Podcasts about Civic center

This morning on The Greg & Dan Show, Lindsey Spangler from Red Sneakers of Greater Peoria visited the studio to inform us about some of the new allergy training initiatives for Peoria's Civic Center.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tap the link to hear DJFab and Lysa chop it up about Super Sunday May 18, featuring Lysa.  Calling all Queens out!! 25+ BYOB, CASH BAR, AND FOOD TRUCKS.  Patterson Civic Center - 116 Cotten Rd Presale Tickets - $20  Door Prizes - Half & Half Raffles

Tourist at home, Menlo Park Civic center and library, asmr

INTRO: Build One South Africa (BOSA) will stage a picket today outside the City of Cape Town Civic Centre to protest the City's proposed tariff increases. BOSA has slammed the Democratic Alliance (DA), which governs the City, accusing it of hypocrisy. BOSA says the picket aims to draw attention to the proposed hikes, which it says will place an undue burden on residents. For more on this, Elvis Presslin spoke to BOSA Spokesperson, Roger Solomon...

April 29,  2025 - We've got a giveaway winner for the Denver Mini Derby! Also, tune in to hear Troy's famous sports takes and a new segment highlighting some of the coolest development projects around Denver and greater CO! Follow WDG: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8u8GmvBi6th6LOOMCuwJKw Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whats_good_denver/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@whatsgooddenver   Do you have a Denver event, cause, opening, or recommendation that you want to share with us? We want to hear from you! Tell us what's good at tom@kitcaster.com.   Troy's sports hot takes:   Lebron's final hoorah?   Clippers vs. Nuggets   NFL Draft     Developing Denver     Events:    Denver Mini Derby @ RiNo Art Park   Luminaria Benefit @ Wash Park Boat House May 11 from 6-9pm   Cinco De Mayo Fest @ Civic Center Park   First Fridays all around town!   Most Farmer's Markets starting up this weekend   Backdoor Sessions @ Mockingbird   Dillon Francis @ Temple   Red Rocks Schedule     Our Sponsor:   Kitcaster Podcast Agency   Denver Mini Derby   Music produced by Troy Higgins   Goodboytroy.com  

This morning on The Greg & Dan Show, we were joined by Rik Edgar, the General Manager of the Civic Center, to talk about their performance in the month of March and some upcoming exciting concert and shows coming to the Civic Center.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Seven years ago Dr. Gerd took over as President & CEO of Scottsdale Arts. In that time he has revamped the Civic Center, brought in more festivals, shows and performances. Increased our outdoor art throughout the city and on our side streets. And today he's going to talk about the importance of art when it comes to a thriving community.    Calendar of Events Taste! April 12 @ Scottsdale Civic Center. Bring your appetite as this is an opportunity to try out 50 local restaurants.    Scottsdale Jazz Festival Get your tickets for the weekend of April 26 to see some of the hottest jazz ensembles right now. Starting at $55   Tour de ScottsdaleStarting & finishing at WestWorld, this is a huge event for our city. PLEASE be on the lookout and come around to support the riders.    Desert Stages Gala Desert Stages Theatre on Friday, April 11th for their 30th Anniversary Gala. The event will be held at Museum of the West, the theme is Masquerade of Memories, and hors d'oeuvres and drinks will be served. Tickets can be purchased à la carte, or full tables can be purchased at various sponsorship levels. Funds will go towards the Theatre's relocation efforts and supporting their next chapter.  

Seven years ago Dr. Gerd took over as President & CEO of Scottsdale Arts. In that time he has revamped the Civic Center, brought in more festivals, shows and performances. Increased our outdoor art throughout the city and on our side streets. And today he's going to talk about the importance of art when it comes to a thriving community.    Calendar of Events Taste! April 12 @ Scottsdale Civic Center. Bring your appetite as this is an opportunity to try out 50 local restaurants.    Scottsdale Jazz Festival Get your tickets for the weekend of April 26 to see some of the hottest jazz ensembles right now. Starting at $55   Tour de ScottsdaleStarting & finishing at WestWorld, this is a huge event for our city. PLEASE be on the lookout and come around to support the riders.    Desert Stages Gala Desert Stages Theatre on Friday, April 11th for their 30th Anniversary Gala. The event will be held at Museum of the West, the theme is Masquerade of Memories, and hors d'oeuvres and drinks will be served. Tickets can be purchased à la carte, or full tables can be purchased at various sponsorship levels. Funds will go towards the Theatre's relocation efforts and supporting their next chapter.  

This morning on The Greg & Dan Show, Dylan Dewitt came in to the studio to tell us about the Disney on Ice performances at the Peoria Civic Center this weekendSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This morning on the Greg & Dan Show, we sat down with Rik Edgar of The Peoria Civic Center. So much going on!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s Home Show weekend! What’s new in remodeling with the folks from CT Gabbert.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Tuesday Kenny & JT Show is underway. A choice of basketball tonight as the Globetrotters will entertain the Civic Center crowd tonight and the Cavs are back in action in Orlando tonight. We listen to and break down some of Browns GM Andrew Berry's comments today at the NFL Combine. Plus, more Myles Garrett trade rumors.

Der Virologe Florian Krammer über die verdrängte Corona-Pandemie. Ein Podcast vom Pragmaticus. Das Thema:Wissen Sie, wieviele Menschen durch SARS-CoV-2 gestorben sind? 27 Millionen. Der Impfstoffforscher Florian Krammer blickt deshalb kritisch auf die Coronavirus-Pandemie zurück. Aber vor allem nach vorn: Während wir die Pandemie-Maßnahmen problematisieren, zum Teil zu Recht, vergessen wir, uns auf die nächste Pandemie vorzubereiten, sagt er.Unser Gast in dieser Folge: Florian Krammer ist Professor für Infektionsmedizin an der Medizinischen Universität Wien, Direktor des universitätsübergreifenden Ignaz-Semmelweis-Instituts und forscht am Institut für Mikrobiologie der Icahn School of Medicine an Impfstoffen gegen Influenza-, Corona-, Lassa-, Hanta- und Ebolaviren. Er ist Professor für Vakzinologie und Principal Investigator am dortigen CIVIC-Center, das sich auf die Entwicklung von (universellen) Influenza-Impfstoffen spezialisiert hat, sowie Ko-Direktor des Center for Vaccine Research and Pandemic Preparedness (C-VaRPP). In Wien arbeitet Krammer an der Charakterisierung von Krankheitserregern, insbesondere von Viren mit pandemischem Potenzial. Für den Pragmaticus schrieb Krammer einen Beitrag über die Tücken der Erforschung von Impfstoffen sowie über das Potenzial von Influenza-Viren eine Pandemie auszulösen.Dies ist ein Podcast von Der Pragmaticus. Sie finden uns auch auf Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn und X (Twitter).

On November 5, 2005, a jogger found the body of 32-year-old mother of three Brandy Dyson floating in a lake behind the Lake Charles Civic Center. Brandy had been struggling with mental health issues and with addition. For a while she was doing well, and settled into an apartment. But then she lost her apartment after taking refugees in from Hurricane Katrina. She then moved to the Civic Center in Lake Charles with a lot of other evacuees from the storm. After that, Brandy was caught drinking, which broke the rules of the Red Cross, the organization that was running things at the Civic Center, so she was asked to leave. This seemed to start what would turn out to be her final downward spiral. Police believe she set up camp on a pier nearby and had been living there for a few weekends when the next massive hurricane, Hurricane Rita, hit and devastated the state. Sometime in the midst of the storm chaos, Brandy was brutally murdered. The bruising on her neck was so bad that her father said that she had to be buried in a turtleneck sweater. It’s been almost 20 years. The person arrested and at first charged with her murder has been released, and no new suspects have come forward. But the unsolved case is still on the minds of the detectives at the Lake Charles police department. Down there, Brandy’s family tells me, they have a nickname for her. They call her The Lady in the Lake. If you have a case you’d like Catherine Townsend to look into, you can reach out to us at our Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On November 5, 2005 a jogger was out running beside a lake in Lake Charles, Louisiana, behind the Civic Center, when he saw something floating in the water. When he took a closer look, he realized it was the body of a woman. Police identified the body as 32-year-old Brandy Renee Dyson, a mother of three who had recently been made homeless after Hurricane Katrina and then Hurricane Rita, which devastated the state. It’s been almost 20 years, there’s been one arrest and a lot of controversy, but her case is still unsolved. There's a lot we don't know about Brandy's murder, but we do know that it was violent. Her father Adley Dyson told a local news station, "We had to bury her in a turtleneck sweater because she was strangled and she was thrown in the lake." If you have a case you’d like Catherine Townsend to look into, you can reach out to us at our Hell and Gone Murder Line at 678-744-6145.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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John & Nancy Are STILL Talking - Episode 109 finalSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this week's episode, Allen and Trevor hop on to talk about the 2025 Top Ten Bench Show. The big event will be held on Friday, February 7, 2025, at Winter Classic at the Civic Center in Batesville, Mississippi. We discuss which dogs are heating things up heading to the show and what it takes to get into the spotlight and on the big screen to become the overall winner. We also mention our judging panel and the $15,000 payout distribution. We chat through a few trends from the various coonhound breed associations and list off the qualifiers from each breed who will be making their way to the big stage. We'll see you soon for food, fun, and festivities! To learn more about the Winter Classic event, visit: https://www.ukcdogs.com/winter-classic   Follow Us on Social! www.facebook.com/UKCHuntingOpsPodcast www.instagram.com/ukchuntingops https://www.youtube.com/@ukcdogs   Check Out Our Sponsors: www.eukanubasportingdog.com

On The Kenny & JT Show, we're joined by Canton Mayor Bill Sherer. We talk plowing the roads, the Mayor's connection to new Perry head coach Spencer Leno, upgrades to the Civic Center, police staffing, a new library, and more...

The City of Fargo is seeking options to bring more life to the downtown Civic Center. Fargo Mayor Tim Mahoney joins Amy & JJ to discuss. Read more from KFGO News here: https://kfgo.com/2025/01/09/1092047/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The City of Fargo is looking into the the next steps for the Fargo Civic Center. Scotch, Tank and Mandy decided to help out and came up with a Top 5 list of ideas. We also discuss why some bar/restaurants have to play their music so loud during happy hour. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today is Thursday, Jan. 9. Here are some of the latest headlines from the Fargo, North Dakota area. InForum Minute is produced by Forum Communications and brought to you by reporters from The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead and WDAY TV. For more news from throughout the day, visit InForum.com.

The Jay Thomas Show from Thursday January 9th, 2025.  Guests include Barbara Lee Schultz and your calls and emails.

