Spring Weekend Experience Continues to Improve

The Spring Weekend Experience program for South Beach, Florida May 14-16 continues to improve as we continue to enhance the program.  More will be coming before the final version arrives with the mid-March for registration materials.  But save the date!

We will begin Friday evening May 13 with cocktails and dinner in the Oval Room of the National Hotel. Our dinner speakers will be Lewis Goodkin, President of Goodkin Research and Michael Cannon, President of AREEA and Managing Director of Integra Realty Resources. They will provide an overview of Miami marketplace.

Saturday we will begin our mobile workshop with a walk from our hotel down Lincoln Road, one of the hottest streets in America. Our tour will be lead by Christine Burdick, President of Tampa Downtown Partnership (former Director of Lincoln Road redevelopment) and Randall Robinson, of Miami Beach Community Development Corporation.

We will then proceed by motor coach to Allison Island where we will visit a new development called Aqua -- a new concept in "tropical urbanism" by Dacra. Newsweek recently featured this development and its developer Craig Robbins who will give us a tour . The 8.5-acre private island was master-planned by Duany-Plater Zybeck and features a combination of mid-rise and single-family homes. The developer has selected several architectural firms to design different buildings within the development.

A visit to Arquitectonica's offices will cap off the morning. Bernardo Fort-Brescia, FAIA, the co-founding principal of the firm, will show us their latest projects. Founded in 1977, Arquitectonica is world famous for being at the front lines of avant-garde design.

At lunch Saturday, we will hear from Coral Gables Development Director, Cathy Swanson who will give us an overview of Coral Gables and then we will proceed to Merrick Village, one of the outstanding mixed-use developments in the country for a tour.

Lead by Jon DeVries, we will then proceed by bus down Calle Ocho (8th Street) the heart of the Latin community. We will then complete our bus tour by visiting the new performing arts center that Cesar Pelli has designed for a possible hard-hat tour. Nancy Leibman, Director of the Urban Environment League will show us what changes will happen because of this new center.

Saturday evening will feature cocktails at the National Hotel and Beth Dunlop the architectural critic of the Miami Herald will lead a discussion. Dinner Saturday evening will be on our own so you can enjoy selecting from one of the many outstanding restaurants in South Beach to have dinner with your friends. Later Saturday night, former Floridian, Donna Pugh of Vedder Price, et al will select some of South Beach’s hot spots as an entertainment venues for those who wish to do more exploring.

Our host hotel will be the four-star National Hotel on Collins Avenue. This elegantly restored Art Deco landmark is on the ocean and in the heart of South Beach. For more information on our hotel, visit their website at www.Nationalhotel.com. More program information and registration materials will be available by the middle of March.

Letter from the President:

Larry Lund

Plans for the May 14-15 Spring Weekend Experience in South Beach are quickly developing.  I escaped Chicago for a short while to complete scoping out our program in Miami.  What a city!  They are experiencing an incredible housing boom and I got a sneak preview of Deca's Aqua development on Allison Island and what a development!  As a result of my one day visit we have tweaked the program and it looks even better, we all should have a great time.  I also encourage our members to extend their stay in Miami to take advantage of all that this city has to offer.  Final program agenda and registration will be sent in mid-March.

But before you come to Miami, remember that Baltimore is hosting an outstanding symposium on "Technology, Smart Growth, and Future Form in the Baltimore Region" Thursday, April 29 at the Johns Hopkins University Downtown Center.  I encourage all our members take a look at the program.  I am planning on attending and hope to see all our Baltimore Chapter members there as well as many others from around the country.  Remember, this symposium directly follows the American Planning Association national meeting in Washington, D.C., so for those planning on attending the APA conference, please stay an extra day and attend this program in Baltimore.

Also this summer if you are planning to go to England you might want to plan your trip around our London Chapter's summer event.  Monday evening, June 14 London Chapter President, Jeffrey Cackett has arranged for a visit to the House of Commons, for a dinner hosted by Kerry Pollard JP.MP, Member of St Albans, who has a special interest in housing, business and planning.  While attendance is limited, please contact the Honorable London Chapter Secretary, Geoffrey McMorrough Kavanagh if you are interested.  His e-mail address is kavanagh@mcmorrough.co.uk Other lunchtime programs in London are scheduled for 18 March, 27 May, 16 September, and 18 November.  We encourage our members to take advantage our Chapter's wonderful programs and enjoy the comrade among Lambda Alpha members around the world when visiting.

