ON THE AIRFRONT

When the city of Gainesville, Florida, approved a strategic plan last year for the revitalization of the city's east side, they decided not to focus on the University of Florida campus nor on Gainesville's reputation as a healthcare and social services provider for the 11-county region. Instead, they concentrated on the potential offered by the Gainesville Regional Airport. The thinking was that the potential offered by the Airport as a catalyst for commercial, industrial, and residential development was too important to be overlooked. The developed plan urged making the Airport a gateway to the urbanized area and the centerpiece of a strategy to direct private-sector investment to East Gainesville, a culturally diverse but disadvantaged part of the community. This article discusses this plan in some detail.