Several Council members are in Washington DC for the annual National Leaue of Cities' Congressional Cities Conference. The opening general session is Monday morning but there are numberous groups meeting today and educational sessions were underway Saturday and today.
 
The First Tier Suburbs Council, which I chair, met twice today. The Steering Committee met for breakfast this morning and reviewed our goals for the year. We will meet again for our summer meeting in June in Garland and North Texas. Our fall meeting will be in Denver during the Fall NLC meeting where we will review some of the surburban revitalization projects completed in the last few years.
 
The whole FTS Council met for lunch and a presentation by Marina Khoury on the recently approved development codes in Miami:

NLC Release:

Leading the "Redesign" of Cities: Miami21 and Lessons Learned for First Tier Suburbs

Topic Introduction from Councilmember Athas
The redesign of cities has started. We can learn and collaborate, or get at the back of the line. I'm determined to lead and know that my fellow city officials on the First Tier Suburbs Council are too. Miami has adapted a radically new form-based development code that will be copied many times across the country over the next 20 years. We need to understand what they adopted and why. Much of the change addresses those elements of previous regulations that codified the typical suburban form at the edges of their core. We have much to learn and are also perfectly positioned to take advantage of the new trend.
 

Miami21 Background
Through the vision and leadership of Mayor Diaz in Miami, the City embarked on an unprecented mission: a complete overhaul of their zoning code to create more sustainable, predictable and efficient regulations through the adoption of a SmartCode called Miami21. Miami21 entailed a more holistic approach to land use planning. Five elements served as the lynchpin of this new blueprint: a Form Based Code, Economic Development, Transportation, Parks & Open Space, Arts & Culture and Historic Preservation.
 
During the luncheon Marina Khoury, lead planner for Miami21, will present the process, techniques and tools used to calibrate this new zoning code. Creating a great code is not sufficient; it takes strong political will and leadership to get one adopted. Hear lessons learned within a political and regulatory context, as well as strategies for providing significant improvements to the public realm, promoting green development, and ensuring a public benefits program that addresses the city's growing civic infrastructure needs.
 

Speaker Bio
Marina Khoury is an expert in sustainable urbanism, traditional neighborhood development, and form-based codes, and speaks on issues related to creating affordable, sustainable, walkable communities. A licensed architect, she is a Partner at Duany Plater-Zyberk and Company (DPZ) and the Director of Town Planning who leads the metro Washington D.C. office. Khoury manages new towns and urban redevelopment plans in the United States, Canada, Middle East, and Europe. She is also the DPZ project director for Miami21, the comprehensive rewriting of the City of Miami's current zoning code into the largest-known application of a form-based code.