KM kentmccoy
landscape architect
PO Box 976--Eastpoint Fl 32328
Phone Fax 850 927 4897
Email-- kentmccoy40@gmail.com
Visioning a St. James
Island 50 years into the future.---6 Strategy Plans--6 Great Possibilities
The St. Joe Land Company ,in 2005,
launched an envisioning effort of what this new city on the Ochlockonee might resemble half a century
from now.
Realizing that
completion of the project will take a generation, they understandably had many
pressing questions on their minds about this great
undertaking, eg.:
----What about the resources needed
to create a community of this scale. Would there be enough potable water ? Where
are the new energy sources
coming from now that the world is clearly running out of fossil fuels?
----How will new technologies impact the planning and subsequent
development of the city? The country's infrastructure is long overdue with
upgrades
and replacement desperately called for re more efficient means of
transportation, completely new ways of thinking about water supply and
distribution,
a communications systems based on technology we are only now just
beginning to understand (fiber optics, wireless broadband, etc)
Developers planning projects of this
magnitude frequently engage in what amounts to barn storming. They will invite
consultants to probe the limits of
what they are contemplating and harvest the
results with the view of keeping the best of what comes out of it.
I completed my Saint James
Island Concept Series in
late
2005 after several weeks of exploration re what this community might look like
in 50 years
or so. I spent a lot of time talking to regional planners in Tallahassee,
population experts in Washington, hours on the net exploring complex questions
re the future of nuclear power, hydrogen fuel cells, and on and on.
Based on these conversations and using my own experience I predicted the new
city would max out at around 375,000 people around 2075 and that
the St. James Island of the future would be a very different place from the world
we live in today Only a small portion of the material in my report
is on
this
site due to space limitations. The St Joe Company is still
at this time (Feb, 2008) in the data accumulation phase of this exciting
endeavor and I look
forward to assisting them in any way possible in the future.
Prologue--what follows is a scenario ripe with both fact and fiction and
often one isn't sure where they meet. That's as it should be if your going to
really go on an adventure of the imagination. We start with an excerpt from the
Island Tribune, a leading light in the now thriving new metropolis of
St. James Bay. The date is March 12, 2052.
Epilogue--The above article went on
for another 800 words or so but I would think you get the essence of what they
are saying in this brave new world
of theirs. Enter stage left--half lights--- a few heavy weight sages, the
likes of Ted Turner, Steve Forbes and others of that elk. What are they saying ?
Let's listen in:
What's there now? Many thousands of
acres of pristine Florida wilderness caressing the Gulf of Mexico and the wide,
spectacular Ochlockonee Bay.
The core project is bordered by SR 319, the bay on the east and US 98 to the
south.
A larger view of the same area reveals more detail
I share the view of a growing
number of knowledgeable folks on the subject that, like June, Tallahassee
is going to be busting out all over in the relatively
near future. This burgeoning megaloposis is already on the Georgia side of
the border to to the north, painfully surging its way down an all to
narrow 319
corridor to the south and hungrily eyeing an unsuspecting bucolic Jefferson
County to the east. Blind Freddy and either of his seeing eye dogs grasp
the obvious and see a Tallahassee region well established along the Gulf
coast in another 50 years. If not sooner.
▼▼
6 Strategy plans, outline the many
faces this dynamic new city could develop over a long period of
time. The important part is getting it right to begin
with. Even more difficult is that there is no one correct plan, there are
basically several "correct" directions to go in depending on the consensus at
the
time decisions have to made. One strategy is to develop eco tourism as a theme
and build on it through the years. Another excellent direction would
be a research, learning and tech center for the region. It's the theme that's
critical. Choose it--stick to it--excel.