CAN WE MAKE DENVER GREAT AGAIN? Today on X.com I saw two different tweets that make me incredibly sad for Denver. First off, we've got this gem, where a Venezuelan (yes, I am assuming nationality but it's a safe guess) "window washer" or as I like to call them "intersection nuisance" was not happy when a man took umbrage with them squirting water on his windshield.He seems nice. And then there was this guy who shared his letter to his landlord about why they have to leave the house they are renting in the Highlands neighborhood. Read all of it to get the full effect of what's going on.We all know that the Mayor doesn't see any of this. He simply touts the number of people he's gotten off the streets and into homeless hotels and talks about how THIS renovation of Civic Center park is going to be the thing that brings people back downtown in droves. I'm genuinely not sure what kind of action Denverites could take right now to demand some sort of real action that could positively change the lives of the people who live here. Suggestions? Anyone? Bueller? Taylor Romero joins me at 1 today to discuss.

Ep. 116 NBL Rewind Josh Benson: Making Time   We've rewound alllll the way back to Josh's interview from July 19, 2023 in our final episode of our holiday Rewind series. Danielle visits Josh and catches up on his latest developments, including painting some amazing murals in Marion and cutting back on his 27 gigs…by 1.   Join Danielle and Kevin as they sit down with fellow host, Josh Benson. Josh answers the hard-hitting questions like which one of the seven dwarves he identifies most with and what prank he wants to pull on his fellow host. Eventually, Josh shares the journey from theatre to autobody work and back to theatre, his change In leadership style, the impressive arts driven growth in Marion, IL, his family, and so much more. Some of his mural work can be found here: http://marionmurals.com/   Josh Benson is the Executive Director of the Marion Cultural and Civic Center (https://marionccc.com/) in Marion, Illinois. Josh is also a muralist, father, and 1/5 of the There's No Business Like podcast team.   Follow us on social media and let us know your thoughts and questions – https://linktr.ee/nobusinesslikepod   Our theme song is composed by Vic Davi.

On The Kenny & JT Show we welcome in Blake Schilling, General Manager of the Canton Memorial Civic Center, to discuss the state of the facility both present and future.

The Wednesday Kenny & JT Show is underway. The Arby's next to the Civic Center is officially demolished. We remember Chris Farley on the anniversary of his passing and judge the relevance of today's funny guys. Plus, memories of Caeser the Wrestling Bear.

The Cybercrime Magazine Podcast brings you daily cybercrime news on WCYB Digital Radio, the first and only 7x24x365 internet radio station devoted to cybersecurity. Stay updated on the latest cyberattacks, hacks, data breaches, and more with our host. Don't miss an episode, airing every half-hour on WCYB Digital Radio and daily on our podcast. Listen to today's news at https://soundcloud.com/cybercrimemagazine/sets/cybercrime-daily-news. Brought to you by our Partner, Evolution Equity Partners, an international venture capital investor partnering with exceptional entrepreneurs to develop market leading cyber-security and enterprise software companies. Learn more at https://evolutionequity.com

It's Friday and we're looking back at the biggest stories of the week. First, a big new investigation from CPR reveals that a foundation meant to support mental health and substance use treatment problems may be sending millions in taxpayer dollars to some potentially shady places. Then, the new plan for Civic Center Park has sparked controversy over a proposed modern redesign of the historic space. Host Bree Davies is joined by politics and green chile correspondent Justine Sandoval and Westword staff writer Catie Cheshire to dig the oversight scandal and the park plans, as well as the sad ending of Biker Jim's Gourmet Dogs, the Parade of Lights turning 50, and more wins and fails of the week. By focusing on the stories and issues shaping our neighborhoods, City Cast Denver bridges gaps and connects the dots in Denver. Become a member today to support local journalism that connects.  Catie mentioned fellow Westword writer Jason Heller's piece digging into the latest chapter in the Tattered Cover saga and a new book on Nikola Jokić from former Denver Post reporter Mike Singer. Justine talked about the new Engines Off For Food Trucks program. What do you think about the plans for Civic Center Park? We want to hear your take! Text or leave us a voicemail with your name and neighborhood, and you might hear it on the show: 720-500-5418‬ For even more news from around the city, subscribe to our morning newsletter Hey Denver at denver.citycast.fm. Follow us on Instagram: @citycastdenver Chat with other listeners on reddit: r/CityCastDenver Support City Cast Denver by becoming a member: membership.citycast.fm/Denver Learn more about the sponsors of this December 6th episode: BetterHelp - get 10% off at betterhelp.com/CITYCAST Unit E Records Colfax Ave BID Office of Climate Action Coloradogives.org PineMelon - Use promo code CITYCASTDENVER for $35 off your first delivery Looking to advertise on City Cast Denver? Check out our options for podcast and newsletter ads at citycast.fm/advertise Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What's happening to the Lorraine H. Morton Civic Center? How has the Advisory Committee on Investment Responsibility changed? The Daily answers these questions and recaps other top stories from the last week. Read the full article: https://dailynorthwestern.com/2024/11/25/audio/the-weekly-morton-civic-center-advisory-committee-on-investment-responsibility-field-hockey-national-championship/

11/22/24: Simone Wai is a co-founder of Folkways, a community-oriented nonprofit. She joins Joel Heitkamp in the KFGO studio to talk about their upcoming two-weekend event, Christkindlmarkt. Step into the holiday season with Christkindlmarkt, Fargo's own German-inspired holiday market, transforming the Fargo Civic Center into a twinkling winter wonderland for two enchanting weekends.  Learn more on their website. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Mid-Hudson Civic Center, located in Poughkeepsie, New York, is a storied venue in professional wrestling history. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, it was a regular stop for WWE (then WWF) events, including television tapings for shows like WWF Championship Wrestling and Monday Night Raw. Its intimate setting allowed fans to experience the action up close, creating a lively and energetic atmosphere. Legends such as Hulk Hogan, Shawn Michaels, and Bret Hart graced its ring, cementing its reputation as a cornerstone for wrestling's golden era. Today, it remains a celebrated venue for both indie wrestling promotions and nostalgic fans of the sport.

During the summer vacation with our parents, Thomas and I, celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary. We were able to go out for the evening, just the two of us, which was always a special time to share our hearts and talk about our dreams for the future. By 1980 we had been together for 10 years, and were continually amazed, at God's faithfulness in our lives. He had blessed us with four daughters which gave us much joy, and we looked forward to raising them in the nurture of the Lord. We had gone through three difficult years before we were Christians. Being immersed in the hippie lifestyle following our hearts, and not wanting to believe that our ways, were sinful in God's eyes. The first big change in our relationship took place when we exchanged wedding vows at the Civic Center in 1972. Less than 10 months later, we prayed to Jesus for the first time together, and the next day our daughter was born. In that week, two miraculous events took place, showing us that God is real, and he was protecting us. From then on our lives took on a whole new direction. As you have heard the story, you know how we eventually ended up back in Germany, as missionaries. Becoming part of a team, that went to Munich to start a church, was definitely not something we could have imagined before.

Hallyu means the Korean Wave, which is the nickname given to the phenomenal embrace of South Korean pop culture around the world!  The Asian Art Museum of San Francisco is surfing that wave by bringing in a collection of pop culture pieces. Costumes from your favorite K-dramas, a recreated set from the movie Parasite, stage outfits worn by K-Pop stars, and much more grace the galleries in the museum.   I was lucky enough to meet up with the museum's Korean Art curator, Yoon Jee Choi, and she gave me an after-hours VIP tour. And lucky for you, I was able to record it, so you get to come along too! The Hallyu exhibition is going on only until January 6th.  So hurry and come down.  The Asian Art Museum is located in the Civic Center of San Francisco.  The days/hours of operation are Thursday-Monday usually from 10-5 PM, but on Thursdays, the museum is open from 1-8 PM. It's free to go on the 1st Sunday of every month.  You can get a membership for under $120, which lasts a year and allows you to bring another person with you, so that's a great deal! You can find out more over at https://asianart.org/ or follow their Instagram @asianartmuseum  Special thanks to my favorite curator Yoon Jee Choi!  And thanks also to Freesia from the Media Relations Department. As I always mention, you can write to us at: ⁠infatuasianpodcast@gmail.com⁠, and please follow us on Instagram and Facebook @infatuasianpodcast  Our Theme: “Super Happy J-Pop Fun-Time” by Prismic Studios was arranged and performed by All Arms Around  Cover Art and Logo designed by Justin Chuan @w.a.h.w (We Are Half the World) #asianart #hallyu #Koreanart #asianartmuseum #KPOP #Kdramas #asianpodcast #asian #asianamerican #infatuasian #infatuasianpodcast #aapi #veryasian  #asianamericanpodcaster #representationmatters

In this episode of Stop & Talk, host Grant Oliphant sits down with visionary urban planner Omar Blaik, CEO of U3 Advisors, to explore the future of downtown spaces and their potential to serve all community members. Drawing from his extensive experience revitalizing cities like Philadelphia, Omar discusses the role of thoughtful design in fostering connection, empathy, and vibrancy in urban environments.Key to the conversation is San Diego's Civic Center—a six-block area around City Hall—which Omar sees as a golden opportunity to reshape the heart of the city. He and Grant delve into how reconnecting the downtown grid, breaking down physical and social barriers, and creating multi-use spaces can transform this site into a dynamic hub that reflects the city's diversity and greatness. Omar emphasizes the importance of designing cities "for us," ensuring that public spaces feel inclusive and welcoming to all, rather than being tailored for tourists or single-use purposes.The episode touches on the lessons learned from cities around the world, including Omar's native Cairo, and offers a compelling vision for how American cities can evolve to meet the needs of their people, creating spaces that encourage interaction, inclusivity, and sustainability. Join Grant and Omar as they envision a future for San Diego that not only serves its residents but sets a national example for urban renewal and community engagement.Credits:This is a production of the Prebys Foundation.Hosted by Grant OliphantCo-Hosted by Crystal PageCo-produced by Crystal Page and Adam GreenfieldEngineered by Adam GreenfieldProduction Assistance by Tess KareskyThe Stop & Talk Theme song was created by San Diego's own Mr. Lyrical Groove.Recorded at the Voice of San Diego Podcast StudioDownload episodes at your favorite podcatcher or visit us at StopAndTalkPodcast.orgIf you like this show, and we hope you do, the best way to support this show is to share, subscribe, and review our podcast. Thank you for your support, ideas, and listening. 

