SPOTLIGHT
Residents brainstormed ideas ranging from identity to capital improvements at a neighborhood charrette. The city initiated a plan to define and enhance
areas based on residents’ desires with the goals of neighborhood stability, strengthening the economy and creating mobility options for the future.
them. The projected growth could double the city’s population
in the next 20 years. That is something for which the city
council is preparing. In the words of prominent cattle rancher
Alto “Bud” Adams, “You (Port St. Lucie) are to be congratulated
on building it into a modern, high-class city, and you
deserve a lot of credit for that.”
COMMUNITY CONSENSUS
Across the board, city departments are welcoming and
open to improving services in a number of key areas. Plans
to unify neighborhoods began last spring with strategies to
engage the populace in conversations about what it wants
the city to be. Maintaining a small-town feel may prove to be
challenging, but planning and zoning director Patti Tobin,
who leads the new neighborhoods initiative, is intent on
listening to what residents have to say. And when hometown
messaging comes to mind, the city likes to think in terms
of the best. Selling points like family oriented, active adult
resort living and friendly neighborhoods are truisms here.
Walk down a street or attend an event in town and you see
life everywhere ― young marrieds, children playing in parks,
youth gathering and active seniors ― neighbors sharing
conversation. Ask someone you meet where they live, and it’s
usually defined by major roadways. By creating iconic identities,
pockets of the city will be easier to locate. The how-to of
designing identifiers for and defining each neighborhood is
in motion. With time and patience, new enhancements will
strengthen community ties.
EARLY BEGINNINGS
A common observation among residents and newcomers
is the lack of a downtown that provides a greater sense of
community.
“The city was built for General Development,” Tobin adds.
“Today, many people wonder about the methodology of
such a plan, but looking at land design of the 1960s, it’s easy
to understand the thought of why things are the way they
are. Making it work now is the job of staff who are doing a
Herculean task of re-envisioning the past and modeling a
new future out of the clay, brick and mortar that is already
established.”
With that in mind, a citizens summit was held in 2014 and
from that meeting came a blueprint for neighborhood planning.
12 Port St. Lucie Magazine
DEBRA MAGRANN
Recreation is abundant for young and old among wooded pines in PSL.
>>