Introducing Joe Minicozzi; offering a new look to urban planning

Joe Minicozzi
 New Projects Director at
 Public Interest Projects

I posted a couple of videos (in the right margin) of a presentation by Ashville, North Carolina urban planner Joe Minicozzi on the state of downtown Ashville. Joe, who like Chuck Mahron of Strong Towns talks numbers. Both have looked at the revenue and costs estimates of traditional downtown development and compared it to suburban, auto-oriented retail. In almost all cases this type of traditional development captures value; in other words with minimal maintenance costs the sales and property taxes more than pay for the infrastructure.

Prior to working with Public Interest Projects in Asheville, he served as the Urban Designer for the City of West Palm Beach, Florida. He was the City’s first Urban Designer and served as the Zoning Administrator for downtown. Joe has worked in town planning with Duany Plater-Zyberk, in architecture with Zyscovich Architects, and in real estate finance with John Hancock of Boston. In addition to his private sector service, Joe has lectured across the country on Incentive Zoning, Form-based Code, Transfer of Development Rights and the role of urban design in community development.

Watch and listen and let me know what you think. I'll post the last of the videos next week.