▼▼
After years of lagging way behind
Europe and Asia in high speed mass transit the United States is now making
dramatic headway with innovative
solutions in mass transit, particularly on the west and east coasts. I predict
Florida will eagerly grasp this technology in the future and apply it with
a vengeance. US 98 in 50 years will be an I-10 on steroids by having
a Maglev high speed transit route down its central median with an A, B and C
stations
for St. James Bay over a 15 mile stretch of highway. Local, national and
international passengers will access St James Island by the tens of thousands
every day on their way to eco tourist centers on the gulf, crooked rivers,
the bay and the gulf. Nearly 40% of the city's future population will commute
into
the Tallahassee metroplex for jobs in government, education and industry.
▼▼
Appearances can be deceiving---even 50
years into the future, the charm of quality seaside architecture will still
prevail. But that's where the
similarity with today's structures end. Houses of tomorrow will have very
different characteristics than those we know today. Major differences
will be:
----- all exterior surfaces, walls and
roofs particularly, will generate 130% of the house's electric needs via
photovoltaic technology and return a 30%
surplus back to the St. James power grid which is already producing abundant,
inexpensive nuclear power and really does not need it.
-----smart structures will talk to you.
They will computer manage all systems in the structure, print out shopping lists
for the pantry, fridge and workshop.
and automatically warn you and then prepare themselves for exterior
threats from hurricanes, tornadoes and wildfires. Advanced construction
know how will make them indestructible to 180 mph hurricane winds , earth
tremors, termites, wildfires or whatever. Structures will typically have
300 year life spans.
-----newly invented polymer based
synthetic building materials will literally last forever and a day. Pre cast
components will have smart tech features
built into them eg photovoltaic cells, heat and light sensors for climate
control and variable opacity levels that adjust to changing light levels
After two generations of bickering and
confusion and coupled with totally safe disposal and operating systems, nuclear
power finally prevailed around
2020 as the predominant power generating source for the United States and most
of the developed world. Totally new safe and productive uses were
discovered for processed coal and the need for it reached even higher
levels than we know today. Ships, automobiles and appliances were made from it,
medically technology utilized it extensively and the building industry couldn't
get enough of it.
Desalination became the prevalent
means of water supply for the country around 2030 after 20 years of crippling
drought forced greatly advanced
technology for fresh, clean water from an inexhaustible sea supply. Advanced
desalination units came in all sizes from fridge sized solar powered units
for remote seaside getaways to mega plants producing 300 million gallons a
day for the New York metro area. Water wars became a thing of the past
and a nuclear powered interstate water grid, much like the original
national highway system of the 1950's distributed hundreds of billions of
gallons of
desalinated water across the nation to industry and agriculture
more than meeting all of their needs. Agriculture entered a new golden age
around
2040 and world hunger became a distant memory to everyone on the planet. Food
was so inexpensive and accessible that, like water, no one could
remember when there wasn't inexhaustible supplies.
Individual docks and piers were banned
from the outset in St James Island for aesthetic and practical reasons. Small,
tasteful, practical community
boat docks, that required no destructive support piers were incorporated into
the development.. Small pocket, boat club parks with card gate access
accompanied these communal docks that had cooking and rest room facilities for
the boater clubs that utilized them constantly. they were very popular,
inexpensive to join and came in all sizes from as small as 15 slips up to
120. Many docks had several slip sizes to accommodate boaters needs
These small floating docks came in pre
fab components and took about a week to completely install complete with a
power, water and internet
service for overnight and extended stays at the facility. Materials were
non skid component (synthetic) wood, stainless steel hardware throughout,
and new technology hyrofoam that had twice the buoyancy of older styrofoam and
was not only inert but, unlike styrofoam, was totally indestructible
A major coo for the marine ecology
occurred in 2030 when propeller craft were legislatively passed into history and
replaced with propulsion technology.
Mass production of propulsion boats got them down to very affordable prices for
either single users on the jet ski's or larger versions with 6-8 passengers.
Hydrogen cell tech also made major inroads with the automotive world and a
hybrid electric-hycell motor became the prevalent means of powering cars
and trucks by 2040. Gasoline pumps and their foul, leaky underground tanks were
relegated to museum status.
kent mccoy landscape
architect
www.kentmccoy.com
email.
kentmccoy40@gmail.com