Intersection of Community Design and Public Health to be Focus of Webinar

The significant way that features such as sidewalks, bicycle tracks, trees, parks, and public squares affect the overall health of the general public will be discussed by a panel of experts in a lunchtime forum certain to have relevance to Lake Wales. A number of proposals under development as part of the Lake Wales Envisioned plan cite exactly those impacts.

The free webinar will take place on Monday, September 18, from noon to 1:00 pm. It's being hosted by the 1000 Friends of Florida, a statewide group that is one of the co-sponsors of the Envisioned effort. Paul Owens, president of the influential 1000 Friends group, has previously come to Lake Wales on at least two occasions to address the planning concepts and the advantages of solid design standards being conceived to guide future growth and development.

The Envisioned effort came about in response to an almost overwhelming surge of development proposals in Lake Wales, leading to fears that the community would be overrun with suburban sprawl and "garage-itecture.".

University of Miami Professor Dr. Joanna Lombard, who has dual appointments to the Medical School and the School of Architecture, will be the principal speaker at the webinar. She has previously cited Lake Wales Envisioned as an example of how design can affect community health.

Dr. Lombard and Victor Dover, FAICP, principal / co-founder of Dover, Kohl & Partners will then have a conversation on strategies to integrate healthier design into communities, followed by a question-and-answer period. Dover is the lead planner engaged in the Lake Wales Envisioned effort and coauthor of the landmark book Street Design: The Secret to Great Cities and Towns.

Pre-registration for the event is recommended, and can be accomplished by visiting the 1000 Friends of Florida website.