Murder in Florida at the Town Center at Boca Raton Mall in Florida was the site of several unsolved attacks in 2007, including the kidnapping and murder of Randy Gorenberg and the killings of Nancy Bochicchio and her daughter Joey.On March 23, 2007, Gorenberg was kidnapped from the mall's parking lot in her own SUV at around 1:15 PM. About 30 minutes later, someone at the South County Civic Center called 911 to report hearing gunshots and seeing a woman being thrown from an SUV. Gorenberg's body was found near the Civic Center at Governor Lawton Chiles Memorial Park, five miles away from where she was taken. Some believe the killer was a sociopath who abducted Gorenberg and shot her in the face in a public place.Nancy Bochicchio and Joey.Bochicchio and her young daughter Joey were also victims of attacks at the mall during 2007. While there's no direct forensic evidence linking the cases, investigators believe they may be related to an August 7, 2007 carjacking incident at the mall. In that incident, a suspect entered Jane Doe's vehicle after she left the mall with her son, but they were able to survive an attempted abduction.=======================================Get the ProfilingEvil coaster set, stickers and pen: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/profilingevilOrder a copy of Deceived or She Knew No Fear and get the book signed for free! https://www.ProfilingEvil.comSUPPORT our Podcasts: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1213394/support

Earlier this year, Terri Lee was named the president and CEO of Atlanta Housing. Lee talks with Rose about the agency's critical role in helping the City Of Atlanta reach its affordable housing goals. She also talks about her top priorities as the new leader of the agency and provides updates on several major developments, including the Civic Center and Summerhill Hotel. Plus, Grant Wallace, the owner of Peace of Mind Glass Recycling, returns to “Closer Look,” to provide an update on how his business is fairing, reaching 10,000 pounds of recycled glass. He also shares details about a community event on Aug. 24 at Cabbagetown Park to mark his business milestone.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Here's a look at the top headlines from around the Northland for Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024. Stories featured in this episode: Duluth struggles to break up homeless camp Harris Walz 2024: Vice president taps Minnesota governor as running mate New Medical District East parking ramp opens in Duluth Northlandia: The Eveleth artist who sent his work to Eleanor Roosevelt The Duluth News Tribune Minute is a product of Forum Communications Company and is brought to you by reporters at the Duluth News Tribune, Superior Telegram and Cloquet Pine Journal. Find more news throughout the day at duluthnewstribune.com. If you enjoy this podcast, please consider supporting our work with a subscription at duluthnewstribune.news/podcast. Your support allows us to continue providing the local news and content you want.

Here's a look at the top headlines from around the Northland for Wednesday, July 31, 2024. Stories featured in this episode: Duluth prepares to clear Civic Center encampment Duluth tackles homeless encampments, other public safety issues The Duluth News Tribune Minute is a product of Forum Communications Company and is brought to you by reporters at the Duluth News Tribune, Superior Telegram and Cloquet Pine Journal. Find more news throughout the day at duluthnewstribune.com. If you enjoy this podcast, please consider supporting our work with a subscription at duluthnewstribune.news/podcast. Your support allows us to continue providing the local news and content you want.

MDJ Script/ Top Stories for July 23rd Publish Date:  July 23rd      Commercial: DRAKE From the BG AD Group Studio, Welcome to the Marietta Daily Journal Podcast.    Today is Tuesday, July 23rd and Happy 59th Birthday to rocker Slash. ***07.23.24 – BIRTHDAY – SLASH*** I'm Dan Radcliffe and here are the stories Cobb is talking about, presented by Credit Union of Georgia.  'Backing the Need:' School Supply Drive Returns to Cobb Civic Center Cobb Approves Acworth Senior Living Development BrandsMart USA Celebrates Grand Opening in Kennesaw   All of this and more is coming up on the Marietta Daily Journal Podcast, and if you are looking for community news, we encourage you to listen and subscribe!    BREAK: CU of GA STORY 1: ‘Backing the Need:' School Supply Drive Returns to Cobb Civic Center In Marietta, the fourth annual Backing the Need drive saw 70 volunteers gathering at the Cobb Civic Center to sort and pack backpacks filled with school supplies for local students in need. Co-hosted by KIDS CARE and the Cobb County Police Department, the event collected donations from precincts, headquarters, and local businesses. Over 350 backpacks were packed and distributed to nonprofits like Communities in Schools and Simple Needs Georgia. This effort, spearheaded by KIDS CARE, aims to instill kindness and service in volunteers of all ages, emphasizing community support and educational empowerment through practical donations. STORY 2: Cobb Approves Acworth Senior Living Development In Marietta, the Cobb Board of Commissioners voted 4-0 to approve a rezoning request by Creator's Group Investments for a senior-living community in Acworth. The development will feature 39 homes on 11.8 acres at 2856 Wade Green Road, including amenities like walking trails, a pavilion, and sport courts. The decision addresses the increasing senior population in Cobb County, with Commissioner JoAnn Birrell setting conditions such as a maximum of 39 homes and a 10% rental cap. Planning Commissioner Christine Lindstrom also specified requirements for construction and site amenities during earlier meetings. STORY 3: BrandsMart USA Celebrates Grand Opening in Kennesaw In Kennesaw, BrandsMart USA's new location at Cobb Place Shopping Center drew hundreds for its grand opening, featuring local officials and eager shoppers. Attendees lined up early for a chance at a $50 gift card, with longtime customers like Sharon and Larry Dover excited to return after the previous store's closure in 2014. BrandsMart President Steve Olsen highlighted the brand's expansion and its community impact, including new job creation and a partnership with Kennesaw State University. The store offers a wide range of products and lease-to-own options, attracting shoppers from across northern Georgia.     We have opportunities for sponsors to get great engagement on these shows. Call 770.799.6810 for more info.    We'll be right back    Break: DRAKE STORY 4: AROUND TOWN: Cobb Leaders React to Biden Dropping Out   In response to President Biden's announcement to drop out and endorse Vice President Kamala Harris for the upcoming election, Cobb County leaders expressed diverse opinions. Democratic leaders like State Rep. Teri Anulewicz praised Biden for guiding the nation through challenges like the recession and the COVID-19 pandemic, expressing support for Harris. On the Republican side, Cobb GOP Chair Salleigh Grubbs criticized Biden, questioning his fitness for office. State Rep. David Wilkerson commended Biden's leadership and anticipated a successful convention for the Democrats. Meanwhile, U.S. Rep. Barry Loudermilk emphasized the need to change policies in November. STORY 5: Amerigroup Hosts Annual Back-to-School-Bash Amerigroup Georgia organized its annual "Tools for School 2024" event at the Riverside EpiCenter in Austell, providing free backpacks and school supplies to students gearing up for the new school year in Cobb County. The event also featured access to the EpiCenter's amenities like bowling, arcade games, and rock climbing. Vendors such as Community Organized Relief Efforts and Cobb and Douglas Public Health set up booths, offering information and services to attendees. Over 1,000 backpacks were prepared, with an expected turnout of 500 to 1,000 people. Families appreciated the support and community engagement, highlighting the event's positive impact. We'll be back in a moment    Break: INGLES 10 STORY 6: Turner Chapel to Host Back-to-School Block Party   Turner Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church is hosting a back-to-school block party on July 27 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 492 North Marietta Parkway. Organized by the Evangelism and Generation Activated with a Purpose (G.A.P) Youth Ministries, the event will offer free food, games, community resources, and giveaways for kids and families. This year, they aim to involve more of the community, especially the neighborhood of Roosevelt Circle, showing love and support. The church will provide free backpacks, school supplies, and raffle prizes like bicycles and Braves tickets. Representatives from Cobb and Douglas Public Health and other organizations will also offer resources and assistance. STORY 7: Six Flags to Require Chaperones for Guests 15 and Under    Six Flags Over Georgia is implementing new rules requiring guests aged 15 and younger to be accompanied by a chaperone aged at least 21 from 4 p.m. onward. The park cites recent incidents of unruly behavior and safety concerns, including a shooting on opening day. Mableton Mayor Michael Owens supports the move, noting it as part of broader safety efforts. Chaperones can supervise up to 10 minors, must show ID, and be reachable by phone while in the park. Guests violating the policy face removal. Six Flags aims to maintain a safe, enjoyable environment for families and friends, reinforcing their commitment to visitor safety. Break: Marietta Theater BONNIE & CLYDE   Signoff-   Thanks again for hanging out with us on today's Marietta Daily Journal Podcast. If you enjoy these shows, we encourage you to check out our other offerings, like the Cherokee Tribune Ledger Podcast, the Marietta Daily Journal, or the Community Podcast for Rockdale Newton and Morgan Counties. Read more about all our stories and get other great content at mdjonline.com Did you know over 50% of Americans listen to podcasts weekly? Giving you important news about our community and telling great stories are what we do. Make sure you join us for our next episode and be sure to share this podcast on social media with your friends and family. Add us to your Alexa Flash Briefing or your Google Home Briefing and be sure to like, follow, and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Produced by the BG Podcast Network   Show Sponsors: ingles-markets.com cuofga.org drakerealty.com mariettatheatresquare.com   #NewsPodcast #CurrentEvents #TopHeadlines #BreakingNews #PodcastDiscussion #PodcastNews #InDepthAnalysis #NewsAnalysis #PodcastTrending #WorldNews #LocalNews #GlobalNews #PodcastInsights #NewsBrief #PodcastUpdate #NewsRoundup #WeeklyNews #DailyNews #PodcastInterviews #HotTopics #PodcastOpinions #InvestigativeJournalism #BehindTheHeadlines #PodcastMedia #NewsStories #PodcastReports #JournalismMatters #PodcastPerspectives #NewsCommentary #PodcastListeners #NewsPodcastCommunity #NewsSource #PodcastCuration #WorldAffairs #PodcastUpdates #AudioNews #PodcastJournalism #EmergingStories #NewsFlash #PodcastConversationsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

