What Wal-Mart did to us -- or for us?

Granted, the Wal-Mart saga is not over. The deep-pocketed bulldog of a retailer is not known for throwing up their hands and just walking away. An appeal is likely, though the outcome is not guaranteed.

One thing is certain, however. A lot of people in the city have gotten interested in things such as vision, the comprehensive plan and zoning codes. Like other cities, Sarasota is moving away from an era where public investment in things like parks and infrastructure was driven by a conclave of experts, elders and patrons. The rise of technology, crowd-sourcing and the "digital city" means technical experts no longer have sole dominion over planning and codes.

Of course, old habits die hard, and really it’s hard to take planning to the people unless the people are completely stoked about planning. The question used to be, “Is Sarasota ready to take the next steps?” Wal-Mart showed that we are. The real question now is: “What are the next steps?”

There are three important and related activities on the table:

1. The Wal-Mart site – Even if they win in court on zoning, the site plan is atrocious and the city has a lot of supporting material to keep sending them back to the drawing board until they get a store design that fits the urban edge.
2. An overhaul of the City of Sarasota’s zoning code.
3. Revisiting Sarasota County’s long-range comprehensive plan (called "Sarasota 2050").

These activities are in addition to several other initiatives underway in town, such as Ringling Colleges’ Imagination Conversation, the Sarasota Chamber of Commerce’s Sarasota Tomorrow plan, Gil Water’s remaining checklist on a walkable downtown, and the HuB’s spotlight on downtown housing. These are all great activities, but are not a substitute for what is really needed to form a strong, guiding vision shared by all.

This Week in Sarasota doesn't have the crib sheet on this. But what we can do is look at how other places are handling the challenge and putting pieces together. We are well aware there is a certain fatigue with “what other places did” and having experts parachute in to tell us what to do. But if America is learning anything about the new economy, it’s this: the more ideas, the better.

It also doesn't hurt that cities and urban planning are suddenly sexy. Granted, there are some folks out there who think planning is a communist UN conspiracy to control our lives, but that only makes planning more entertaining. For those of us who want to have an educated say in how our community and region takes shape, this is for you.

So, here are things we could cover:

• The Ingredients of the Creative City
• Density and Traffic – What’s the connection?
• You as Planner – New toys and tech for planning
• The Gold Standard – How Portland, Oregon is killing it with planning
• Asset Mapping – You can’t think about what you want until you know what you have
• What is Sarasota’s Vision Statement?
• Codes that Match the Vision – How new codes in comic book form are all the rage
• Street Secrets – Architects' design tricks

All of these will be insanely visual and helpful. What else should we look at?