New Urban Professionals Todd Zimmerman & Laurie Volk to Receive the 2015 Seaside Prize

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Todd Zimmerman and Laurie Volk, co-principals-in-charge of Zimmerman/Volk Associates (ZVA), will be the recipients of the 2015 Seaside Prize.

"Todd and Laurie's impact on the success of New Urbanism has been enormous,” said Frank Starkey, chairman of the board of the Seaside Institute. “They have played a major role in getting new urban developments built and traditional downtowns revitalized by reinventing real estate market research and unlocking a method for understanding — and proving — the market viability of urbanism."  

ZVA specializes in the analysis of compact and sustainable development; mixed-income, mixed-tenure redevelopment; mixed-use urban revitalization; and traditional neighborhood developments, and the firm is recognized by the leading practitioners of the new urbanism as the go-to expert on the market feasibility of urban redevelopment and new urbanism. 

Since 1988, the woman-owned company has completed more than 450 market studies, for sites ranging in size from the redevelopment of half a block to the establishment of a new town on several thousand acres.

Volk currently serves on the advisory board of the Remaking Cities Institute. She was a founding board member, now emeritus, of the National Charrette Institute, and served for more than a dozen years on the Board of Governors of the Seaside Institute. 

Zimmerman was one of the framers of the Charter of the Congress for the New Urbanism, a member of the CNU Board of Directors, and its executive committee.  He also served as chairman of the CNU Council of Task Force Chairs.

"The new urbanism movement owes much to Laurie and Todd, two unsung heroes who have championed NU principles,” said former Seaside Prize recipient Dhiru Thadani. 

“Over the past three decades they have provided design professionals, developers, and cities, from New England to Hawaii, with exemplary market studies based on their proprietary methodology,” he continued. “Their studies have laid the groundwork for an astonishingly wide range of developments—from the market potential of mixed-income residents of HOPE VI neighborhoods to mixed-use developments proposed by the new urbanist community." 

Zimmerman and Volk are frequently quoted in a variety of publications, including Barron's, Forbes, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post and U.S. News and World Report. They have addressed conferences throughout North America and in Western Europe, and are sought-after speakers on housing, target markets, sustainable development and urban redevelopment.  Volk and Zimmerman occasionally write on market dynamics for books and journals.

The Seaside Prize is awarded annually by The Seaside Institute to individuals or organizations that have made significant contributions to the quality and character of our communities and are considered the leaders of contemporary urban development and education. The 2015 Prize ceremony will be held on February 21 at the Assembly Hall in Seaside, Florida. A symposium will be held that weekend in conjunction with the Prize.

For more information about The Seaside Prize and a list of former Prize recipients, please visit http://seasideinstitute.org/seaside-prize/.

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The Seaside Institute is a non-profit organization, which promotes the building of sustainable communities in cities and towns through design and education. The Institute, through its members and programs, contributes significantly to the dissemination of the theory and practice of the New Urbanism and Smart Growth. Located in the town of Seaside, Fla., the Institute helps people find solutions to improve their own communities. It sponsors a wide variety of programs to train and educate specialists and decision-makers, as well as the broader public, regarding the built environment. For more information about The Seaside Institute, you may call the 850.231.2421 or visit our website at seasideinstitute.org.