From the BG Ad Group Studio this is your news minute on the Marietta Daily Journal Podcast presented by Credit Union of Georgia. Today is Monday, July 22nd, and I'm Keith Ippolito. 'Backing the Need:' School Supply Drive Returns to Cobb Civic Center In Marietta, about 70 volunteers gathered at the Cobb Civic Center for the fourth annual "Backing the Need" drive, co-hosted by KIDS CARE and the Cobb County Police Department. The event aimed to collect new backpacks and school supplies for local students in need. Volunteers sorted donations from Cobb police precincts and local businesses, packing 350 backpacks for distribution to seven local nonprofits. Notably, Two Men and a Truck donated a moving truck and mover to assist. KIDS CARE, co-founded by Amie Burke and her daughter Jaida, organizes monthly volunteer opportunities for all ages. The drive not only provided supplies but also educated young volunteers on the impact of their contributions. Since its inception, the event has distributed over 1,374 backpacks to students in Cobb schools. For more information or to get involved, visit kids-care2018.org. For more news about our community, visit mdjonline.com. For the Marietta Daily Journal Podcast, I'm Keith Ippolito. Produced by The BG Podcast NetworkSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Frank Starkey and his family are one of those rare breeds of Floridians that actually have deep roots in the Sunshine State. We talk about how they sought to owner their grand-dad's wishes as they ultimately developed the family cattle ranch in New Port Richey. A big part of their work was the Traditional Neighborhood Development (TND) called Longleaf. And later, the Starkey Ranch project.Here's a funny real estate video about Longleaf: (funny to me, anyway)If you listen to Frank, you'll learn how an architect has a whole different perspective on the present and the future, and why he thinks he has a luxurious lifestyle now in downtown New Port Richey. You can see some of his current efforts at this link to his website.This is episode number 50 of The Messy City podcast - thanks so much for listening. If you're new to this, welcome! I look forward to the next 50, as we explore the issues and people who love traditional human settlements, and are trying to create them. I love talking to the do-ers, to the creators, and everyone who has skin in the game that's trying to build a more humane world.Find more content on The Messy City on Kevin's Substack page.Music notes: all songs by low standards, ca. 2010. Videos here. If you'd like a CD for low standards, message me and you can have one for only $5.Intro: “Why Be Friends”Outro: “Fairweather Friend”Transcript: Kevin K (00:01.18) Welcome back to the Messy City podcast. This is Kevin Klinkenberg. I'm happy today to be joined by my friend and fellow new urbanist, long time participant, Frank Starkey, joining us from Florida. Frank, how you doing today? Frank Starkey (00:20.337) Howdy, Kevin. Doing great. Happy to be with you. I've been... Kevin K (00:22.908) I didn't even check. I assume you're in Florida at home, but you could really be anywhere. Okay. Frank Starkey (00:25.617) Yeah, I am. Yeah. Yep, I'm in our we recently moved into a townhouse that Andy McCloskey, who used to work for me, built in town here and we just bought one and we're very happy here. It's really nice. Kevin K (00:40.348) Cool, cool. And you're in New Port Richey? Frank Starkey (00:45.169) Yes, Newport Richey is on the northwest side of the Tampa Bay region. It's part of the region. We're in that suburban sprawl miasma that characterizes all Florida cities. And we're about 25 miles as the crow flies from Tampa, basically from downtown Tampa, and probably 15 to 20 miles from Clearwater and 30 miles from St. Pete. So we're And we're right on the Gulf. We have a river that runs right through town that river miles from where we are out to the Gulf is maybe five river miles. So you could easily kayak and paddle board right out there or upstream pretty quickly you're into the Cypress freshwater wetlands. So we've got a lot of good nature around. Kevin K (01:39.516) Do you ever do that? Do you ever get out on a kayak or whatever and get out there on the river? Frank Starkey (01:43.089) Yeah, it's been a while. But if you go up to there's a preserve that the city owns that's up in the freshwater area. And if you're in there, you think you're in the Tarzan. A lot of the Tarzan movies and shows were filmed in Florida swamps and you feel like you're in a Tarzan movie. You can't see that you're in the middle of town. And if you go out to the coast, the barrier island and right where we are. They really start and go south from here. So from here on up through the big bend of the Panhandle in Florida, the coastline is all marshes and salt flats and grass wetlands. It's a much prettier coastline in my opinion than the more built -up barrier islands. But you can go out and kayak for days and days out in the coastal areas and see all kinds of wildlife and water life. So it's pretty cool. Kevin K (02:40.124) That's cool. That's really cool. Well, Frank and I have been talking about trying to do this for a while. We'd hoped to hook up in Cincinnati, but schedules just got in the way, as is typical for that event. But I really wanted to talk with you today, Frank, because you hit on a couple of my hot points, which is that you're an architect and a developer. Frank Starkey (02:51.313) you Kevin K (03:06.332) And I know as a designer that you also care a lot about the kind of issues that we talk about routinely within the world of new urbanism and urban design, which is, you know, creating beautiful walkable places. So I just think it'd be interesting. You know, I talked to a lot of people who come into the world of trying to be developers. You and I probably both talked to a lot of fellow architects who we try to encourage to be developers. Frank Starkey (03:06.481) Mm -hmm. Kevin K (03:33.948) And so it's fascinating to me how people come to that. So I wonder if we could start just a little bit by talking about like your path and where, you know, how you got to this point. You, did you grow up in Florida or were you in Texas? Is that right? Frank Starkey (03:51.761) Now I grew up in Florida. I went to college in Texas, but I grew up on a cattle ranch just east of here, in an area that's now called Odessa. It was a 16 ,000 acre, beef cattle ranch that our grandfather had bought in the 1930s. And we were about 20, 20 miles from downtown Tampa and Newport, Richie was our hometown because of the county we're in Pasco County. And so we came to, you know, church school. shopping was in Newport, Ritchie. But I also kind of had an orientation towards Tampa because we were sort of closer that direction. And then my extended family all lived in St. Petersburg. My parents had grown up there and then my dad grew up in Largo on a branch down there that his dad had before the one in Odessa. I... Kevin K (04:41.564) So it's like the rare species of old Florida people, right? So. Frank Starkey (04:45.361) Yeah. Yeah, but man, I have a weird, I've always come from a very mixed, I mean, just a very much kind of background, culturally, geographically, economically. My great grandparents were from, mostly from the upper Midwest. And so we kind of, and my great grandfather on my dad's side. was William Straub, who was the publisher of the St. Petersburg Times. But I later found out that he was instrumental in getting the city to hire John Nolan to do a plan for the remainder of St. Petersburg. He was instrumental in getting the city to buy up a mile of its waterfront to create a continuous waterfront park along the bay in downtown St. Petersburg, which is the crown jewel of the city in terms of civic space. So I kind of grew up and then that that kind of orientation towards parks. He also helped the County, Pinellas County establish a park system, which was one of the earliest ones in the country. And so I kind of this park orientation and public space and civic life and civic engagement was a strain through my whole childhood. You know, my whole is kind of a generational thing in our family. And so that's one thread and. Living in the country, we didn't have much in the way of neighbors. The area of Odessa in those days was pretty poor. So I rode the school bus with kids that had virtually nothing and went to school in the suburbs of Western Pasco, which was where the kids were mostly from the Midwest. Their grandparents had worked for Ford or GM or Chrysler and then they... moved to Florida and the grandkids, you know, the kids moved with them. And so those were the kids I grew up with. And so I, you know, I didn't feel like I grew up in the deep south. People, but I, but I was close enough to it that I understand it, but I don't consider myself a, you know, capital S southerner, my accent notwithstanding to the degree that a good friend of mine, Frank Starkey (07:07.793) I grew up in Plant City on the east side of Tampa, which is much more in the farming world part of Hillsborough County. And he was much more deep south than I was, even though we grew up, you know, 40 miles apart. So it's just a very different cultural setting. So I grew up with, you know, upper Midwest heritage who had been in St. Petersburg since 1899. And then, you know, poor kids, middle -class kids, and then eventually wealthier folks. So I just kind of had this really all over the place cultural background that's not nearly as simple as, I mean, all of Florida has a tapestry of, a patchwork of different kinds of cultural influences. South of I -10, north of I -10, you're in South Georgia or Alabama, but. the peninsula of Florida is very culturally mixed up. Kevin K (08:11.228) So the old canard, I guess, was that the west coast of Florida was populated by people who came from the Midwest and the east coast was from the Northeast. Does that hold true in your experience? Frank Starkey (08:22.129) Yeah, that does hold true, although there were a lot of New Yorkers in Boston, not so much New England, but still a lot of New Yorkers found their way across. So I grew up around a lot of New York Italian descent folks, as well as Midwesterners. So I, you know, it's a wonder I don't have a New York accent or a Michigan accent or a Southern accent, because those were the kind of the three, more about more, you know, Northern accents than. than Southern accents from immediately where I grew up. But yeah, I -75 goes to Detroit and that I -95 on the East Coast goes to New York. And so that means that has an impact. Kevin K (09:06.844) Did you ever know about the Kansas City connection to St. Pete then with J .C. Nichols down there in downtown St. Pete? Frank Starkey (09:17.329) And tell me about it. I mean, I, because Bruce Stevenson's book, I think touched on that because they, they had an APA convention down here back in the 1920s. Kevin K (09:20.54) Well, that's it. Kevin K (09:28.54) Yeah, J .C. Nichols who developed the Country Club Plaza here, starting really in the 19 -teens, later in his life, he was asked to, or he bought property in St. Petersburg, in or near the downtown area. And the whole concept was they were going to essentially build like another version of Country Club Plaza there in downtown St. Pete. Yeah. And so I think like a small portion of it got built down there. Frank Starkey (09:32.785) All right. Frank Starkey (09:51.665) Really? Kevin K (09:57.564) And then maybe the real estate deal fell apart or something like that. But there was, yeah, that was a big push at some point. Yeah. Yeah. Frank Starkey (10:03.633) or the Depression hit. Interesting. Now, I wasn't aware of that. I didn't know that he had bought and had plans to develop here. That's interesting. The other, St. Petersburg's, well, the Florida Land Bus was in 1926. So Florida real estate speculation really ended then, and then it didn't pick up again until after World War II. So that might have been the death of it. Kevin K (10:13.084) Yeah. Yeah. Kevin K (10:27.164) Yeah. Yeah. So you find yourself growing up on a ranch then, pretty much in Florida. What takes you to architecture? What takes you to architecture and then to Texas to go to architecture school? Frank Starkey (10:35.505) I'd have been becoming an architect. Frank Starkey (10:42.289) For whatever combination of reasons, one evening when I was in about fourth grade, I, dad recollected this years later. I asked dad at the dinner table, what do you call a person, what do you call a person who designs buildings? Not as a riddle, just, and he said, it's called an architect. And I said, well, that's what I want to be when I grow up. And I never had the sense to question that decision again. So. Kevin K (11:00.54) Yeah. Kevin K (11:09.276) That's how it sounds vaguely familiar. Frank Starkey (11:11.853) you So, you know, whether it was Legos and Lincoln Logs and the Brady Bunch. And when I was a kid, we had a cabin in North Carolina that dad had the shell built by this guy who had a lumber mill up there and he would build a shell for you for $5 ,000 or something. He built that out of green poplar wood. The whole thing was immediately warped and racked and sagged and did everything that. green wood will do, and we immediately put it in a building. But dad spent all of our vacation times up there finishing out the interior of that. So I was just around that construction. And dad was also being a counter rancher, and he knew welding. And he was always tinkering. And in addition to fixing things, he was also inventing implements to use on the ranch and things like that. So he just had a hand building. ethic that, you know, he just kind of had. So whatever made me decide I wanted to design buildings, as I grew up from that point on, I just was all about it. And so by the time I got to high school, I couldn't wait to get into working for an architect. And I was an intern for an architect in Newport, Ritchie, when I was in high school. And then I went to Rice University in Houston to go to architecture school. So after I, and I did my internship here, which is part of the program at Rice for the professional degree. I did that in New York City for Pay Cop, Read and Partners. And another ironic thing was I learned, I had a really great classical architecture history professor in college at Rice who in his summers led, he and his partner who was a art history professor also, a fine arts. Frank Starkey (13:10.289) They led an archaeological excavation outside Rome of a villa from the dated that basically dated a time period of about 600 years straddling the time of Christ. And I've spent the summer after my freshman year on that dig. So I had a had a really strong exposure to classical architecture and urbanism throughout my school. And when I worked for PAY, I worked on James Freed's projects. At that time, we were working on what became the Ronald Reagan building in Washington, D .C. It's the last big building in the federal triangle. And so it's a neoclassical exterior with a very modern interior. It's kind of like a spaceship wrapped inside a federal building. And the other project I worked on a little bit that year was the San Francisco Main Library, which is in the Civic Center right down in the Civic Center of Francisco with the City Hall and the old library. The new library is a mirror of it that's a neoclassical facade on, well, two wings of a neoclassical facade that face the Civic Center side. And then on the backside, which faces Market Street, there's a much more modern interpretation of that commercial core district facing along Market Street. So I worked on these buildings with Sirius that took, you know, this was at the end of the Pomo era of the 80s when everybody was making fun of classical architecture in, the architects were having fun with it or making fun of it, however you look at it. And Fried was taking it more seriously. It was still a updated take on neoclassical architecture. in some of the details, but it was really a fascinating exposure to the actual practice of designing classical buildings, working for one of the most famously modernist firms in the world. So. Kevin K (15:21.628) Yeah, no doubt. No doubt. Yeah. That's pretty wild. Was rice, I mean, we're about the same age, was rice kind of like most architecture schools, generally speaking, in their emphasis on looking at modernist design as the holy grail that you must pursue? Frank Starkey (15:28.433) Mm -hmm. Frank Starkey (15:38.769) Yeah, interestingly, like my childhood and the cultural