Recognition

For Dom Nozzi & Walkable Streets

“Dom Nozzi's presentation was outstanding. Mr. Nozzi is an inspiring speaker and is very knowledgeable about his subject matter. About midway through the presentation I was wishing that the whole city of Roanoke could be present to hear his comments. I don't know how you arranged for this presentation, but kudos to you and I hope you can continue to identify

and arrange for such noteworthy speakers.” — David Rogers, 7/11/08, retired electrical engineer previously employed by General Electric.

“I've read through all of the evaluation forms I've received to-date and the overwhelming majority of people found your presentation to be among other things: applicable to their job responsibilities; applicable to their personal lives; entertaining; informative; provocative and moving.”  - Brooke Moore, Public Information Officer for the Indiana Planning Association, October 2007

“Excellent essay.  I couldn’t agree more.  Even as I first drove on Rt. 288, towards Short Pump, I knew it would be ugly, contain masses of chain stores and restaurants, and be indistinguishable from the area of Palm Beach County, FL, that I had just left. I lived in Boca Raton, FL for 40 years, and have been in Richmond for 7 years.  I shop downtown, and try to spend my money at independently owned shops and restaurants.  As a disabled person, I walk with a walker, but not far as it’s often quite hard for me.  But it is worth it to walk, sit in the sun, see familiar faces, and help to promote local artists, shop owners, and eateries.” -- Ann of Richmond, Apr. 1, 2008. Response to my Virginia Business Magazine essay for the April 2008 edition (“Downtown Master Plan Returns City to Timeless Tradition.”)

 "I wanted to drop you a line and let you know how much I have enjoyed reading your essays. I was recently elected to the City Council of Mount Dora and am a big proponent of 'walkable streets.'" - Stewart Holley

 "Thanks again Dom for speaking to the River Rally gathering last Friday. You did a great job and gave lots of people news ways of thinking about old problems. Lots of people took your cards, so I guess you'll be hearing from them." - John Dunn, North Central Florida Smart Growth Coalition

 "You definitely made a good impression and I imagine many of the concepts you mentioned will be referred to in future planning discussions in Halifax." - Stephanie Sodero, TRAX Coordinator, Ecology Action Centre, Halifax, Nova Scotia

"I live in Mansfield, Ohio, a town that is struggling to find its identity and rebuild its central district.  I am trying to take your works to heart and help my hometown become a better place to live.  Thanks a lot, Mr. Nozzi." - Ben Kepple

  "Thank you for your presentation to the City of Asheville Planning and Development staff regarding your book, the Road to Ruin. Your area of expertise about this subject provided us with a different and well-thought-out approach to these issues affecting our cities and communities." - Scott Shuford, AICP, City of Asheville Director of Planning and Development

"On behalf of the Hillsborough County (Florida) MPO's Citizens Advisory Committee, may I express my thanks for your presentation to our group. The committee members found "The Road to Ruin" informative and thought-provoking. We appreciate your spending time with us to share your research and views. I'm gratified to hear that the Metropolitan Planning Organization Board members accepted our recommendation that they hear the presentation as well." - Joseph Amon, Chair, Citizens Advisory Committee

"I wanted to thank you for speaking at the Citizen's Transportation workshop on March 6^th. People got a lot out of your talk." - Jennifer McMurtray

"The Indian Peaks (Colorado) Group of Sierra Club would like to thank you for your participation in our program "Alternatives to Sprawl in Boulder County. We hope to continue the dialogue. It was great meeting you!" - Kay Bingham, Program Chair

"On behalf of the class and myself, I would sincerely like to thank you for visiting our Public Works Planning Class and giving a fine presentation. It added a lot to the learning experience of the students as well as the professor to hear the meaningful points of knowledge reaped from your years of experience and expertise. We all appreciate your willingness to take time from your busy schedule to share the insights and wisdom you have gained in your exemplary career." - Dr Fazil Najafi, University of Florida professor of civil engineering

"I thoroughly enjoyed your seminar today. I absolutely loved your presentation. Could I get a copy of it? Also, would you travel to North Carolina to do a presentation?" - Terry Bowling, Builder, Developer, Investor and artist among other things

Compliments about the Land Use, Urban Design, and Transportation Elements I have prepared have come from the Florida Department of Community Affairs ("The new, innovative policies promoting traditional city design principles, viable transportation choices, walkable neighborhood centers, mixed-use development and compact redevelopment are models for other communities." 11/16/01). Other compliments have come from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (1/02), the Center for Urban Transportation Research (12/01), and the Suwannee/St Johns Chapter Sierra Club (7/01 & 7/02). Accolades were issued by the International City/County Management Association and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 8/02 with regard to the Traditional City ordinance I prepared.

  “Thanks again for the outstanding presentation you gave to the Public Policy Institute Traffic/Transportation Study Committee and community. People are still talking about it! - Karen Jernigan, Executive Director, Public Policy Institute of Marion County

 Comments from students of a University of Florida class who heard a speech I gave in November 2005:

* “Dom showed us ... many ... different ways that we can change modern ways of building facilities and roads back to traditional ways. He showed us areas of shopping centers that were only accessible by car, where if you tried to walk there you would have to hold onto a guard rail and cross a whole parking lot just to get to the store. .. he showed us ... communities where sidewalks were non - existent and big roads were everywhere. Comparing this to a small community with sidewalks present, and medians for cross walks, where kids could bicycle on the sides of the street, and people could walk on the sidewalk without feeling threatened by cars, made me realize how much I like this concept a lot better. . . These all made me think about how much I like the traditional settings so much more!

* I thought it was really interesting just how much thought was put into making a community "walker/biker" friendly ... The areas that were unfriendly towards non-car travel were the ones that had huge parking lots, they were way off the main street, or they were right by a busy intersection or highway. The ones that were friendly toward non-car travel were ones that had nice entryways, ones that you could easily walk from store to store, ones that had large pedestrian walkways and large sidewalks out front. They were nice to look at and had plenty of space to walk in front of and around safely.

* Dom showed us many example of good vs. bad street designs (in regard to pedestrian activity).
Streets encourage pedestrian activity when they include features that calm traffic and reduce the speed and volume of traffic. Median islands, bulb outs, and traffic circles are all good examples of this. Dom also explained that these types of designs force drivers to be attentive, which I think is important when you are considering pedestrian safety.
Dom taught us about interconnected vs. disconnected streets and how that affects pedestrian activity. Disconnected streets, such as cul-de-sacs, force pedestrians onto higher volume streets to reach their destination. Interconnected streets allow pedestrians to travel on lower volume streets to reach their destination. Thus, interconnected streets encourage pedestrian activity (especially for those with whom safety is a concern, such as children walking to school).

* What I like about his presentation was that it was very [simple to understand] but informative. He did a really good job of letting us know about the problem with designing for cars and the need for building complete streets (ones that include sidewalks and bike lanes). He stressed the importance of changing streets from the car scale to the human scale, so that people can incorporate physical activity into their day-to-day lives.

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