2 min read January 2022 — In the last few years, Fort Lauderdale has become a vibrant city, and City Manager Christopher Lagerbloom thinks the future is even brighter. In an interview with Invest:, Lagerbloom discussed the city’s five-year and 30-year plans while also touching on the successes of the past year, what activity currently looks like, and the challenges going forward.
What have been the key successes in Fort Lauderdale during the last year?
As we start to emerge from the pandemic, a key success is the financial stability of the city. We made good decisions early on that helped us to emerge without any instability. We have not had to touch our reserves and we’ve been able to continue to deliver services, so that’s exciting. We have focused our energy on getting projects knocked out and it was easy to work because people wanted to work, and we were able to do some significant infrastructure projects. We were able to replace the city’s largest sewer transmission line and we were able to finish the construction of our fire station.
What is the state of activity in the city?
We have seen an uptick in the quantity of work. We have seen more development now than we’ve seen before. We are seeing a tremendous amount of growth in our Downtown. The Downtown has proven to be quite the economic engine, with a lot of activity primarily in our urban core.
How is the city looking differently considering the ongoing development?
Fort Lauderdale has become a very vibrant city. It is no longer the story of a one-season city. We might still have a snowbird crowd of people who come here at a certain time of the year but if you look at the hotel occupancy rates, they do not paint a picture of one season because we have 90% occupancy rates year-round.
What are the key challenges for the city going forward?
We need to move people. We need to talk about roadway expansion and capacity expansion. It doesn’t happen on the surface anymore, so we are exploring different ways of moving and I firmly believe that the future of cities, the future of downtowns is underground and in the sky. That is how you are going to successfully move people. We need to figure out how to tunnel well and we need to start to talk about vertical takeoff. I think that as soon as 2024, we could be seeing vertical take-off vehicles on the street, where transit and transportation happen in the first thousand feet above the surface. We must figure out how to move people around because unless you know the back roads of Fort Lauderdale, it’s a struggle to get around just because there are so many people in so many cars. That’s what we’re strategizing for; to find good solutions to move people from point A to point B.
What do you consider the most pressing infrastructure need for the city?
Apart from transit infrastructure, one of the biggest things we must do is to address the sea-level rise, which is real. We must make sure that we don’t become known as the Venice of America; or worse, we don’t want to become the Atlantis of America, so we must do everything we can, focus on resilience and address the issue of sea-level rise.
How do you plan for the future of the city?
When it comes to making sound decisions, we have a 30-year plan that looks out to the future in terms of the big picture. We also recognize that we need to have a plan within our reach, which is why we have a short-term plan called Press Play. Every year, we have a commission to look at the 30-year plan and we also review the five-year plan. Then we sit down and prioritize goals in terms of our strategy. We also have a team that is focused on tracking the progress of the plans so that they don’t just sit on the shelf. We want to live up to expectations.
What is your outlook for the city of Fort Lauderdale for the next two to three years?
I am excited about where we are heading. I see a strong community, an emerging Downtown, and beautiful beaches. It’s hard to look out there and think our future is dim because it’s not. We’re making good decisions. I think 2024, ’25, and ‘26 will be bright. I think it can be anything you want it to be.
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