Hopes for 2040 Key Biscayne

Like most people, I suppose, I’ve always been fascinated with time travel.  I’ve been influenced by the time travel stories of Jules Verne, H.G. Wells, Mark Twain, Kurt Vonnegut and Marty McFly.  The opportunity to influence the present through actions in the past or the future is, some would say, the entire point of human existence. It is with that spirit of possibility that I attended the inaugural meeting of the Village of Key Biscayne 2040 Strategic Vision Plan Board as an appointee of the Mayor.

God willing, in 2040 I’ll be in my early 70s. I may have grandchildren. I may not be going to the office every morning. I’ll have a different dog. My personal priorities may be completely different than they are today. For all I know, I may not even be living full-time in Key Biscayne. It’s intimidating and exciting to consider contributing to a plan for an unknowable future for a community of thousands of people. These were the thoughts I had as I sat in the meeting room awaiting the arrival of my new colleagues and the start of our first meeting.

The first meeting was mostly procedural.  We learned about the important and challenging implications of Florida’s Sunshine Laws and chose a chair and vice-chair. We also seemed to agree as a group on the cognitive challenge of seeing the possibilities of the future through the lens of our own past and present experiences and priorities. In other words, the years, or in many cases decades, that we’ve lived and worked and played on Key Biscayne is a weakness as much as it is a strength when it comes to open-minded future planning. This shared humility is an indication to me of a team well-matched to its task — an auspicious beginning.

My hope for the 2040 Strategic Vision Plan Board is that we can live up to our billing: that we deliver a 2040 plan of strategic vision. The Village Council doesn’t need us (or at least me) to underscore our obvious needs nor to promote impossibilities. Our task is to help provide a strategic vision for a better community in 2040 than we have today. Here are a few things that I think would be better for Key Biscayne and that I hope our team will consider:

•     I think it would be better if Key Biscayne was more accommodating to people and walking and less so to cars and driving.
•     I think it would be better if there were more shops and restaurants and other businesses offering experiences and fewer banks and real estate offices — at least at street level.
•     I think it would be better if the Key offered a more hospitable climate for local businesses — possibly including another hotel to attract more visitors and dollars.
•     I think it would be better if our island had excellent educational facilities and meeting spaces for learners and collaborators of all ages.
•     I think it would be better if Key Biscayne played an active role in contributing to a community-focused strategy for public events on our entire island as well as Virginia Key.
•     I think it would be better if our island paradise had a bold 2040 strategic vision plan that focused our efforts and resources toward a sustainable future for all the constituents of our community: young and old and in-between, owners and renters and visitors, residents and businesses, year-rounders and snowbirds — from both hemispheres, homeowners and condo owners, and citizens of this country and all others.

Serving on this planning board is an honor and an exciting challenge and I hope we all remember there’s no magic DeLorean to offer us multiple chances to properly plan for the coming decades. Godspeed.