DK&P Blog
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Last month, our founders Victor Dover and Joseph Kohl were awarded the Seaside Prize for 2024. At the sold-out, weekend-long Symposium held by the Seaside Institute to commemorate the Prize, Victor & Joe shared some of their adventures and insights, plus a sneak preview of the upcoming 2nd edition of Street Design: The Secret to Great Cities and Towns. Watch the video here.
Joseph Kohl and Victor Dover talk with the Seaside Prize Weekend attendees
Joseph and Victor at Lee’s wedding, November 2023
To mark the upcoming occasion of the Seaside Prize Weekend, the Seaside Institute director Christy Milliken brought Joe and Victor into a wide-ranging conversation about the origins of the firm, the ideas that have fueled the work, and even a bit of Star Trek. Listen to the podcast here, or on Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts: https://sites.libsyn.com/444042/a-conversation-with-victor-dover-and-joseph-kohl
Focused on the future: The Dover-Kohl team seen in 2012, climbing ladders to draw an enormous, wall-sized map of Southeast Florida in 2060
From Seaside Institute:
“Victor and Joe will be recognized as the 2024 SEASIDE Prize™ recipients. The Seaside Prize recognizes individuals and organizations who, through design, have changed the way we live. Prize winners are thought innovators in concepts, quality, and character of their industry and considered leaders of contemporary urban development and education, who have made their vision a reality; and ultimately our lives better.
Recipients of the Prize influence how towns and cities are built. They challenge our thinking about promoting diversity, walk ability, sustainability, livability and quality of life. From young to old, where we live is at the core of how we live.”
Since 1987, Dover, Kohl & Partners Town Planning has been dedicated to creating healthier and more sustainable communities everywhere, a journey made possible through the combined efforts of our exceptional team. We are delighted to announce the promotions of Pamela Stacy King, Kenneth García, and Kristen Thomas, to Principal leadership roles. These individuals, now part of the company’s board of directors, have been entrusted with new responsibilities of guiding the strategic direction of the firm.
Pamela Stacy King joined our team as an intern in 2006 and progressed to the role of studio director. Pam is CNU accredited. For the past six years, she has served as Studio Director. " I look forward to continuing my journey and helping to make more communities across the country become their own exciting vision of the future, " remarked Pamela Stacy King.
Kenneth García joined Dover, Kohl & Partners as a town planner in 2007, and has earned accreditation from AICP and CNU. His proficiency in design and visualization combines with his deep knowledge about street design; in 2017 he rose to the role of Studio Design Lead. "I feel incredibly grateful for the opportunity to work on meaningful projects, creating places where people want to be, and improving people's lives through design - especially for those walking and biking," expressed Kenneth García.
Since Kristen Thomas first began her journey as Dover-Kohl’s office manager in 1996, her attention to detail has played a pivotal role in the firm. "I am looking forward to continue to build strong relationships with my colleagues and working together toward our common goals.”
Please join Dover, Kohl & Partners in congratulating Pam, Kenneth, and Kristen on their well-deserved promotions. Their contributions are integral to the success of our firm, and we look forward to the continued growth and impact they will bring in their new leadership roles.
The DK&P studio has integrated 3D printing into our practice. In this Q&A with our communications intern Hannah Kosoff, Roland Stafford shares his experience crafting a giant study model of the neighborhood surrounding our office. Roland is an architecture student at the University of Miami and an intern at Dover, Kohl & Partners. He sheds light on the 3D printer’s implications when applied at the urban scale.
The South Miami model is a combination of projects, plans, and urban design ideas for downtown that have been curated since 1992. Leading the effort that resulted in the Hometown Plan and an innovative form-based code. That plan led to the narrowing of roadways Dorn Avenue and Sunset Drive, to reclaim space for walking and dining; these were among the first such “road diets” in Florida.
The 3D buildings are separately movable, so they can be rearranged on the metal blueprint base. This provides a quick way to understand the public spaces and the private developments that give form to those spaces.
Handmade mosaic plaque presented at NRPA’s national conference, October 2023
“Start with the green parts,” Victor Dover is always telling the DK&P team as they work on plans, whether for a single neighborhood or a whole city. He advocates for reuniting parks planning, city planning and urban design. At the local level, Victor was on the board of the Parks Foundation of Miami-Dade for many years, ultimately serving as its President. This week, he wraps up a key phase of service to the parks movement at the national level as a member of the National Recreation & Parks Association board of directors. With more than 60,000 members, NRPA is the leading not-for-profit organization dedicated to building strong, vibrant and resilient communities through the power of parks and recreation. Victor has most recently led NRPA’s Advocacy Committee, to help champion legislation expanding access to parks nationwide. He’ll continue to serve on the committee, pushing Congress to enact the Outdoors for All act.
Watch this one-minute video about Outdoors for All.
Victor was honored by NRPA yesterday with a handmade, one-of-a-kind mosaic tile plaque. Presenting the plaque, fellow board member Jose Felix Diaz made these remarks:
“When [former NRPA board chair] Jack Kardys first identified Victor Dover for the NRPA board, he knew that he was recruiting a savvy advocate for parks and public space, who knew how to bring together people from all walks of life; elected officials, government agencies, private developers, and civic advocates, to name but a few.
