Years: 2009-2010
This KCCI team successfully established sense of place in Midtown and created the Midtown Action Plan, which was used as the basis for including a large scale Midtown placemaking project as part of the Blueprint sales tax extension. The project includes a number of key improvements that total $22 million.
How it Happened
What began as Illuminate Tallahassee and a plan to use light and energy in creative and efficient ways leading to economic development and the expansion of arts and culture, evolved to Identify Tallahassee.
Identify Tallahassee, worked to reshape Tallahassee’s image as it focuses on the unique and historical places that make Tallahassee special. The catalysts engaged the community in its efforts to preserve and enhance Tallahassee’s visual appeal through various art projects with a focus on Tallahassee’s urban core.
As part of an initiative to grow Tallahassee’s economy through an enhanced sense of place, the Identify Tallahassee project began in early 2010 with the goal of defining targeted districts in the urban core of the city as up and coming neighborhoods primed for development.
By recognizing these districts for their unique qualities and economic amenities, Identify Tallahassee aimed to assist these developing districts in creating a sense of place while instilling civic pride in current and future residents. By collaborating with district stakeholders, Identify Tallahassee specifically focused in the Midtown area.
The team successfully established sense of place in Midtown and created the Midtown Action Plan, which was used as the basis for including a large scale Midtown placemaking project as part of the Blueprint sales tax extension. The project includes a number of key improvements that total $22 million.
In December 2010, Identify Tallahassee established a community-wide conversation in support of placemaking by bringing residents, business owners and local government together. As a result of a Midtown Corridor Study conducted with landscape architecture students at Florida A&M University’s School of Architecture, the Midtown Action Plan for Placemaking was created.
In April 2011, the City Commission approved $500,000 worth of infrastructure improvements in accordance with the Midtown Action Plan, and these improvements can already be enjoyed in Midtown. The Midtown Action plan was a collaboration of efforts in a partnership existing between residents, local businesses, the Tallahassee-Leon County Planning Department and KCCI’s Community Catalyst team.
Community Catalysts
These are the people who helped make this project possible.
- Mike Campbell
- Cory Couch
- Hetal Desai
- Jake Kiker
- Bill Mattox
- Jay Revell
- Jenny Robertson