Center for Building Better Communities

The Center for Building Better Communities, approved in 2002 by the state legislature as a category III research and education center provides educational and research opportunities in economic and community development, for students by working with communities throughout Florida. Projects have included a redevelopment plan for a historic downtown district, an economic development plan for a county under urbanization pressures, and a grants writing workshop for community development practitioners.

Dr. Rhonda Phillips and Dr. Kristin Larsen direct the center’s activities. Dr. Phillips has both strong private and public sector background in Economic Development Planning. Dr. Larsen’s background is in housing and historic preservation.

Mission Statement
The mission of the CBBC is to promote balanced economic growth and development through research and educational activities. The CBBC focuses on sponsoring and disseminating leading-edge research in issues that impact communities and regions such as economic revitalization and urbanization. One of the first initiatives is the annual Growth Forum to explore approaches and solutions to development issues. The CBBC also sponsors continuing education activities such as grant writing seminars for a community planning and economic development practictioners.

The CBBC offers the following services to communities and development organizations:

• Applied research services
• Planning charettes and forums
• Graduate Student work-placements
• Funding proposal preparation
• We are pleased to announce that the Center for Building Better Communities has been selected as the Florida contact for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). The NEA Heritage and Preservation Program has funded the “Downside UP” film project to allow film and related materials available. “Downside UP” is about the experience of MASS MoCA, the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art in North Adams. It portrays the successful story about historic preservation, arts and culture and economic development working together and supporting each other to revitalize a community.
• The Center for Building Better Communities duties will entail disseminating the “Downside UP” materials through list serves, mailings, on-site information sessions, future forums and also an available “check-out” system to communities.

Housed in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Florida, the CBBC provides access to a variety of resources at the University of Florida. It is directed by:

Dr. Rhonda Phillips, CED, AICP
who has over 15 years’ experience in economic development practice and research, having worked in the private, public, and non-profit sectors. She is professionally certified in economic development and planning and holds degrees in economics, economic development and city and regional planning.

Dr. Kristin Larsen, AICP
who is a specialist in housing, neighborhood revitalization, and historic preservation. She has worked as a growth management and housing planner and holds degrees in marketing and city and regional planning.

Community and economic development is concerned with enhancing quality of life by building assets that increase the capacity of citizens, and by fostering stronger economies. Topics explored within the CBBC include sustainable development, downtown economic revitalization, and evaluation. Recent projects of the CBBC are:

• The Hernando County, Florida Economic Development Plan
• The City of Eustis, Florida Redevelopment District Plan
• Community Indicators Measuring Systems
• A Comparison of Candian-U.S. Sustainable Community Development Approaches
• Art-Based Community Incubators and Community Development Programs
• Technology-Based Economic Development Planning
• Tavares Proposal
• Tacachale Economic Impact Study
• Arts-Based Community Economic Development

Publications

• Evaluating Technology-based Economic Development Gauging the Impact of Publicly-Funded Programs and Policies Description: Investments in technology-based economic development programs have soared during the last few decades, with interest fueled by the emerging economy variously referred to as ‘digital,’ ‘information,’ knowledge,’ or ‘new.’ Development organizations at all levels have designed and integrated myriad programs and policies, each designed to capture the most technological benefit for their respective jurisdictions. This book provides a review of the conceptual and practical issues of evaluating technology-based economic development programs. Evaluations are illustrated through a case study of one of the U.S.’s longest-established technology development programs, the Advanced Technology Development Center at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Evaluative approaches include the use of surveys, fiscal impact and cost-benefit analysis. For more information, please visit www.mellenpress.com.
• Concept Marketing for Communities Description: Capitalizing on Underutilized Resources to Generate Growth and Development