Knight Foundation Grant Sparks Ideas To Boost Walkability And Liveability In West Palm Beach

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West Palm Beach Downtown Development Authority

Oct 14, 2015, 01:00 ET

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., Oct. 14, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- West Palm Beach Mayor Jeri Muoio and the city's Downtown Development Authority (DDA) Executive Director, Raphael Clemente, have returned from their visit to Copenhagen, Denmark where they were part of a group of 27 city leaders and planners from around the globe studying city design, public spaces, and bicycle and pedestrian transportation systems. The group benefitted from having some of the world's leading experts throughout the week-long master class. They plan to share key learnings and ideas most relevant to West Palm Beach with city stakeholders in the coming weeks. The Knight Foundation selected West Palm Beach as one of 13 communities to participate in this valuable opportunity.

The West Palm Beach Downtown Development Authority is an independent taxing district created in 1967 by a special act of the Florida Legislature. Its mission is to promote and enhance a safe, vibrant Downtown for its residents, businesses and visitors through the strategic development of economic, social and cultural opportunities.
The West Palm Beach Downtown Development Authority is an independent taxing district created in 1967 by a special act of the Florida Legislature. Its mission is to promote and enhance a safe, vibrant Downtown for its residents, businesses and visitors through the strategic development of economic, social and cultural opportunities.

"This trip was invaluable for our city's future planning initiatives. We knew that Copenhagen is known for making biking, walking and mass transit the most popular ways to travel, but to experience it first-hand gave us real, implementable ideas that will translate to a better quality of life here in West Palm Beach," said West Palm Beach Downtown Development Authority Executive Director, Raphael Clemente. "Our group consisted of 27 forward-thinking community leaders all with the same goal in mind, which was to learn from examples in one of the best cities in the world and then use this information to help increase the quality of life in our respective cities."

West Palm Beach city leaders look forward to the arrival of officials from the Gehl Architects, principal designers of Copenhagen's transformation. The architects will meet with the city to help brainstorm and potentially implement some of the smart cities strategies in Copenhagen, such as greenway connections and improvements to parks and public spaces to make it an even more walkable and bicycle friendly.  

The Knight Foundation, which was founded to support innovative civic ideas in 26 communities including Palm Beach County, said that it selected West Palm Beach to participate in the Copenhagen training because of the city's and DDA's "ambition" and commitment to create a an improved downtown.

For more information about the DDA or Downtown West Palm Beach, please visit downtownwpb.com or call the DDA at (561) 833-8873.

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SOURCE West Palm Beach Downtown Development Authority