With apologies to Thomas Friedman
Hot, Flat, and Crowded, no, not the book, but our future Little Rock urban core. Collaboration and civility, with a good dose of ideas, innovation and leadership can move our central core toward 2030. The same old answers to today’s housing and developments, only produce the same old results. As they say in Texas: “If all you ever do is all you’ve ever done, then all you’ll ever get is all you ever got.”
There should be reform or updates of our land use guidelines. Preservationists, City Planners, Developers, Investors, Urban Eclectics and Greens will all lose together by continuing to coast along, the same old approach is no longer viable. It is almost 2010, we need to think and plan for 2030+.
I personally like to juxtapose the old against the Green Modern materials available today. Both old structures and modern techniques and materials are sustainable models. Competing visions keep us Hot and Flat, what we all desire is a Crowded Urban Core.
Our urban core has a impact on our whole city, our schools, our businesses, our civic and cultural institutions, our community. It is time for compromise, reconciliation, and progress! Our President-elect emphasizes, “ every second, every minute, every hour, every day counts.” We do not have the luxury to waste time.