Photo Credit: Eli Meyer Studio

How do you convey urban revitalization philosophy in a compelling way?

Community Redevelopment Agencies (CRAs) use tax increment financing to spark economic development in blighted urban areas. From road infrastructure upgrades to job creation incentives, the CRA uses a range of tactics to encourage private sector investment.

The Gainesville CRA won a state award for its “out-of-the-box” approach to its Annual Report and Strategic Plan. Our CRA department leadership had the option of playing a video on-stage prior to receiving the award. We had a 4-minute opportunity to share our agency’s unique redevelopment philosophy with our industry peers. Instead of doing a traditional “talking head” video, I proposed working with local parkour practitioners to inspire others to embrace thinking unconventionally. In college, I had gotten to meet some exceptionally talented parkour athletes who excelled at using ordinary concrete surroundings into extraordinary jumping off points for beautiful acrobatic movement.

Watching parkour traceurs’ graceful movements and interactions with our urban environment held parallels to the transformative work the CRA was leading in Downtown Gainesville. The Reimagine Possible video was filmed at the 13th Street Helyx Bridge, one of the CRA’s most memorable projects. It’s hard to believe it now, but the Helyx Bridge used to be a dark, grungy railroad overpass bridge, covered in barbed wire and graffiti. Now it is a vibrant, iconic pedestrian bridge… a prime example of quality redevelopment.

My supervisors at the Gainesville CRA gave me the greenlight to proceed with this unusual project. I pitched the video concept, led vendor selection, and contracted Eli Meyer Studio to produce the video. I wrote the primary video narrative script and coordinated with stakeholders to develop the final product. A project of this size wouldn’t have happened without significant collaboration—full video production credits are listed below.

The Reimagine Possible video successfully generated conversation about the role of cities and human-centered urban design.

There are about 200 CRA’s in the state of Florida. The Reimagine Possible video was played at the Florida Redevelopment Association 2014 Annual Conference and for the Gainesville City Commission.

As of the time of this entry, Reimagine Possible has been viewed on YouTube more than 2,500 times. The video project was profiled by the Gainesville Sun and American Parkour.