Can Urban Planning Reshape Memories and Future Visions? My Guest: Sondra Fetner, Urbanist

Schmooze with Suze

Growing up in 1970s, New York City, I felt like I was always living under construction. Things that got built for people to live in, single or multi-family- were filled instantly with residents, as quickly as their various family members were able to sponsor them, and shops too.
Some stayed open and some didn't make it, but for every business that closed down, something quickly took its place. Nothing stayed vacant. People were hustling to make work for their families and communities. The cycle of residential and commercial... or commercial and residential... was constant, and we didn't notice which came first.
They developed concurrently, or so it seemed to me.
So who are the people in your neighborhood that think about what fits where in cities and, most importantly, for whom and why?
And that's what we're going to tackle today...
Zoom out a little... No, a little more.
There, do you see it? You might need binoculars.
Not that landscape. Not just the tall buildings...
(Especially not them... yet...)
If you squint just right, you'll catch the silhouette of a city that's changing over the years. Block by block... Neighborhood by neighborhood...
Lower your binoculars and walk around in a circle.
It's not the architecture that whispers, 'I'm new'; It's a whole village- or 'ville- of thought, strategy, and vision folded into the landscape.
Who knits this urban quilt of tall buildings, working streets, and bustling squares into the tapestry we call Jacksonville? It's time to unveil the unsung wizards of our urban wonderlands—the urban planners- who mastermind a mere metropolis and forge it into a beacon of progress and community.

Today, my guest is Sondra Fetner, an experienced land use lawyer and urbanist. She joined the Jessie Ball DuPont Fund after running an urban development consulting firm for three years. Sondra realized, working as an attorney, her impact was only as great as her client's desire. She decided it was time to work for beliefs and ideals, that would lead to community for her kids.
Mensch is the Yiddish word for a person of integrity- who makes the world better, just by being in it.
This week's Honorable Mensch is Darnell Smith.
Darnell has used his deep, earnest and compassionate relationship with the business, health and safety, philanthropic, spiritual and political community- to navigate his way, first and foremost, as a trusted stakeholder and custodian of care for this city.
As the executive on loan through a contract with the City of Jacksonville and Florida Blue, he is accepting a call to serve us- and for that we are exceptionally fortunate.
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