| OUR TWO CENTS |
We are currently faced with a unique opportunity in our country; the opportunity to change.
It is not often that human beings elect to change their patterned behaviors. Whether those behaviors are a change
in hair-style, diet, route to work or favorite Tuesday evening news programming; it does not come easy. For these
reasons, we should have a great appreciation for the financial and military crisis’ we are facing as a nation.
Because change is hard to auto-implement, our recent crisis has become the external stimulus forcing ALL of us to
make changes in our behaviors. With personal savings, employment and mortgages at risk, many Americans are
feeling uneasy about their individual future, as well as our future as a nation. For us, these changes have forced
our firm to re-think our focus and examine what it is that we do.
As urban planners and designers, our focus has been assessing the intricate links between people active and the
usage of land in which they live. Understanding this has allowed us to implement plans and strategies for the
development of a host of project ideas ranging from housing to religious institutions. With the collapse of “Wall
Street” and its’ ripple effect on major and sub-lending financial institutions, we have been forced to re-examine our
primary area of focus; Cities.
In refocusing our attention, we asked the essential question, “What is the role of the City?” At first it left us
intellectually stagnant. It was as if we were asking a fish to explain the role of water in their lives. It was in this
thinking that it came to us. Like the fish, many people need cities to breathe. Cities are the creative incubators that
stimulate technological innovation. Cities are the economic engines from which financially competitive ideas are
fostered. Cities are, or least have been in the past, places in which vast labor markets are abundant to develop
and absorb the financial and political capital needed to transform a society to meet the unforeseen challenges of
our future. Like water to the fish, as the “City” fails, the people can no longer breathe. Well, many of our city’s
proverbial water have been evaporating for years and we failed to re-hydrate them.
Much of this has to do with the mobile nature of resources. Employment centers are no longer needed at the City’s
center, due to technological advances in communication tools, as well as highly productive and efficient transit and
transportation systems. As a result, a natural competition for these resources has developed between cities.
Chicago competes with Detroit, as well as Phoenix to land the latest technology company. Atlanta competes with
Charlotte and Birmingham, AL for the next financial corporate headquarters. New York competes with Los Angeles
and Seattle for next wave of film development entities. The point is this, as new areas/cities develop, the human
capital and financial resources follow. This has a devastating impact on areas that have not transformed
themselves and prepared for competition. Detroit never dreamed in 1972 that automotive manufacturers would
select Alabama over them as their headquarters; thus forcing a migration back to the south. Los Angeles, once
claimed two NFL teams, but have lost them to St. Louis and Oakland due to the available disposable incomes in
these areas. Competition is inevitable and as the global community has matured and developed, many of the
resources that once called the USA home are now based in other countries.
We must change.
As a professional firm, we’ve fine-tuned our “planning” lens to examine the strategies and techniques that will make
cities strong again. What will it take to transform our older industrial centers into the new homes for “green”
industry? How can we create and attract the financial innovators that will develop ideas to make inner-cities and
metro-regions understand their inextricable link to their survival? This is the focus of Central Planning
Professionals, LLC. This is our mission. We hope we can join together with you to develop the plans and designs
that will sustain and grow the Vibrant New Communities of tomorrow.
This is our two cents on the matter.
It is not often that human beings elect to change their patterned behaviors. Whether those behaviors are a change
in hair-style, diet, route to work or favorite Tuesday evening news programming; it does not come easy. For these
reasons, we should have a great appreciation for the financial and military crisis’ we are facing as a nation.
Because change is hard to auto-implement, our recent crisis has become the external stimulus forcing ALL of us to
make changes in our behaviors. With personal savings, employment and mortgages at risk, many Americans are
feeling uneasy about their individual future, as well as our future as a nation. For us, these changes have forced
our firm to re-think our focus and examine what it is that we do.
As urban planners and designers, our focus has been assessing the intricate links between people active and the
usage of land in which they live. Understanding this has allowed us to implement plans and strategies for the
development of a host of project ideas ranging from housing to religious institutions. With the collapse of “Wall
Street” and its’ ripple effect on major and sub-lending financial institutions, we have been forced to re-examine our
primary area of focus; Cities.
In refocusing our attention, we asked the essential question, “What is the role of the City?” At first it left us
intellectually stagnant. It was as if we were asking a fish to explain the role of water in their lives. It was in this
thinking that it came to us. Like the fish, many people need cities to breathe. Cities are the creative incubators that
stimulate technological innovation. Cities are the economic engines from which financially competitive ideas are
fostered. Cities are, or least have been in the past, places in which vast labor markets are abundant to develop
and absorb the financial and political capital needed to transform a society to meet the unforeseen challenges of
our future. Like water to the fish, as the “City” fails, the people can no longer breathe. Well, many of our city’s
proverbial water have been evaporating for years and we failed to re-hydrate them.
Much of this has to do with the mobile nature of resources. Employment centers are no longer needed at the City’s
center, due to technological advances in communication tools, as well as highly productive and efficient transit and
transportation systems. As a result, a natural competition for these resources has developed between cities.
Chicago competes with Detroit, as well as Phoenix to land the latest technology company. Atlanta competes with
Charlotte and Birmingham, AL for the next financial corporate headquarters. New York competes with Los Angeles
and Seattle for next wave of film development entities. The point is this, as new areas/cities develop, the human
capital and financial resources follow. This has a devastating impact on areas that have not transformed
themselves and prepared for competition. Detroit never dreamed in 1972 that automotive manufacturers would
select Alabama over them as their headquarters; thus forcing a migration back to the south. Los Angeles, once
claimed two NFL teams, but have lost them to St. Louis and Oakland due to the available disposable incomes in
these areas. Competition is inevitable and as the global community has matured and developed, many of the
resources that once called the USA home are now based in other countries.
We must change.
As a professional firm, we’ve fine-tuned our “planning” lens to examine the strategies and techniques that will make
cities strong again. What will it take to transform our older industrial centers into the new homes for “green”
industry? How can we create and attract the financial innovators that will develop ideas to make inner-cities and
metro-regions understand their inextricable link to their survival? This is the focus of Central Planning
Professionals, LLC. This is our mission. We hope we can join together with you to develop the plans and designs
that will sustain and grow the Vibrant New Communities of tomorrow.
This is our two cents on the matter.
 |  |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |