HAPPY BIRTHDAY 1000 FRIENDS!

By Patricia S. McKay

Staff members celebrate 1000 Friends’ 10th Birthday. From left: Patti McKay, Jaimie Ross, Terrell Arline, Julia "Alex" Magee, Kathleen Morris, Stacy Hopkins. Not pictured: Doug Coward, Katy Edwards, Jeannette Hallock, Vivian Young.

It’s true! We’re a decade old. We look proudly on our many accomplishments and thank you, true friends of Florida, for your support. From our incorporation at the end of 1986, to hiring a small but dedicated staff and opening our doors in Tallahassee in 1987, we have been involved in the key issues facing Florida over the last ten years. And we have been able to do this because of people like you--people who love Florida and believe in its potential; people who share the vision of 1000 Friends, and help make a difference.

Our primary goal at 1000 Friends, of course, has been to nurture, refine, and enhance Florida’s landmark growth management legislation for the benefit of the many millions who call Florida home. We have helped protect growth management from legislative onslaughts, monitored the adoption--and when necessary pushed for improvement--of 485 city and county comprehensive plans, and helped strengthen the growth management process in Florida. While our first choice has been to advocate, when essential we have litigated to ensure that communities plan for the betterment of all. We have vigilantly sought to be, as then Department of Community Affairs Secretary Tom Pelham noted a decade ago, "the conscience of our comprehensive planning process."

But we have consistently seen our mission as more than plans alone, and have worked diligently to make this "land of flowers" a better place for all. Some of our many tangible legacies? Certainly our work in the arena of affordable housing--1000 Friends played a key role in the adoption of 1992's William E. Sadowski Act and continues to monitor and strengthen this landmark legislation which provides statewide leadership and funding for affordable housing. In cooperation with The Conservation Fund, 1000 Friends initiated Florida’s Greenways Program, "planting the seed" for the emerald necklace of greenways that is one of Florida’s most important gifts to future generations. We are proud of our community-based organizations and Leadership Training series, which continues to empower Florida’s citizens to speak out and make a difference at the local level. To celebrate 1000 Friends’ tenth anniversary, we are planning some special activities to highlight these and other important accomplishments. We will keep you posted.

To some, planning seems a bureaucratic process, unrelated to daily life. To us it is the key to improving daily life. Across the state we see cities and counties still paying for decades of poor planning--clogged roads, overcrowded schools, environmental degradation--and still playing catch up with the thousands of people who move to Florida each year. We know we still have a long way to go.

Our goals for the coming decade? We will continue to be outspoken advocates for the importance of planning for the future. We will develop and refine more incentives for encouraging quality development that will make Florida a better place to live. We will reach out to more Floridians, sharing how each individual can participate in the local planning process and make a difference. And we will continue to depend on you for guidance and support.

Our Chairman and founder, Nathaniel P. Reed, once stated "We simply cannot have a healthy economy without a healthy environment. To separate the two is pure folly." To create that healthy environment requires sound planning--and your active involvement.

Please join us in planning for Florida’s future--Florida needs all the friends it can get!