If you have worked with Victor, you know that he always gets the facts, he listens to everyone’s point of view, and he can guide a group to consensus and action plans so skillfully that everyone thinks it was a completely natural process.
By now, we have all seen Victor in action, working to advance parks at every level, through his professional work and through his role at NRPA-- writing op-ed pieces, stepping up to chair the Advocacy Committee, and bringing his full heart, soul and mind to the table every single time.
We, his fellow board members, have benefited from his generosity, his experience, his wise and calm counsel, even his example for those of us willing to follow his lead and cycle a new path or trail, and to create one where none previously existed.
And this might be most important of all. Where other people see a blank wall, Victor creates a door; he is all about seeing possibilities and making possibilities realities.
So even as he leaves the board, we know that he will stay close to the NRPA and we thank him for giving us his door building hardware to carry on!”
To hear Victor Dover speak about the importance of Parks, Greenways and Blueways, watch this short episode of Town Planning Stuff Everyone Needs to Know.
Today Dover, Kohl & Partners reaches 36!
Thank you to all our clients, patrons, fans, and current and past associates for your patronage and efforts.
Kingston Forward signing ceremony. Photo credit: City of Kingston
Last July, the City of Kingston, NY declared a housing emergency to help combat housing unaffordability. Last night, Kingston’s Common Council took a definitive step in addressing the limited housing stock by voting 7-0 to approve Kingston Forward, a new, citywide Form-Based Code drafted by Dover, Kohl & Partners to replace its outdated Euclidean zoning ordinance adopted in the 1960’s. The old code applied suburban standards to its treasured historic neighborhoods, paving the way for continued disinvestment in the city’s urban core and the degradation of the community’s naturally-occurring affordable housing stock.
By removing barriers to historic development patterns and building types in the city, the community is able to bring housing back online that may otherwise have been underutilized. Minimum lot sizes, parking requirements, suburban setbacks, etc. were all removed to support neighborhood-scale infill. ADU’s are now allowed citywide, as are “missing middle” building types like duplexes, triplexes, rowhomes, live/work units, and cottage courts. Neighborhood corner stores are now allowed within ¼ mile of almost all Kingston residents. Conserved lands, floodplains, steep slopes and other sensitive habitats are protected in accordance with the Kingston Open Space plan. DK&P is thrilled to see this level of community support behind efforts to increase access to affordable housing, historic preservation, and resilient urbanism.
Often, I find myself at lunchtime walking the three blocks from my office to our “urban” Whole Foods to try to eat healthy. [Urban = no parking lots out front, with doors on the sidewalk]. Despite the heat in Miami in July, there was nothing unusual. There were plenty of others walking to or from the same place. But the other day I saw this cactus as I entered the store that was calling my name. I’m not one to buy plants, as anyone who knows me can attest. So I bought it along with food to go.
As I walked back to the office, with my brown paper bag in one hand and the small plant in the other, suddenly I noticed everyone looking at me and then the plant and then back at me with a smile, both men and women, sometimes with a big smile and sometimes a grin. At first, I felt really uncomfortable, but after the first block I was okay with it. It made me feel good seeing people who normally don’t smile doing so while walking in their daily routine. Go give it a try and see what response you get. If this simple plant generated that many smiles, next time I will try a bouquet!
—Joe Kohl
Last year, Lake Wales scored two headlines on the same day: One lauded LW for reconnecting to its Olmsted roots (for the #LakeWalesConnected downtown plan). The other screamed that "one of the most imperiled Olmsted legacy landscapes faces new threats" (from ill-conceived sprawl). The followup #LakeWalesEnvisioned initiative is about getting the city’s big picture for future growth (and its form) back on track. Yesterday, I got to introduce #LakeWalesEnvisioned to the national audience of the Olmsted Network as part of their "Conversations with Olmsted" series! My short presentation begins at about 9:00 min in the video. —Victor
Last week, Lake Wales, FL residents heard a compelling call to action on the community’s future. Lake Wales Envisioned is a momentous effort aimed at curbing sprawl along the rapidly developing Lake Wales Ridge in central Florida due to a collapsing citrus industry and continued development pressures. Warch the recording of the presentation:
Recording of the Community Update presentation
Residents were presented with an alternative vision for this special place; a vision that turned a very possible near future of endless cul-de-sacs, cars, garages, and asphalt into a lovable landscape of over 25,000 acres of newly proposed conservation lands, parks and open space, greenways, trails and community gardens interspersed with walkable neighborhoods connected to one another where residents have a chance to build relationships and live fulfilled lives.
The famous Olmsted Brothers planning firm advanced improvement plans for Lake Wales and nearby Bok Tower Gardens, and created a “city in a garden” for the enjoyment of future generations. Now is the time to make a determined effort to save the Lake Wales Ridge from rampant sprawl.
A variety of local, state, and national partners are supporting the City in this effort, underscoring the importance of the Lake Wales Envisioned plan to the city and region. Learn more at lakewalesenvisioned.com.