mix that I described earlier, Rice was sort of in this period at that time where it was between deans. There was a series of, it's too long a story to explain here, but the previous dean who had been there for 15 years or something, O. Jack Mitchell, announced his retirement the day I started classes. And... So he was a lame duck. And then it was, you know, we basically went through a series of searches, deans, dean passed away, interim dean search, a new dean, and then he resigned. So the whole time I was in college, we really didn't have a dean. And the faculty that Mitchell had built was very, I'd say ecumenical. They kind of, we had some diehard theoretical postmodernists and we had. At the other end of the spectrum, we had a guy who did a lot of real estate development who was super practical and we always made fun of him for caring about mundane things like budgets. And I know he was, I made him a laughing stock, which I wish I'd taken more of his classes. But anyway, and then a really good core faculty who had a real sense of, and real care about urban design and. Kevin K (16:46.428) Well, yeah, exactly. Frank Starkey (17:04.401) My sophomore class field trip was to Paris and we did studies of, you know, in groups, each of us studied at Urban Plus. So I really had a strong urban design and contextual sensibility through my architecture class, all my architecture classes. In the background, there was this whole drum beat of postmodernist, post structuralism and deconstructivism. that was going on. I never caught into that. It always just seemed like anything that requires that much intellectual gymnastics is probably just kind of b******t. And it also, I was involved with campus ministries and fellowship of Christian athletes and church. And so I had a sense of mission and doing good in the world. And it also just, it just didn't work with that either. So I didn't really go in for that stuff, but the urban design stuff really did stick with me. And then the classical architecture and Vignoli, which I mentioned to you the other day, that really did kind of stick to me as a methodology. Kevin K (18:29.436) Man, I went for it hook line and sinker, man. It was, yeah. Yeah. I mean, I thought deconstructivism was like the coolest thing at that time period. And I bought the whole program for some period of time. And frankly, until I ran across some of Andreas's writings and then started learning about seaside. And that's really what kind of broke it open for me that I started to. Frank Starkey (18:32.433) Really? Frank Starkey (18:40.465) -huh. Frank Starkey (18:52.273) Mm -hmm. Kevin K (18:58.556) see things a little bit differently and all, but I, yeah, I was, I was in deconstructivism was funny because you could just kind of do anything and you know, you could call anything a building basically. Yeah. Frank Starkey (19:07.537) Yeah. Yeah, yeah, the author is dead long live the text was the, and so you could just, yeah. And to me, it was just pulling, it was just pulling stuff out of your butt and I just. Kevin K (19:22.636) totally. Yeah. Yeah. It was all b******t, but it was, I guess, fun for a 19 or 20 year old for a little while. So, all right. So fast forward then, did you come back to Florida then pretty much right after school or? Yeah. Frank Starkey (19:25.809) Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Frank Starkey (19:38.929) Yeah, I did a gap year after college and then ended up in Austin for another year and then came back to work with my brother. So by that time, we had seen, because of where the ranch is situated, it's sort of in the crosshairs of growth patterns coming from Tampa to the south and Clearwater to the southwest. and Newport -Ritchie from the west. So it was, the growth was coming from, at us from two directions. Granddad and you know, this 16 ,000 acres that's 20 miles from downtown Tampa, as you can imagine in the 20th century is going up in value pretty dramatically from 1937 to 19, you know, to the late century. And in the early seventies, he started selling and donating land to the state for preservation. Kevin K (20:24.22) Mm -hmm. Frank Starkey (20:36.177) and so we had, you know, again, that whole park ethic, and the, so we were selling, kind of selling the Northern parts that were away from the development pattern, off. And it was partly for the state tax planning purposes and also just, but primarily to put the land into conservation. So there would be something left of native Florida for people to see in future generations. That was his. His goal. My brother had my brother six years older than me and had gone to University of Florida and gotten a finance degree. And he came back after college, which was when I was like my senior year in high school and started working for the granddad was still alive and he was working for the estate, helping with that planning. And granddad passed away while I was in college and we had the estate tax to deal with. And we ended up selling some more land to the state for conservation. And he also started learning the development. process. We knew that as much land as we could sell to the state as possible, we were not going to be able to sell at all and we were going to have to develop. Somebody was going to develop land on the ranch. And our family wanted to see that it was done in a way that was, you know, that we would be proud of that, that put together our, you know, our family goals for civic engagement, environmental preservation, and, you know, and also. It was the whole family's sole asset. So it's everybody's retirement fund and principally our parents and our cousins. So we have cousins who are half generation older than us. So we were accepting that development was inevitable and wanted to be more in control of it. So Trae had been talking to me for a while about coming back and working with him on the development stuff in the ranch. So that's what I decided to do in 1995. And the decision point for me, Kevin K (22:09.468) Yeah. Frank Starkey (22:34.449) was, you know, I had set up my career trajectory to become a consulting architect and design buildings for other people. And I realized that I had this opportunity to, you know, have a bigger imprint on developing a neighborhood that could perhaps set a pattern. By that time, I had become knowledgeable about new urbanism and what was going on at Seaside. And And at that point, I think some of the other projects were starting to come out of the ground. So this was 1995. So I was like, well, I, you know, I've got too much opportunity here. And, and with what, what I know and what I have to bring to the table, it just seems like the thing I'd need to do. So I came back and we started working on development on the southwestern corner of the ranch, which was sort of the direction that was the frontline for development. So in 1997, we held our charrette for what became Longleaf, which is a 568 acre traditional neighborhood development that we broke ground on in 1999. Our first residents moved in in 2000. And that was the first TND in Pasco County. And in my opinion, it was the last TND in Pasco County. Because the county loved it so much that they... Kevin K (24:00.38) You Frank Starkey (24:04.721) passed the TND standards ordinance, which it would never comply with and that no other developers ever wanted to do. And so nobody really has. They've kind of just, it's been compromised with, right? That's a whole other story. Kevin K (24:20.14) Yeah. Well, that sounds, I mean, we may need to get into that at some point, but, so you started this in 2000 and really in earnest 2001 or so. And obviously there was a little, little bump in the economy right then, but I guess kind of more of a bump compared to what came later. So talk about like those first, maybe that first decade then, like what all did you build and how much of this were you actively involved in the design of? Frank Starkey (24:24.529) Okay. Frank Starkey (24:39.377) Yeah. Frank Starkey (24:49.425) It's fascinating looking back on it how compressed that time frame was because we sold we we developed the first of four neighborhoods In the first neighborhood we did in As I said 99 2000 and then we built the second neighborhood in 2002 2003 we sold the third and fourth neighborhoods in 2004 which You know, six years later, we look like geniuses. If we would have been, if we'd been real geniuses, we would have waited until 2006 to sell them. But we got out before the crash, obviously. So we did well there. We were, I was, you know, Trey and I, because we had a view of building a career in real estate development, we thought we should do everything. We should touch every aspect of the process ourselves at least once. So we knew how everything worked. But then we never scaled up our operation big enough to hire people to fill in those specialties for us. So we really both kind of ended up doing a whole lot of the work ourselves. So our master, our designer was Jeffrey Farrell, who did the the overall plan for Longleaf. And he wrote the design code, but we collaborated on all that very closely, because I knew enough about what urbanism was and architecture. And so I administered that design code with our builders. He detailed out the first neighborhood. He and I detailed out the second neighborhood. collaboratively or sort of a 50 -50. And you know what I mean by detailed out, just, you know, you take a schematic plan and then you have to put it into CAD and get it, get to real dimensions and deal with wetland lines and drainage and all that stuff. You get, s**t gets real about, you know, curbs and things like that. So that kind of, those details. And the third neighborhood I detailed out, but we sold it, but the developer who bought it built it out according to what I had done. So I was... Frank Starkey (27:15.281) very involved with the planning side of it. And of course I had been involved with the entitlements and then I administered the design code with all of our builders. So I was dealing with there and we had, we didn't have sophisticated builders. We didn't have custom, we weren't a custom home builder project. We were small local production builders. So these were builders who built 300 houses a year. We weren't dealing with. David weekly, you know, a national home builder who was doing nice stuff. Nor were we dealing with the 12, you know, you know, a year custom builders. So we didn't have much sophistication on the design side coming from our builders. So I did a lot of hand holding on the design of that. I always tell if you're a architect who's going to be your. Kevin K (27:46.716) Mm -hmm. Frank Starkey (28:13.169) is going to develop a T and D. I will tell you under no circumstances do what I did. Always hire somebody else to be the bad guy because as the developer you just can't look the home builder in the eye and say let this customer go. And so even though they're asking you to do something you shouldn't. So you need somebody who can be your heavy for that and it's not going to be you as the developer. But anyway, so I did that and And then I designed some of the common buildings and then had them. I wasn't licensed yet. And so I had those CDs done by somebody with a stamp. So I always said that I, you know, between the larger planning of the ranch and the strategy there, and I also got involved in community, you know, regional and county wide planning efforts and committees and things like that and planning council. So I kind of worked at the scale from the region to the doorknob. Which, you know, is fabulous as an architect because I've found all of those levels, I still do, I find all of those levels of design and planning fascinating. Kevin K (29:17.084) hehe Kevin K (29:30.78) So let's talk about the mechanics of being a land developer for a minute and how you did it. So you obviously own the land, and then you came up with the master plan. So then how many steps did you take? You took on the burden of entitling probably the whole project in phase by phase. And then were you also financing and building infrastructure as well, and then basically selling off finished land? Frank Starkey (29:36.433) Mm -hmm. Kevin K (29:59.26) finished parcels or finished lots to other developers or builders. Frank Starkey (30:04.177) Yeah, what we, so dad on the land free and clear, he contracted the land to us under a purchase and sale agreement whereby we would pay a release price when we sold a lot. So, you know, it's favorable inside family deal. We paid him a fair price, but it was a very favorable structure that allowed it, and he subordinated it to. to lending for, we had to borrow, we don't have cash as a family, we didn't, none of us have cashflow from, you know, we don't have some other operating company that spits off cashflow. So we had asset value, but no cashflow. So we had to borrow money to pay for infrastructure, I mean, for planning and entitlement costs and engineering. And so that was our first loan. And then we had, We set up a community development district, which is a special purpose taxing district that a lot of states have different versions of them in Florida. It's called a CDD. It's basically like a quasi -municipality that a developer can establish with permission from the county and state government to establish a district, which is then able to sell tax -free government -style bonds to finance infrastructure. So it's an expensive entity to create and then to maintain. But if you're financing a big enough chunk, which in those days was like $10 million, it became efficient to have the care and feeding of the district in order to get the cheaper money. So you could get cheaper bond money for financing infrastructure. You could not finance marketing or... specific lot specific things you could for example, you could finance drainage, but you couldn't finance still so some of the Terminology was a little bit You kind of had to do some creative workarounds, but basically our so but we it also meant you had to still have a source of capital for those things that the district would not finance so we had an outside Frank Starkey (32:28.497) Loan structure in addition to the CDD financing and that was how we financed the construction of the development and then sold the lots to individual home builders We had three builders under contract in our first phase and each of them was committed to a certain number of lots and they had enough capital access on their own to finance their the construction of their houses a lot of them would use their buyers financing and use do construction permanent loans to finance the vertical construction of the houses. But the builders had the ability to take down the lots. So that was the deal. I don't know if that structure is still done very much or if there were many builders in that scale that still do that in Florida or in this area. It seems like most of those builders got just crushed. in a great recession and never came back. I'm not really aware of any builders that are in that scale, in that size range anymore. I mean, if there are, there's maybe a dozen where there used to be 100. Kevin K (33:40.86) Yeah, so they either got smaller or a lot bigger basically. Frank Starkey (33:45.681) No, they mostly just flat got killed and just went out of business. And they may have resurrected themselves. Yeah, they may have resurrected a smaller or gone to work for somebody else or retired because a lot of them were older. Of the builders that we had, yeah, I think they probably did get smaller in fairness, but they were gone. And we were out of, as I said earlier, we were long out of long leaps. And the... Kevin K (33:47.836) Yeah. Frank Starkey (34:13.969) Crosland was the developer that bought the third and fourth neighborhoods and they didn't they brought in all new builders. So they brought in David weekly and inland, which was a larger regional builder. And then Morrison, I think one of the other large, larger builders who did rear loaded T and D project product. Kevin K (34:38.108) So how much heartburn was that for you and your family to go from this position where you're like asset rich but cash poor to and then all of a sudden you're taking on pretty large debt to do this development piece? I mean, what was that like? Frank Starkey (34:54.801) Well, you know, you just you don't know what you don't know when you're young and ambitious. So it was it was there. I did. There were some real Rolade's cheering moments. I think, as I recall, the most stressful times for us were before we started