The Seaside Institute

By Christian Wagley

Sustainability, Connectivity, Adaptability

AS A GRADUATE STUDENT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF WEST FLORIDA in Pensacola, I had an epiphany:

Nearly every environmental issue I was confronting in my coursework was linked to how we build our communities. In my search for solutions, I began to take weekend trips to the east to explore the walkable beach towns of Rosemary Beach and Seaside, and I was inspired to see how better patterns of human settlement were being pioneered on the coast of northwest Florida. In that exploration, I discovered the Seaside Institute and found a collection of people who believe that building better communities can help to resolve many of the environmental, economic and social issues confronting modern society. Now 40 years since its creation by town founders Daryl and Robert Davis, the nonprofit Institute continues to bring people together to explore, share and test ideas for how better community design can bring solutions to issues ranging from aging populations and climate change to overreliance on the automobile.

The Institute’s early years focused on bringing cultural events into what was then a small, innovative settlement along a remote stretch of coast. By the 1990s there was a move into educational programs to help architects, developers and public officials learn the value of traditional towns and how to get them built in the age of the automobile. Guests traveled from across the country for programs, with walking tours of Seaside—and later Rosemary Beach and Alys Beach--always a vital part of the curriculum.

Their work coalesced into a movement called new urbanism, which promotes human-scaled urban design to meet the needs of modern communities. In 1996, the guiding principles of the movement were established in The Charter for the New Urbanism, with Robert Davis an original signer of the Charter. Seaside Institute Executive director Thomas Cordi brings decades of experience in academia and community organizing in California and later in Tallahassee to his position. “When you design communities, you want to do it right,” he said. “I believe that the principles of new urbanism that we have been developing for years, along with the Congress for New Urbanism, provide guidance for designers when they design new communities.” Cordi says there are now over 250 such communities across the nation, built on principles developed and tested at Seaside. The Institute has three “core tenets”: Sustainability, Connectivity, Adaptability. Among many examples, for sustainability Cordi cites an Institute-hosted forum of local business owners who have made sustainable practices a priority, sharing how they have improved their businesses with the planet in mind. For connectivity, there is the Institute’s history of educational programs that teach building industry professionals about the design elements of Seaside that help people connect, from a grid network of streets that favor walkability, to features like front porches on homes that encourage interaction. There is also the Institute’s work to research and promote the south Walton County area as a “zoom town,” wherein high-tech and other workers can live in the area while connecting to work remotely. Adaptability is a timely topic, as communities face the need to shift with the challenges of climate change. The Institute hosted a forum following Hurricane Michael and

the devastation it brought to areas east of Walton County, creating a dialogue between designers, public policy experts and others about how to create more resilient places. The Institute is about to launch a new partnership called the Coastal Cities Alliance. The Alliance will bring a number of southeastern cities together with scientists to help communities better prepare for the challenges of climate change, with a soonto-be-announced scientific partner providing technical expertise to member communities. “We need to learn from science,” Cordi said. “It cannot be only political or a policy analysis. What does science have to teach us about these storms and climate change and how they are impacting our communities?” Funded by various donors and members, Cordi is quick to note that “We are not Seaside.” But the Institute’s establishment by Seaside town founder Robert Davis, and its location in the town, give it a direct connection to a place that Cordi calls a “living laboratory.” He says that Davis is “willing to look at innovative ideas and test them.” The ways of town building that continue to be tested and refined at Seaside flow in both directions, as Institute programs help to disseminate lessons learned at Seaside while also bringing together innovators from across the world whose ideas inspire further refinement at Seaside and other communities. Pandemicinspired changes to the Seaside town center are one of the latest examples. “We’ve opened up the square for people only,” says Cordi. “We’re trying to see what impact it has to eliminate cars from the center of a community. How does that change your community?” Parking along Smolian Circle is now paid parking, with revenue funding a shuttle service from Grayton Beach—a shuttle that Cordi says could eventually be electric and even autonomous— an idea that emerged from a transportation symposium hosted by the Institute. Pedestrians and cyclists are now free to roam across the town center without interference from circling automobiles looking for parking. It’s an experiment not without some friction, but that is clearly creating a more people-friendly space. Such best practices in parking have been developed and championed by 2023 Seaside Prize winner Donald Shoup, a UCLA professor and author of the book The High Cost of Free Parking. Shoup’s research finds that charging market rates for parking turns over parking spaces more frequently, helping to provide a more regular supply of open spaces throughout the day while providing funding for public space improvements. Shoup will receive his award during the annual Prize weekend February 24 – 26, 2023, with three days of accompanying lectures and walking tours. Most Institute programs happen in Seaside, but they do occasionally travel. After a pandemic pause, Cordi expects to see the Seaside Pienza Institute study tours resurrected within the next year or so. These trips bring together professionals and community advocates for travel to historic, walkable places. That next trip will be to Copenhagen, Denmark to learn how the city thrives with little automobile use and has built resilience along a dynamic coastline. Cordi sees continued growth for the Institute in working with towns that embrace walkable urbanism, including an upcoming podcast series hosted at SOWAL House in Rosemary Beach. “We want to partner and collaborate with communities all along 30A and beyond,” he says. For more information on The Seaside Institute and the Seaside Prize, visit seasideinstitute.org.