Daily Loaf

A year ago I was doing microfilm research on local history at the John German Library in Tampa. Anyone who’s done this research knows how tedious it is; there’s no index for microfilm so to find pertinent articles one must scan each newspaper page on each microfilm roll. While doing this I was flabbergasted to discover a Tampa Tribune article from November 25, 1924, that mentioned the work of the famous town planner John Nolen in connection with Tampa.

To my surprise, the City of Tampa commissioned Nolen to survey the city in 1924 in preparation for a master plan which he was to create for the city. I know a good deal about the planning and architectural history of the area but hadn’t heard that Nolen was working in our area. Tragically, Nolen created his survey but was never commissioned by the city to create his master plan for Tampa: 1924 was the height of delirium during the 1920s Florida real estate boom and the development industry of the time did not want to slow down the good times enough to allow the creation of a master plan and code to direct them. The great depression came early to Florida and by the end of 1926 the roaring 20s were over.

The discovery of John Nolen’s survey of Tampa is important as he’s arguably the finest town planner to have worked in Florida and is the namesake of the John Nolen Medal for Contributions to Urbanism in Florida, given by the progressive planning organization Congress for the New Urbanism, Florida Chapter. In Florida, Nolen was the genius behind the town plans of Venice, Sarasota, West Palm Beach, Clewiston, and Temple Terrace.

In 1924, the problems that Mr. Nolen identified in Tampa’s planning remain problems to this very day: the lack of respectable macro and micro planning; a planning process that is “planner-led” not “developer-led”; the need to create a plan with members of the city, business community and citizenry all integrally involved; the need for a city plan that is very strictly adhered to; the need to create a new development code that accompanies the plan; the idea that good planning should be done now (in 1924) for “the increased vehicle traffic of the future”; the need for more parks, playgrounds, and greenspace downtown; and that co-operation between city, county, and state will be needed to make the plan happen.

It is difficult to imagine today’s Tampa had our forefathers had the courage to implement Nolen’s 1924 vision. This would have required incredible foresight and single-mindedness and would have meant postponing the short-term goals of the land development industry, for the long-term goals of the common good. Sound familiar? Unfortunately, in 1924, much like today, there was no one capable of making that stand.

To this day downtown Tampa awaits a planner-led cohesive vision spearheaded by a planner of the caliber of John Nolen, and created via the partnership of city, commerce and citizenry.

“Systematic Development of City Necessary, Nolen Tells Officials”- Tampa Tribune, November 25, 1924

Commissioners and Board of Trade Governors Hear Report on Preliminary Survey and Steps Required to Prepare for Increased Population.

“Tampa is at the parting of its ways,” John Nolen nationally known city planner told members of the city commission and the board of governors of the Board of Trade yesterday afternoon in submitting a report of his preliminary survey of the city. “This has been a small city. It is embarrassed now by a large population. Between 1930 and 1940, its population will be more than 250,000. In the years ahead, these figures may be exceeded many times over.” Mayor Perry G. Wall presided at the meeting and in a talk introducing Mr. Nolen, recounted the changes he had seen in Tampa during the time he has lived in the city, and pointed to the need of planning for more than a haphazard development in the future. “This city, like most American cities, needs perspective. It cannot plan alone for tomorrow, next month or next year. Cities are founded to live longer than the allotted three score and ten years. Things that were always done this way before cannot always be so done. A city must have a goal. It must think of what its population will be in 50 years hence, and plan its development along well-defined lines. Will Tampa be a resort town? Will it be a manufacturing center? Will it be both? All this must be planned for.”

Location Favorable

Mr. Nolan read the report of his preliminary survey, and supplemented it with remarks on points which he had observed about the city during the few days he has been here.

“Tampa’s location is favorable,” the city planner said. “It has an excellent port, an incomparable climate, and rich agricultural resources as its natural advantages. I feel that Florida and Tampa have been unadvertised. Yet it will do you little good to use publicity in bringing capital and new citizens here without a city developed to a stage where it will appeal to them and hold them permanently.”