construction. And it was it was frankly, it was harder on Trey because he was he was starting a family at that time. So he had. He had literally more mouths to feed than I did. I was still single and so, and I didn't have the stresses on me that he did. And once we got under development, we weren't so much, you know, the stress level shifted to different, you know, kind of a different complexion. And, you know, fortunately when the recession hit, We were done with long, we didn't have, you know, we weren't sitting with longleaf hanging on us. So that was good. but we were in the midst of entitlements for the Starkey Ranch project, which was the remainder of the land that the family still had that had not been sold to the state. And we were taking that, there was about 2 ,500 acres. We were taking that through entitlements starting in 90, in 2005. And I would say that we got our, our entitlements. not our zoning, but we got our entitlements package approved, in essence, the day before the recession hit. So, so we had borrowed again, borrowed a lot of money to relatively a lot more money to pay for that. And that also involved the whole family, because that was the rest of the ranch that that the part that long leaf is on dad had owned individually, free and clear. The remainder of it. had been in granddad's estate and that went down to children and grandchildren. And so there were seven different owners of that. And we had spent some time in the early 2000s putting that together into a partnership, into one joint venture where everybody owned a pro rata share of the whole, but we had other shareholders to answer to. And so that was a whole other level of stress. Frank Starkey (37:16.913) due to the recession because our bank went, you know, did what all banks do and they called the loan even though we hadn't gone, we hadn't defaulted. We would have defaulted if they'd waited six months, but they blanked first and they sued us and we spanked them in essence, but we, at the end of the day, but it was two years of grinding through a lawsuit that was hideous and that was really the most unpleasant. Kevin K (37:29.82) Hahaha! Frank Starkey (37:46.257) level of stress, not because we were going to lose our houses, but because we were, it was just was acrimonious and not what we wanted to be doing. Plus you had the background of the whole world having ground to a halt. So fighting that out through the dark days of the recession was, that was pretty lousy way to spend a couple of years. Kevin K (38:12.284) Yeah, so then how did you all come out of that situation then? Frank Starkey (38:17.009) We ended in a settlement. The settlement, the worst part of the settlement to me was that we had to, long story, but some of the, we had retained ownership of downtown Longleaf with the commercial core, mixed use core of Longleaf. And that wasn't completed development yet. And because we had that collateralized on another loan with the same bank, we ended up having to cut that off as part of the settlement. So. we, you know, we had to, we amputated a finger, not a hand, but still it was, it was, you know, it was our pointer finger. So that was, that was hard, but, but we lived to fight another day, which again, you know, fortunately it's better to be lucky than good, right? We were, that makes us look like, you know, we did pretty well coming out of the recession. So after the recession and after getting that settled out, and there was a couple of other small pieces of land that we had, Kevin K (38:52.124) hehe Frank Starkey (39:15.121) collateralized to the bank that we handed over, but basically got them to walk away from pursuing us further. We got that worked out and then we had to then figure out how to sell the land. Our joint venture partner, which was to have been Crosland on developing the ranch, they had gone to pieces during the recession, so they weren't there anymore. And the only buyers at those coming out of that were big hedge funds and equity funds. And they were only, their only buyers were national home builders and the national home builders, even the ones like Pulte who had tiptoed into traditional neighborhood development product before the recession. They were like, nope, nope, nope, backing up, never doing that again. They're. Kevin K (40:10.46) Yeah. Yeah. Frank Starkey (40:12.593) So everything that we had about TND and our entitlements, they're like, get that s**t out of there. TND is a four letter word. We will not do that. So we kind of de -entitled a lot of our entitlements and cut it back to just a rudimentary neighborhood structure and interconnected streets and some mix of uses and negotiated to sell it to one of these hedge funds or investment funds. who developed it with a merchant developer and sold it to national home builders. And they pretty quickly undid what was left of our neighborhood structure and developed it in a pretty conventional fashion. They did a really nice job on it and it soldered a premium to everything around it. They did a really great job with their common area landscaping, but they gutted the town center. They didn't even do a good strip center in lieu of it. They just did a freestanding public and a bunch of out parcel pieces. They squandered any opportunity to create a real there out of the commercial areas. They did beautiful parks and trails and amenities centers, but they just didn't get doing a commercial town center. Kevin K (41:36.444) What years was that when they developed that piece? Frank Starkey (41:40.337) We sold it to them in 2012 and I guess they started construction in 13 or so and it was really selling out through 2020. They still got some commercial that they're building on. I don't know if they've got any residential that they're still, I mean, it's kind of, its peak was in the 17, 18, 19 range and it was one of the top projects in the country and certainly in the Bay Area. and got a lot of awards. And yeah, so I don't, I can't complain too much about it because it sounds like sour grapes, but basically they didn't, I always just tell people I'll take neither blame nor credit for what they did because it's just not at all what we, there's very little of it that is what we laid out. So because that, so we, having sold that in 2012, that left me and Trey to go do what we wanted to do. All of the, you know, the rest of the family for that matter. And, Trey was ready to hang it up on development for a while. So he kept a piece out of the blue out of the ranch and settlements and started the blueberry farm. And I went and decided to do in town, small scale development. Ultimately ended up in Newport, Ritchie back in my own hometown. And then and that's that's what I've been doing since basically since 2015. Kevin K (43:06.844) Yeah. So I'm curious about a couple of things. So with the completion of the sale of all that and the development of both Longleaf and Starkey Ranch, I guess I'm curious how your family felt about the results of all those. Were people happy, not happy with the results? Was there... I'm just kind of curious about that dynamic because it's an interesting thing with a family property. And then... I guess secondly, with you being somebody who carried more a certain set of ideals for development, what did you take away from that whole process, especially with Starkey Ranch and anything, any useful lessons for the future for others relative to an experience like that? Frank Starkey (43:38.321) Mm -hmm. Frank Starkey (43:56.209) Couple of thoughts. As far as the whole family goes, we were, well, our cousins don't live here and they were less engaged in it intellectually and just personally. The four of us kids had grown up here and this was our backyard. They had grown up in St. Pete and one of them lived in North Georgia. And so it was, they just weren't as... emotionally invested in it. Not to say they didn't care, but it just didn't, it wasn't their backyard that had been developed. And you know, and we all are proud that three quarters of the ranch of the 16 ,000 acres, over 13, almost 13 ,000 of it is in conservation land that will always be the way it was when we were kids. Except there are no fences, which is very disorienting, but anyway. It's still, you know, that's the way granddad saw it when he was young and it will always be that way. So that's, we're all excited about that. And we pay attention to that more than we do to what happened on development. I think even long leave the, what, you know, the, the people in the surrounding area think we're sellouts and, people who have lived here. for five years or 10 years or 15 years are still just shocked and dismayed by the rapid pace of development. Well, it was a rapid pace of development, but we've been seeing it coming for 130 years now as a family. And I mean, it's why we put land into conservation going back to the early 70s when granddad started selling that. What people can see is the part along State Road 54, which is the visible stuff. which 10 years ago was a lot of pastors with long views and pleasant looking cattle who were money losing proposition as a agricultural business. But people don't see that. They just thought, it's a pretty pasture land. And how can you turn that into houses? It's so, you greedy b******s. So yeah, we get a lot of flak still to this day. I mean, and I've got a. Kevin K (46:12.092) Yeah. Frank Starkey (46:17.425) Trey's wife is a county commissioner and she gets all kinds of grief for being corrupt because people see our names on everything and they're like, well, they must be corrupt. No, you've never met any less corrupt people. And so there's kind of public blowback to it. I've said what I've said, what I just told you about how the development of the ranch did not comport with what we envisioned for it. And I don't, I don't shy away from saying that. I don't go around banging a drum about it. cause what's, what's the point of that? And a lot of people might think I just sound like sour grapes, but it, you know, it's, we, I think we all had our ugly cry about the ranch at some point. I mean, I remember when we were, we, the first closings of the ranch were in 2012 and it was a phased state down, but you know, they, they take a chunk at a time. So we stayed in our office, which was the house that we had grown up in at the ranch headquarters, right where the cattle pens and the horse barn, the truck barn and the shop and all of the ranch operations were. And the day that, eventually we had to move everything out and all that, almost all of that got torn, all of it got torn down. I remember having, I went out and stood by a tree and cried my face off for a while. Kevin K (47:46.044) Yeah. Frank Starkey (47:46.673) You know, it still chokes me up to think about it. And we all did that. I mean, but it wasn't an overnight thing to us. Whereas if you lived in a subdivision in the area that, by the way, had been a cattle ranch 20 years ago, you didn't, you know, you're not building, you're not living in a land that was settled by the other colonists. It seemed shockingly fast, just like overnight. my God, all of a sudden they're, they're. They're scraping the dirt the grass off of that and you know three weeks later. There's houses going up It's just shocking and and really disorienting we'd said we had seen it coming literally our whole lives We always knew that was going to be the case. So it was there was going to be something there our Feelings about the what what what it was compared to what we would like it to have been or another You know, that's what we have to wrestle with but the fact that it's developed We always saw that coming and people don't really understand that until because you just, you know, because it just it's perceived so differently. If you just drive by and see it developed one day when it wasn't, then if you grow up with an aerial photograph on the wall of dad's office and you know, we just know that that's not always going to be that way. Kevin K (49:05.82) Yeah. Yeah. Well, let's talk for a minute about what you're doing now then with the stuff in Newport Ritchie and the smaller scale infill stuff. What was like the first one, after shifting gears and doing that, what was like the first project you took on on your own? Frank Starkey (49:25.561) Much more much more fun topic. Thank you for shifting gears. I should have let you do that sooner Kevin K (49:30.204) Yeah. Frank Starkey (49:33.617) The, so Newport Richey is a pre -war town that was laid out in 1911 by Wayne Stiles, who I'm starting to learn more about was a pretty cool town, kind of B -list town planner who worked with people like John Nolan and the Olmsted brothers and was contemporary to them. Got a very competent little city plan for a small town and it has building stock in the downtown. the main street and Grand Boulevard downtown that dates to the 1920s and to the 1950s and 60s, kind of about half and half. And so it always had these good urban bones, some decent building stock, nothing great. It was never a wealthy town, so it doesn't have big grand Victorian houses down at Boulevard or anything, but it's got some good characteristics. But it had economically just cratered, just for years and really decades of disinvestment. moving out to the suburbs. It wasn't white flight in the traditional sense, but it was economically, it was the same just reallocation of wealth from the historic city into the suburbs and leaving the city behind. So in 2015, there was a, so downtown Newport, which he has a little lake, a about a five acre really lovely little. city park, a riverfront, and the central business district is right next to it. And then there's a pink Mediterranean revival hotel building from 1926 in that park. It kind of ties it all together. It's all the same ingredients that downtown St. Petersburg has, just in miniature and in bad shape. And St. Petersburg, believe it or not, which is now the best city in Florida, was really down in heels for most of my childhood. The Vanoi Hotel, which is their big pink hotel, was a hulking, you know, it looked like something out of Detroit when I was a kid, broken out windows and chain link fence around it and weeds and looked like a haunted hotel. So the Hacienda was kind of in that shape almost. And Downtown was doing, was, you know, just kind of sitting there with some honky tonk bars and a lot of, you know, just kind of moribund. Frank Starkey (51:54.705) commercial space. The city had bought out the First Baptist Church, which overlooked that lake right downtown when the church decamped out to the suburbs like all the other capitals in town. Even God's capital moved out to the suburbs. And the city bought it and tore down the church buildings and put a for sale sign on it, put it out for RFP a couple times, got crickets in response. Because no self -respecting developer would look at downtown New Port Richey as a place to develop. And I looked at it and as Robert Davis and Andres 20 will point out, we developers and architects and urbanists, we live in the future. You know, our brains are in what can be, not what is here now. And you've heard Andres say that the present is a distortion field. So I wasn't bothered by the fact that the neighborhoods around it weren't the greatest neighborhoods. They weren't terrible. Kevin K (52:39.8) Yeah. Yeah. Frank Starkey (52:48.177) And I looked at it and said, well, this is a pretty good gas piece of property. You got through overlooking this nice lake. There's a park. There's a downtown right there. We can work with this. So I asked the city to put it out for an RFQ, which they did. And Eric Brown, your buddy and mine, and one of your former guests on the podcast recently, was the architect for the buildings. And Mike Watkins, whom you also know, was the planner. I had them come in and do a Charette to develop a design for an apartment project on that former church property. And we negotiated a deal with the city to buy that property and we were off and running. So that was the first project. Just announcing that and showing, you know, as people were, some people were rightly skeptical that it would just end up being another low income housing thing because. This is Newport Richey. It's an economic shithole. Why would anybody put anything nice here? And surely, surely, even if you think it's going to be luxury, or if you're just saying it, it's obviously just going to, there's no way it can end up being anything but low income housing. And, but a lot of other people were excited to see that somebody was putting some