This week, Tampa becomes ground zero for the CNU Florida event, where planners, architects, and developers sharpen their thinking on how cities evolve. It's the kind of moment that makes you realize planning is more than just buildings or zoning. Here’s what’s on the table: making neighborhoods walkable, wrapping infrastructure with public realm enhancements, rethinking mobility from people-first perspectives. Florida’s coastlines, tourism demands, and chronic traffic headaches make it fertile ground for bigger questions: How do we blend growth with resilience? How do we avoid the familiar treadmill of sprawl? Tampa’s playing host, but the conversations echo in communities of every scale. For planners, it's a reminder: public space doesn't come from empty lots or developer promises. It stems from design that balances movement, ecology, and human rhythms. Events like CNU are incubators for ideas we’ll wish we’d had five years ago when subdivisions were already going up. — So if you’re watching from elsewhere, consider it a nudge: what could your city gain by centering people over parking, shade over horsepower, connection over convenience?

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