July 2018

134 135 are much more expensive. So, we did the first community-wide mobility pilot with UBER in the world, to evaluate alternative transit using mi- cro-transit.We began discussions in 2015, exe- cuted in 2016, and we’ve now expanded to four other cities. Our residents appreciate it because it’s a direct rebate to the taxpayer; we discount their use of that alternative transport system.” Seventy-five cities on four continents have contacted Altamonte Springs to find out how they did it. National and international exposure for that partnership pilot came from NBC, Fortune, The London Times, and it continues to generate huge interest. The city is also known for doing public private partnerships extremely well. Mea- suring 9.4 square miles in size, with a population of 44,600 and growing, the community has $700 million of economic development under plan review. It is largely built out and currently do- ing in-fill redevelopment. Martz notes, “We have nearly three quarters of a billion dollars of new private sector investment and we’ve never given an incentive for job creation.We’ve created an en- vironment that’s valuable enough for investment to come here without us giving away tax dollars. “We all work hard ‘The Altamonte Way.’ It’s a different culture, intensely ritualistic, a manner of work that creates a high bar. The residents in Altamonte Springs are always letting us know that they’re very pleased with our service. Here’s PREFERRED VENDOR n Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc. www.vhb.com We’re passionate about improving our communities and our world through the work that we do. Engineers | Scientists Planners | Designers Orlando • Tampa • Sarasota www.vhb.com ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, FLORIDA a great example: Over Christmas, a grandad was visiting from out of state and brought his grandson a remote control car. The boy was driving the car around a cul-de-sac and it went down into a storm drain. The kid was so upset; this was his gift from his granddad.We had two employees show up on Christmas Day, pop the cover off the manhole, and retrieve the car. “We’re creating a billion gallons of new water for the region, we’re purifying water, we’re win- ning national awards, and we’re still pulling the remote control car out of the storm drain on Christmas Day. That’s us!”