If a community is engaged in the process, a developer can make the city stronger, according to Sandra Baer.
Are developers the problem, or the solution, to Palm Coast's struggles?
One recent development expert visited Flagler County to speak to the Flagler Tiger Bay Club on Feb. 20, about innovative cities around the world. Sandra Bear is the CEO of Personal Cities and is the principal brand and marketing strategist for Urban Icon Global. She's also writing a book about trust, and she agreed to answer some questions about development — and trust.
You're writing a book about trust. Many people and government elected officials appear to distrust developers. Should they?
I don’t like the word “should.”
Trust is very complex, very complicated. There is a huge trust deficit between government, institutions, organizations. There's a lack of trust between families and friends.
The political divisiveness in the United States and around the world has increased in the last five years dramatically. Trust is the glue of civilization and without it, we won't we won't succeed. We won't prosper.
In my opinion, developers are an essential part of making a city more vibrant — economically vibrant, socially vibrant — connecting humans to one another. The developments that I'm aware of in other parts of the world, as well as in the United States, are all about economic vibrancy.
If people are afraid of that, or resistant to it, they better look into their hearts, their minds, and their pocketbooks, about what the value of development is. I'm a big fan of the right kind of development.
Now, there are developments that are not sustainable. They're not thinking about the environment or the social issues that may occur. But a smart developer thinks about all of that.
What would you be asking to make sure that a development is the right thing for the future of a city like Palm Coast?
One is, what does the developer want to do with this piece of land or this particular infrastructure?
And then on the other side of that is, what do the citizens, the residents of a community, want and need? And are there immediate barriers to some of that? Get those folks together and get the young people in the community involved as a part of that conversation. Often, developers come in and they say, “We want to develop this property,” and they don't talk to the residents, they don't really get their feedback.
That causes problems, delays and inefficiency, and it ends up not making as much money as they could. They need to say: “Here's what we're planning to do. Here's why we think it's good for the community.”
Why is it so important to get the next generation involved? And how do you do that?
It's easy to do, if you're engaged in your community.
I have to tell you a story. My grandson who's 8 years old lives in Italy is playing Roblox. So I have a Roblox account. I sit down with my grandson, and I said, "Okay, show me how to use Roblox." I have my own avatar. He said, "Well, Nana, we build cities with Roblox. We build things and put different buildings here and you can go to the burger shop here and get a pizza here." So, he's showing me how to do that, and he is a young genius at building a city.
The next generation could contribute some thinking to what developers are planning. How does it serve the youth of a community?
But growth and economic vibrancy and taking care of the youth — all of those things contribute to a really smart city, and developers can help with that.
You said in your Tiger Bay discussion that we should think big. So how can Palm Coast think big?
You start by talking about, “What's special about our city?” Why are we happy to live here? Why are we proud of living here?
Palm Coast has a lot of assets: natural beauty and beaches and trails. It also has performing arts and sports leagues and pickleball. It’s a safe place to live.
So how could they come together to build a smart city? We come up with the assets and the trick, then, is to promote the hell out of it.
Embark on something. Think big. Think big and think collaboratively.
You have worked in Africa on sports entertainment developments. In our city, there have been some questions about whether Palm Coast should enter into a public-private partnership to build something like that. Because of charter restrictions, it had to go out to a referendum, and it was voted down dramatically — partly, it seems, because many thought it would open the door for a developer to take advantage of the city.
Well, that's really small thinking.
I mean, a developer would take advantage of a city if the citizens were not engaged and involved in helping make these decisions, but if it’s true collaboration, they're all going to benefit. That's what a smart developer does. They have a good idea, they have funding and resources to do something, and then they work with the community to make sure there's mutual benefit.
That thing that you just said about the referendum, I can imagine the politics around that. I think the political stuff gets very partisan and developers in general have a tough row to hoe, to convince people to change their way of thinking.
I have a really good friend in California, a developer. He does a lot of affordable housing and some of it comes from his own pocket, frankly. But he developed homeless housing for veterans. And he went to the VA and said, “I’d like to renovate these buildings that have been vacant forever.”
It's amazing. I mean, you would want to live there. They're very small apartments, but they're apartments. I mean, they have a piano in the lobby. I can't even describe how cool it is — all these amenities. This development changed people's perceptions about the value of what he was doing.
What do developers need to do if they want to convince people here that they are community partners and not the "bad guy?
If developers keep asking questions of the residents, it really re-shapes people's thinking. I mean, there are going to be some people that are going to say, “I don't want any more development, period.” But if developers are smart, they will do more outreach, in small groups.
The development that's happening in cities like this one make it a more vibrant, economically strong place, because the developments are modern, and more friendly to the environment. These guys know how to build buildings that withstand hurricane force winds or combat flooding.
Developers need to tell the residents how their developments will protect the residents.
