Infrastructure forum explores region’s future
Infrastructure forum explores region’s future
The mayor who helped bring Pittsburgh through a transition from blight to beautiful challenged Big Bend leaders Wednesday to pursue their vision for the area, even if it carries with it some risk.
“You are doing OK, but if you want to do better, you have to shake up the status quo,” said Tom Murphy, a senior resident fellow at the Urban Land Institute, former Pennsylvania state legislator, and mayor of Pittsburgh from 1994 to 2005.
Murphy’s lunchtime address at FSU’s Turnbull Conference Center capped the morning forum on a regional approach to infrastructure development, sponsored by the Economic Development Council of Tallahassee/Leon County, Urban Land Institute North Florida and Our Region Tomorrow.
Cities have a particular challenge because in major metro areas, empty-nesters and Generation Y adults overwhelmingly want to live in urban areas. If Tallahassee is going to compete in a different world with a new economy, it will be driven by local universities, the advent of new technology and formation of businesses that recruit the area’s talent, he said.
“You have the raw materials here,” Murphy told the gathering. “I think you have got to think about how they get connected.”
While in office, Murphy used public-private partnerships to leverage more than $4.5 billion in economic development in Pittsburgh, including sports stadiums and a convention center. The effort also transformed blighted, abandoned industrial properties into new commercial, residential and public sites.
The Big Bend is projected to have 75,000 more households over the next 20 years, so critical decisions are being made now on how to address that growth, especially the infrastructure needed. Forum sessions covered transportation, energy, broadband communications, and the region’s green infrastructure and water resources.
A critical element will be the area’s ability to handle mobility needs. Harry Reed, executive director of the Capital Region Transportation Planning Agency, said the region is facing a projected 78-percent increase in freight movement through 2025.
“We have to think of how we will move freight efficiently, not just people,” he added.