Creating Options for Moving People

The City of Fort Lauderdale underwent a visioning process from 2010 to 2013, where it asked neighbors to envision Fort Lauderdale in 2035 and suggest ideas to achieve the City you never want to leave. Over 1,560 ideas were transformed into “Fast Forward Fort Lauderdale: Our Vision 2035.” The Vision initiative showed that residents want Fort Lauderdale to be a prosperous and united community of distinct neighborhoods with ample transportation options and a focus on resiliency and sustainability.  Over 45% of the “big ideas” captured through the visioning process called for connected development, with complete streets being the second highest request overall. 

The City took the Vision to task, crafting and adopting policy to advance the Vision, including its complete streets policy that is ranked third in the nation.  The City did not stop at the vision or the policy, keeping the momentum going by developing its long-term multimodal infrastructure plan, Connecting the Blocks in 2014.  Achieving this goal will require a multimodal, connected community where the vehicle is not the only choice, where everyone can walk, bike and use transit to get to many destinations. The Connecting the Blocks Program advances several of the Smart Growth Principles, not only in theory but in practice. This is evidenced by the dynamic painted intersections along Las Olas Boulevard, a thriving corridor with growing pedestrian activity.  Improvements like these contribute to creating walkable and attractive neighborhoods with a strong sense of place.