FPZA members throughoutFlorida descended upon downtown Tallahassee for three daysin mid-May to attend a firstclass event, the 53rd AnnualFPZA State Conference. This year's program was coordinated by an army of volunteers from the Appalachee Chapterof FPZA lead by conferenceco-chairs Rob Palmer with HNTB Corporation and Mary Frances Mullins with the Florida Department of CommunityAffairs. A very special thank you also goes out to the many conference volunteers and our sponsors who generously went the extra mile to support this year's event. This year’s conference was held at the Double-Tree Hotel in the heart of historic downtown Tallahassee, just steps away from the Florida State Museum, the State Capitol and quaint boutiques and restaurants. Conference attendees attendees were treated to a diverse selection of presentations, nationally recognized speakers, and great networking and dining experiences.
The theme for this year's conference was: 2050 Florida -- AVision to the Future. Rather than a traditional conference with sessions on current projects, programs, and initiatives, we focused on what our State could become and look like in the year 2050. The idea was to try and take a look at the future of this State beyond a typical 10-20 year time horizon.
Why did we focus on a 2050 horizon? As planning and zoning officials and consultants and those involved in the regulatory, planning, and development fields, we know that past decisions have already determined our near term future, atleast for the next 5-10 years perhaps. Our comprehensive plans, if up to date try to deal with the 10-25 year horizon, ifwe are lucky. Therefore, how are we looking beyond even this modest timeline?
Let's face it, issues like water supply and protection, environmental resources, and even infrastructure construction are truly long term elements of our State. Some think that the water we are drinking is actually decades old and we have not yet reached the water that is possibly tainted by mankind. Others contend that pollutants are entering the drinking water almost immediately. Both are probably right in certain conditions.
From a transportation perspective, we prepare 20 year long rangeplans, 5 year Transportation Improvement Programs, and planning studies for all points in between. In many communities it takes 20 years to get some of these projects completed, all the while development has changed directions twice, and we have redefined funding formula and allocations five times.
This conference was not about the latest changes in public policy orpresenting examples of great plans or projects that occurred the pastyear. Our awards and recognitions program coordinated by Thad Crowe covered these. The conference was about ratcheting up the discussion on how and we should look beyond the obvious and try to get a handle onwhere the State is going to be in the next 50 years.
This year's program was developed to include some big picture thinkers both statewide and nationally. This year we included several plenary sessions, where all conference attendees gathered together, rather than a dozenor so concurrent workshop sessions.
The conference concluded with a "Wrap-Up" session where we hope some directions was for us to go back to our communities and jobs and contemplate at a minimum, or act upon as a preferred action.
Our Friday evening program included an elegant dinner and an interesting evening with James Howard Kunstler, the author of The Geography of Nowhere, The City in Mind among others. Saturday morning's activities concludedwith the State Board meeting. See page 6 of the Overview for a summary of the Board meeting. Lastly, on behalf of FPZA a big thank you to the Appalachee Chapter for their hospitality, for their time and sacrifice to make this a most successful conferences. Next year our state conference will sponsored by the Central Florida Chapter under the leadership of Dan Matthys with Seminole County and Nancy Roberts with Glatting Jackson. We hope to see you in Orlando in spring 2006.