investment in town. And it just kind of started to change people's thinking. Then we took on a commercial building downtown that when I was a kid had been a, IGA grocery store where we did our grocery shopping and it had, fallen into, you know, another moribund state as an antique mall that just needed to be fixed up and, and refreshing them live and up or something new. So we bought that and, did a severe gut job on it. divided it up into five tenant spaces, brought in a natural grocery store that was in town, but in a much terrible location. And a new microbrewery, the first microbrewery in town, and a taco place, and a kayak paddleboard outfitter, and a CrossFit gym. Kind of a dream lineup of revitalizing. Yeah. The kayak place didn't last very long. Kevin K (55:04.636) It's like the perfect mix. Frank Starkey (55:11.665) They were pretty much pretty ahead of the market and also just work. It wasn't their core business. They just didn't really know how to do it right. And then the taco place ended up getting replaced. The CrossFit gym outgrew the box and went to a much bigger location. And then we replaced them with an axe throwing business, which is killing it. So no joke, no pun intended. And then the microbrewery is still there. natural food store is still there. And then in the paddle boarding space, we now have a makers, a craft market that is multiple vendors that are, you know, like cottage industry makers selling under one roof. And we have a new bar and hamburger place and the former chocolate place. And they're also doing really well. And so between those two projects, it really, and then, you know, it's other, businesses started opening, new businesses opened downtown that just kind of had a new approach. They weren't honky tonks, they weren't just kind of appealing to a kind of a has -been demographic. And I just started changing the attitude. And the most remarkable occurrence was at one point, and this was around 2018, I just noticed that the online chatter in the general discussion among locals about Newport Richey kind of flipped from overwhelmingly negative people just running down the town, just saying this place is terrible. You know, get out while you can. There's nothing but crack heads and, and prostitutes and you know, it's just terrible. And to, Hey, this place is pretty cool. It's getting better. There's, it's got a lot of potential. And the naysayers started getting shattered down by the people who were more optimistic and positive about the town. And it just kind of hit that Malcolm Gladwell tipping point pretty quickly. And the attitude of the town and the self -image of people in town just has been significantly different ever since then. And then that's, of course, paid dividends and more investment coming to downtown. Now you can't find a place to rent for retail downtown. Frank Starkey (57:38.641) We actually have the problem now that there's too much food and beverage and the market isn't growing enough because we've got to bring in customers from outside of the immediate area because it's just not densely populated enough town yet. But that's so that's kind of where things started in New Port Richey. Kevin K (57:56.604) That's really, that's a great story. It's kind of, it's so indicative of also like what Marty Anderson has talked about. Let's sort of like finding your farm and a place that you care about and working there and making it better. And that's really cool. When it came to all this, were you self -financing? Were you working with investors? How was that process? Frank Starkey (58:13.169) Yeah. Frank Starkey (58:22.321) On the central, which is our apartment and on the 5800 main, which is the project that had been the IGA store, I have a financial partner on that. Who's another local who had made done well for himself in banking and lived away and moved back and was wanting to invest, but also to do some invest locally in a way that helps, you know, give something back to his own town. And that was my attitude as well. So our, our. Capital has been him and me on those two projects. And then I've got two other buildings that, one other building that I have a co -owner on and then another building I own solely by myself. So I've got a total of four projects. And all of the projects that I have are within one, two, three blocks, four blocks of each other. I was, you know, you mentioned the farm. I was very intentional about farm. I said, okay, my farm is New Port Richey. My farm yard is downtown and my barn is our office, which was right in the middle of all that. And the so that's, you know, and then now Mike and I live three blocks from all of that stuff. So we have we our new townhouse is three blocks east of downtown. Since 2018, we lived in a house that was four blocks south of downtown. So all of it was walkable. And even when downtown had just a couple of restaurants that were mostly just diners, one place that was pretty decent for lunch and salads and things, and a couple of pretty mediocre to crappy bars. I have a lot of friends here now and my office is here. And I immediately realized this is the most luxurious lifestyle I have had since college because the ability to walk everywhere and just live your life on foot is luxurious. It's just delightful. And my best friend now lives well in our old house, lives a block away. And we got to be friends living in town here and living a block from each other. And we would just ride bikes. And there was a whole other crew of Kevin K (01:00:24.284) You Frank Starkey (01:00:49.041) the people we'd ride bikes up the river in the evenings and maybe stop for a beer or maybe not and just enjoy the town. He really showed me just kind of, I smacked myself in the forehead one day when he talked about how nice it is to ride up the river during the sunset. I was like, wow, you mean you can just enjoy living in these walkable places? Because I'd always spent so much time trying to build them that I didn't spend much time just... f*****g enjoyment. Kevin K (01:01:19.676) I know, I know. It's a crazy thing. It's like it shouldn't be like a rarity or anything like that. We wish it was available to everybody, but it's wild. That was the thing about living in Savannah and that was like the hard part about leaving Savannah was, I think for a lot of us who have our ideals about walkability and everything, you kind of go back and forth about, do I want to spend my time? Frank Starkey (01:01:30.257) Yeah. Frank Starkey (01:01:37.489) Yeah, I bet. Kevin K (01:01:48.38) you know, working real hard and trying to create this as much as, as I can and, and live in a certain place where I, I guess have the economic opportunity to do that. Or do you also maybe just say, yeah, at a certain point, screw it. I just want to live somewhere where I can be, you know, do the things that I talk about all the time. So. Frank Starkey (01:02:06.513) Yeah, exactly. And it is hard to live in a place that's already kicking butt and do the things to make a place kick butt. So. Kevin K (01:02:20.124) Yeah, and in so many of these places, the places that we admire, and if you didn't get in early, you can't afford it at a certain point anymore anyway. So it's kind of a crazy deal. So as an architect, then would the infill projects, I mean, I know you worked with Eric and Mike and some others, but do you do any sketching or work on any of these sort of, is it a collaborative deal or do you at this point just be like, well, Frank Starkey (01:02:28.369) Right. Kevin K (01:02:46.268) I'm going to be a good client and be kind of hands off and just help direct my architects. Frank Starkey (01:02:50.865) I try to, I'm trying very hard to just be a good client and direct my architects. I'll let you ask Eric on whether I'm a good client or not, but that's probably been the project where I have been the most, I've left the most to the architects to on the design side. On the, the one of the commercial building that I owned by myself was a, building that didn't have any windows, two stories right on one of our main streets on a corner. So two full facades with essentially no windows. And it needed new windows storefront and upstairs. So it basically just needed a whole facade because there was just a big windowless bunker. But it had existing structural columns or structural considerations for where I could put windows. And it ended up being a interesting, challenging facade composition project. Anyway, I designed that building. And also it was a double high space where the second floor was just a mezzanine. And we closed in the second floor to make it into a mixed use building. So that because it had always been a nightclub or restaurant and it was too big as being a story and a half to for that, for this market to support because the upstairs are just kind of. You know, just sucked. So I was like, this needs to just be a regular size restaurant on the ground floor and then offices above. So I did the architecture on that, including the build out for the restaurant. I had some help on that on the layout, but I did the design, interior design stuff on that. I wish I had, I love the facade design process. And that was a really fun project. And the result was, you know, it's, it's unusual because of the constraints that it had. So, but it's, I think it's a fun, it's a good result. but if I were doing more projects, I mean, I really feel like I don't do architecture every day. So I'm not, yeah, certainly I'm not going to do construction drawings because I don't have that, capability just cause I don't, I mean, I have the technical ability to do it. Frank Starkey (01:05:15.249) and I am now licensed, I could sign and seal it, but I don't want to. And I haven't signed and sealed anything yet. So my goal is to be more of a client than I am an architect. Kevin K (01:05:27.868) So in all this stuff and going back to even your initial work with Longleaf and others, you've obviously tried to create well -designed places and beautiful places. I know you said you had some thoughts kind of based on one of the other podcasts I had where we were going back and forth and talking about beauty in buildings and the value of that versus sort of utilitarian values as well. How have you tried to balance all that and really create? beauty and do you find it at conflict with also making real estate work? Frank Starkey (01:06:04.753) I don't find beauty in conflict with making real estate work at all. I think it's critical. I don't think that things have to be built expensively in order to be beautiful. And my comment to you in my email was about y 'all had had a discussion on this, your podcast before last. about and you had said you can't legislate beauty no code in the no amount of code in the world is going to result in beauty and I've always thought about that because I agree with you that codes by their nature don't result in beauty that that human love results in beauty I mean that's you know because that's a it's a it's a spiritual outcome not a I mean, it's an outcome of the spirit. I don't mean that metaphysical terms, just, but it's something that comes from a level of care that's not, that doesn't happen from just conformance. Kevin K (01:07:10.94) Yeah, it's a value you bring to a project basically. It's something you really care to do. Yeah. Frank Starkey (01:07:16.529) Yes, that said, the American Vignoli and other handbooks that were used by builders, not by architects, but by people who were just building buildings and designing them, designing and building buildings by hand in the 1800s and early 1900s. resulted in scads of what we consider beautiful buildings with a capital B because it codified, maybe not in a sense of regulation, but in a sense of aspiration and guidance. It codified a way to arrive at competence with beautiful principles underlying it. And I wonder, it's... It's a hypothesis. I've not proved it or even set out to prove it. But if you could require that people follow the American Vignole as an example, or something else like that, where the principles of proportion are codified and they're followable, then I think you probably would still have to have some coaching. But I think you would get a whole lot closer than you can in the, because it's more like a playbook than it is a rule book for producing a competent design. Competent in the classical sense. Kevin K (01:08:54.556) Yeah. Yeah. Kevin K (01:09:02.236) Yeah, I think that's fair. It's more like coaching people about people who care. If you want to do good things, here are simple rules and patterns to follow that are not going to get you the Parthenon necessarily, but they're going to get you certainly at a minimum like a B building, like a B or a B minus building if you follow these rules. And if you do them really well and execute the details well, you could end up with an A plus building. Yeah. Frank Starkey (01:09:34.641) Yeah. Yeah, and it's something that McKim, Mead, and White can follow that and come up with something spectacular. But the same underlying principles are in every garden variety inline building on a street. Because individual urban buildings and places that we love are individually not spectacular. It's the accumulation of be buildings that are singing in the same key that makes a good chorus. Not everything can be a soloist anyway. Kevin K (01:10:11.996) And certainly, a lot of the people who produced the buildings in that era that you described, late 19th, early 20th century, I mean, there were a whole lot of just illiterate immigrants to the United States, ones who were building all that. And they didn't need 200 pages of construction drawings to follow it, but they did have patterns and illustrations and guides that they could follow. Frank Starkey (01:10:25.041) Yeah. Kevin K (01:10:42.46) and just some kind of basic standards. Yeah. Frank Starkey (01:10:43.217) And also a general cultural agreement on what looks good and what doesn't. And that's what I think you can't recreate from start, I mean, from scratch, because it's got to, that culture builds up and accumulates over decades and generations of practice. Kevin K (01:11:09.148) No doubt. Have you seen with the buildings that you have done in Newport, Richey, has there been other people who've looked at what you've done and tried to essentially say, kind of continue to raise the bar with good looking buildings? Frank Starkey (01:11:24.209) Unfortunately, I can't say that has happened yet. There hasn't been that much new construction in New Port Richey. And I don't, I can't think of any off the top of my head that have been done since we built the central, for example, which is really the only new ground up build. There's another apartment project and apartments and mixed use downtown, but it was designed in 2006 and then it was stalled and it finished about the same time we did, but it has nothing. you know, didn't follow others at all. We did have a lot of people. And this is something I would recommend, which I did accidentally. I didn't put really good drawings of the buildings into the public before they were built. I made a real now here's a blunder. There's a my blunder was I allowed the elevations of the buildings. to be the first thing that got into the public view because they were required as part of the permitting process. And an elevation drawing of a building is the architectural equivalent of a mugshot. It's representative and it's accurate, but it's accurate, but it's not representative. So it doesn't show you what a person looks like. It shows you just facts about their face. And so it shows you facts about a building, but not what it's gonna look like. So people saw the elevations. of what Eric could design, which were intentionally very simple rectangular boxes with regular, very competent, beautiful classical facades, but they looked really flat, they looked really boxy, and they looked terrible. They couldn't be at elevation, there's no depth on it. So people were like, holy s**t, of course he's building, I mean, they look like barracks. And so people lost their minds. I'm like, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. So we quickly put together some 3D renderings. based on a quick sketchup model, we illustrated the hell out of them with landscaping and showed what a view down the street would look like. And it was a much better view. And that's really how you perceive the buildings. And so people were like, OK, well, if it looks like that, I guess I won't oppose it so much. But they were still rightfully skeptical. And so I s

