The Rosses, their live-work loft and Clematis Street are at the vanguard of the urban living trend gaining momentum in Florida. On Clematis, downtown revitalization has turned abandoned buildings into upscale restaurants and retail shops with second-story apartments and offices. Miami developer Jorge Perez sees the future of Florida's cities there: "We're getting calls from towns all over Florida saying, 'Come help us with our downtown,'" says Perez, whose Related Cos. of Florida is building part of West Palm's CityPlace, an upscale mixed-use project rising on a blighted 72-acre site near downtown. "Main street will be revived -- in more places than you think."
Urban renewal in Florida is being driven by both the market -- demand from people like the Rosses, empty-nesters tired of golf-course living -- and the growing recognition that suburban sprawl aggravates some of the state's worst problems. In suburbs: traffic congestion, crowded schools, loss of open space. In downtowns: crime, blight, unemployment.Virtually every community in Florida now can boast of some revitalization project. But, as many cities are finding, urban renewal is not as easy as West Palm makes it look.
The rebirth of Clematis Street has followed the "New Urbanism" theory of design that draws on principles from the past: Mix together residential and retail uses, encourage walking instead of driving, enhance the sense of community with storefronts and cafes that are open to the street rather than walled up in malls. Clematis may be New Urbanism's best incarnation so far, spurred by West Palm's visionary former Mayor Nancy Graham, an existing palette of lovely historic buildings, and a willingness to throw out zoning laws that enforced conformity by outlawing everything from neon to sidewalk dining.
The result: a healthy infusion of not only new businesses and customers, but residents like the Rosses. The couple had long dreamed of setting up shop in an old brownstone studio, but had never been able to find one in Florida. "When we saw the energy on Clematis Street and the old buildings coming back and the great little newsstand-coffee bar down the street, we said, 'Whoa, this is it,'" says Greg Ross. The Rosses traded a 13th-fairway condominium and a warehouse studio in Fort Myers (they paid $2,000 a month for both) for their $3,000-a-month live/work loft with wrap-around windows, lots of natural light and an old freight elevator that lifts furniture for Rooms to Go and other photography clients.
The street noise took a little getting used to, and so did working and living in the same 2,600-sq.-ft. space (along with cat, Webster, and Welsh Terrier, Rudy). But the Rosses say they love the energy of the street, and the surprises that come with living above it. One morning as she was leaving the loft, Pamela Ross heard "Cut!'' and discovered a production company filming outside. "Every day I laugh because I was so bored where we were living before ... but you need to be careful what you ask for."
Finding a balance
But as many cities have found, residents don't appreciate all the surprises that come with urban renewal. In some south Florida neighborhoods, residents are complaining about too much high-density zoning -- particularly high rises that they believe create concrete canyons rather than streetscapes, says Jim Kane, a Fort Lauderdale political analyst and pollster.
William Morris, one of the developers of Fort Lauderdale's first large-scale mix of residential, commercial and retail space in twin 22-story towers at 100 East Las Olas, responds that plenty of residents will want the high density when they understand it means living a few floors up from their gym, office or favorite coffee shop. "Some people are going to want to take the elevator to work in the morning and home at night, and some people are going to want their half-acre yard," Morris says. "We've got to find ways to balance urban development and suburban development -- it's not going to be one or the other."
Still other residents fear displacement. Eastward Ho!, the public initiative to redevelop the corridor east of U.S. 1 in Broward, Martin, Miami-Dade, Palm Beach and St. Lucie counties, has spawned fears among some African-American residents and business owners that revitalization will mean gentrification. Carolyn Dekle, the executive director of the South Florida Regional Planning Council, a partner in Eastward Ho!, says providing affordable housing and better job and educational opportunities will be crucial to success. "People are afraid that they are not going to be able to afford to live here anymore, and that's an issue we ought to address directly," Dekle says. "We can't get caught up in someone's shiny new project with pink buildings and newly planted bushes, if you look underneath and see that it really means the housing is going from $600 a month to $2,000." The city of Orlando, for one, is approaching the problem by making residents a crucial part of its Parramore neighborhood revitalization.
Heart of the community
Another challenge: It can take time and money to get developers interested in the urban core. Cities often have to ante up considerably before the private sector will take the risk. Las Olas didn't begin to take off until the city of Fort Lauderdale invested $12 million in Riverwalk improvements and eastside infrastructure. Jacksonville Beach tried to revitalize its seedy beach-side blocks for a decade. But only after the city invested in a $5 million Mediterranean-style city hall and three-block beautification project did restaurants and hotels begin to show up. Bipartisan efforts at the federal and state levels are under way to help cities. President Clinton in his "Livability Agenda" and Gov. Jeb Bush with his "Front Porch" initiative have included millions in their proposed fiscal year 2000 budgets to help communities preserve green space, ease traffic congestion and pursue other New Urbanism strategies. There are no guarantees. Unlike West Palm, few communities have the extraordinary wealth just over the bridge in Palm Beach that has drawn retail giants like The Gap to Clematis Street along with upscale restaurants like My Martini Grille, where patrons can choose from 85 variations of the cocktail at an average price of $9.
But just down U.S. 1, communities such as Lake Worth and Delray Beach are proving revitalization can work in middle-income downtowns where the retail sector consists of family-owned healthfood stores and antique shops. "It's not about becoming a destination," says Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, a founder of New Urbanism. "It's about being a commercial core and the heart of the community around it."