Memphis, Tennessee.
About Jeff Speck
Jeff Speck is a sole practitioner who consults to public officials and to the real estate industry. For 2003 to 2007, he was the Director of Design at the National Endowment for the Arts, where he directed two NEA leadership initiatives, the Mayors' Institute on City Design and Your Town, both of which teach design skills to community leaders nationwide. He also created and ran a new initiative, the Governors' Institute on Community Design, which is bringing smart growth principles and techniques to state leadership.
Prior to joining the Endowment, Mr. Speck spent ten years as Director of Town Planning at Duany Plater-Zyberk and Co., Architects and Town Planners. DPZ is a leader in the international movement called the New Urbanism, which promotes alternatives to suburban sprawl and urban disinvestment.
Mr. Speck received a Masters in Architecture with Distinction from the Harvard Graduate School of Design. He also received a Masters in Art History from Syracuse University Fellow in Florence, Italy.
Contact information:
Downtown Partnership - A Division of DavenportOne: (563) 322-1706;
Email contacts: http://www.downtowndavenport.com/contact/index.html
Darrin Nordahl - Davenport City Designer: (563) 888-2252; dnordahl@ci.davenport.ia.us
Related links:
Congress for New Urbanism: http://www.cnu.org/
New Urbanism: http://www.newurbannews.com/
Community and Economic Development Department: Design Center (City of Davenport):
http://www.davenportiowa.org/department/index.asp?fDD=11-0
Millennial generation: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation_Y
About the Auditorium at Figge Art Museum.
The auditorium features state-of-the-art audio visual equipment, custom Italian leather seating, the auditorium is ideal for presentations, ceremonies and performances. Click here to download our facility rental brochure: http://www.figgeartmuseum.org/getdoc/8ef29766-1d9a-4bc1-86a7-23fe1b702230/Facility-Rental-pdf-info-doc.aspx
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