On this mini episode of ‘The Write Question,' host Lauren Korn speaks with Jacqueline Winspear, author of twenty novels, eighteen of which comprise the Maisie Dobbs series. The last installment in that series, ‘The Comfort of Ghosts,' will be published June 4, 2024. Jacqueline is appearing in Helena, Montana, on Monday, May 13, 2024, at the Helena Civic Center as a guest of the Lewis & Clark Library and the Lewis & Clark Library Foundation.

Clay has been in his position with The City of Dothan for a year now. From bringing in Kevin Hart to selling out Bluey in record time, Clay knows a thing or 2 about the events industry and has been instrumental in improving the quality of life for those in the Wiregrass. Check out this episode as we discuss all the big name shows to ever happen at the Dothan Civic Center and what kind of future we can look forward to with the new facility being built in Downtown Dothan.

This week we're talking about two pieces of Atlanta history - one, a neighborhood wiped out by urban renewal and the other, the showpiece Atlanta Civic Center that was built in its place.  By the turn of the 20th century, the name “Buttermilk Bottom” was used to describe the area bordered by Piedmont Avenue on the West, North Avenue on the North, Boulevard along the East and Forrest (today Ralph McGill) on the South. This African American community dealt with constant flooding issues, as well as racial terror. The City of Atlanta established an Urban Renewal Department in 1957 and by 1959, created the Housing and Slum Clearance Code. This new department identified five urban renewal areas, one being the 160 acre Buttermilk Bottoms tract, with 1,543 houses targeted for demolition. By December of 1963, the City of Atlanta formed the Citizens Auditorium Advisory Committee, who's stated purpose was to advise on architect, engineer and design and recommend a “proper” site of the new municipal auditorium. They chose the 70-acre tract on the fringe of the Buttermilk Bottom site and Robert & Co as architects.   Want to support this podcast? Visit here Email: thevictorialemos@gmail.com Facebook | Instagram | Twitter