“You need a definite city plan in Tampa to which all improvements can conform. Some persons are naturally more interested in railroads; others in the waterfront; other in the thoroughfares, and so on. Taken piecemeal, the making of improvements on any one of these and other branches of public need will bring antagonism from the others. But if all are provided for in a close-knit, comprehensive plan, there can be no such dissatisfaction.

“Tampa’s chief physical asset, I believe, is its waterfront. It will be through this that much of its expansion will come. It is due to this that Tampa owes its present growth.

Railroads Problem

“Railroads will be a problem. The first stop in a city plan will be to study the subject and prepare definite recommendations. “

“Main thoroughfares must receive a great deal of attention. In the original city of Tampa, the streets were laid out in the rectangular shaped town. Then new territory was taken in, and streets in these were not linked properly with the others. Breaks, constant jogs and irregularities are found in your streets today as a result. There is already grave congestion, due to this street problem.

“You must know the origin, and destination of your traffic. You must think of the future increase in automobile traffic. In years to come, there either will be no parking in downtown sections of cities, or the cities will take over automobile parking as one of its municipal duties.

“Naming and number of streets and houses must be included in a city plan. This cannot be disposed of until the center of the city is determined. In years to come, it is difficult to figure just where Tampa’s business center will be.

“Your retail business district offers a serious problem. Property in your business district is priced abnormally high, in comparison with prices of property in the business districts of other cities. This is going to be one of your most serious obstacles in making over your city.

“Tampa needs locations for new public buildings and schools. These locations will be influenced by the changes in the street system and the zoning of the city.

Lacks Parks

“This city has grown to its present size without adequate provision for parks and playgrounds. Its property values are growing and purchase of these sites in the future will cost the city great sums of money. But it is a foregone conclusion that Tampa will need more parks and playgrounds. It is going to be a great resort city and such outdoor amusement places are an absolute necessity.

“Control of new plats must be taken up by the city at once as one of its most pressing needs. These plats must be planned to conform with the plans of the Tampa of the future. They will hinge on the streets, railroads and other developments in the city’s expansion program.

“Legislation is one of the most important provisions of the entire city planning program. Al the other things I have mentioned have been physical changes but all must depend on legislation. A program of legislation to provide for the various details of the city plan to cover many years to come should be worked out. Law and money are two primary factors of the city plan.

“Tampa’s individuality must be considered. It must be mapped out for expansion as many cities are, but it must be so planned that it will retain and individual tang of its own. It must not be one of the cities which seems turned out of a mold. It must have a flavor as special and distinctive a quality as are the flavors of New York, Chicago, Paris, and Madrid. But it must not be like any of them. It must be Tampa and Tampa alone.

Survey Needed

“Now that I have given you the things that must be done in a city plan, I will tell you how they may be achieved. You must have the facts and these can be given only by a local survey, made by trained workers. Remedies will not come by chance.

“Public opinion must be taken into account. You cannot make changes without the sanction of the citizens. Your city problems cannot be worked out by vague theories or by the disposal of the things that arise day by day without a thought for the future. You need a complete plan, approved by the city government and approved by the city.

“Money enters into the problem. A city plan will pay for itself many times over every year. The cost amounts to nothing in comparison with the results obtained. Every change in a street which is made in years to come; every school, every building which is constructed can be made to conform to the city plan without any more expense than would be incurred by building them in haphazard method. And in the end, a beautiful, well planned city will be the result.

“Co-operation will be needed between the city and county governments, the school districts, the realtors, the owners of the land, business interests, and citizens. Enlightening publicity will be required to present all details of the city plan to the public and obtain the citizens’ approval for each change made in the future.

Remembering there is only one possible place for a metropolis to be found in the region, and that is where Tampa now stands, preparation must be made for the things the future is to bring.”

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