Later this summer the Congress on New Urbanism will hold its XII Congress in Chicago.  So you might want to "save the date" of June 24-27.  If enough LAI members are attending, the Ely Chapter may host a cocktail reception for those coming from around the country.  Please e-mail Jon Devries, the Ely Chapter President if you will be attending the conference.

I took advantage of the Lambda Alpha comradery when visiting Miami in February and had lunch with Florida member Jose Pelli at a wonderful Argentine restaurant where we discussed the potential of establishing a Lambda Alpha Chapter in South America.  We have other members, such as Robert Wislow of U.S Equities Realty in Chicago who is also doing business in South America.  This may be an opportunity to start new chapters.

Lambda Alpha International has such wonderful potential, but we need more financial resources to be more effective.  The Ely Chapter is beginning to raise funds to help in the publication of an important book that Ely member Professor Joe Schwieterman of DePaul University is writing titled, The Politics of Place: A History of Chicago Zoning.

As you can see Lambda Alpha has enormous potential.  But to fulfill our goals we are going to need to raise substantially more money for the Land Economics Foundation.  I would like to hear your ideas for identifying opportunities for corporate sponsorships and gift giving that will allow us to increase the corpus of the foundation to make more of an impact in our communities.

Baltimore Chapter

"Technology, Smart Growth, and Future Form of the Baltimore Region" is the theme of Baltimore Chapter's all day symposium, Thursday, April 29th from 9:30 am until 4:30 pm at Johns Hopkins University Downtown Center at 10 Charles Street.

The symposium’s goals are twofold: first, to improve the understanding of these trends, technology’s influence, and the implications for the Baltimore region and, second, to consider how judicious investments in advancing the region’s technology base and managed development policies together may achieve desirable and sustainable patterns for our future metropolitan development. 

While these themes are particular relevant to Baltimore, all Lambda Alpha Chapters are facing similar issues and all members are encouraged to attend.

Speakers of international prominence and local decision makers will interact to explore how new technologies and public policy can be applied effectively to produce vibrant communities and a high quality of life for all of their members. 

Participation will be open to all Lambda Alpha International members and the public, but limited to approximately 150 people.  A fee of $95.00 will be charged to cover the costs of lunch and refreshments, and documents to be provided to participants.  The organizers plan to produce a proceedings or other documentation following the symposium.

 Registration and payment ($95) must be received by April 23, 2004, and will be confirmed by email or telephone.  Checks payable to LAI-Baltimore, attendee’s name, affiliation, postal address, and email address should be sent to

T&SG Symposium
c/o AIA Baltimore
11 1/2 West Chase Street
Baltimore, MD  21201

Complete program details can be found by clicking here, or calling Baltimore Chapter President, Dr. Andrew Lemer at 410-235-3307 or e-mailing him atalemer@ecostructure.com

Chicago-Ely Chapter

John Norquist will be the featured speaker at Chicago's Ely Chapter March 17th luncheon meeting. Norquist is the new president of the Congress for New Urbanism, which recently moved its headquarters to Chicago.  Mr. Norquist is the former mayor of Milwaukee.  For reservations call 312-726-4030 or e-mail Elychapter@aol.com
 
Also, The Congress for New Urbanism will hold its XII Congress, "Blocks, Streets, Building's Today: The City New City Beautiful"  in Chicago June 24-27.  Two Ely members serve on the planning committee, Peter Skosey and Doug Farr.  Doug Farr will also be one of the presenters at the conference.  For more information visit their website at www.CNU.org

Lambda Alpha Website Visited by 49,996 in 2003!!
 
In 2003, we averaged 137 daily visitors with an average length of stay of 5.4 minutes.  Seventy percent of the visitors went directly to 209.224.198.102 and of the 30 percent that used search engines, 57 percent came from Google, 19 percent from Yahoo, and 9 percent from MSN. Our busiest month was September when we had 6,113 visitors and our slowest month was January when 2,453 visited out site.  This year, January has already exceeded our busiest month in 2003 recording 7,035 visitors.  Lambda Alpha may soon be offering website sponsorships would you be interested?  Let us know, e-mail us at LAI@LAI.org

New LAI Bylaws Online
 
The Board of Governors approved a revised set of LAI Bylaws during the Hawaii meeting.  Yes, we did do some work.  The LAI Bylaws are available online at 209.224.198.102 under Members Area - Organization Documents.

New Member Installation Ceremony Online
 
The Lambda Alpha installation ceremony is now online and can be found at 209.224.198.102 under Members Area - Organization Documents.