Kristopher Larson, Downtown Long Beach Association, Friday Jan. 6th 2012

Kristopher Larson

KRISTOPHER LARSON

Vice President, Downtown Long Beach Association (DLBA)

Kristopher Larson will be discussing:  The new proposed Downtown Plan.  The Downtown plan will effect landlords, tenants and has an impact on any broker or agent working in the Downtown Long Beach market.  Mr. Larson will also be discussing the a more efficent process for zoning and a more sensible approach to the zoning issues.  This will be a very informative speaker and we encourage you to attend this breakfast.

Kristopher Larson's Bio:

An award-winning planner by trade but an economist at heart, Kristopher Larson has spent the last eight years of his career helping good cities develop plans to become great. Career stops as an urban designer and an economic developer enable him to speak with an enlightened enthusiasm about how the confluence marketplace dynamics, architecture, and the public realm translate into defining, place-making experiences. 

Larson currently serves as the Vice President of the Downtown Long Beach Associates (DLBA), a quasi-governmental organization and Downtown Business Improvement District for the sixth-largest city in California.  In that stead, Larson sets the course for the economic development activities for Downtown Long Beach, which includes a comprehensive set of business recruitment and retention programs.  Through Retail Visioning, Larson spearheaded a form of grassroots, collaborative economic development rarely attempted in economic development planning. Retail Visioning was later recognized as a Merit Award Winner in 2010 by the International Downtown Association for its achievement in Planning.

He has held positions on both the non-profit and public sides of municipal management, with career stops on both coasts of the United States. Prior to joining the DLBA in 2009, Larson served as the Senior Planner at the Raleigh Urban Design Center (UDC) and led the development of the 20-year plan for Downtown Raleigh, North Carolina.  In that stead, Larson also worked to develop a set of market-based metrics and benchmarks to guide incremental based policy development.  His work in defining the nexus between planning, policymaking,   and market-based economics is often heralded by planning enthusiasts and critics alike. 

Prior to joining the UDC, Larson served as the Deputy Director of the Downtown Raleigh Alliance. In that role, he helped gain the commitment of the City of Raleigh to invest nearly $300 M in public infrastructure in the Downtown.  Within five years, that public investment yielded over $2 Billion in private investment.  Due in part to these efforts, Raleigh was recently named the #1 city in the nation for business and careers.    

His proven ability to position organizations and communities for success is derived from a combination of strategic positioning, an eye for detail, and facilitating inter-organizational collaborations that yield powerful results.  An insatiable learner, Kristopher is constantly seeking to expand his knowledge of cities through active participation with the International Downtown Association, the Urban Land Institute, and the International Council of Shopping Centers.  In 2010, he earned the certified planner credential, AICP, from the American Planning Association. He also holds a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from North Carolina State University, and perhaps most importantly, is a diehard Wolfpack football and basketball fan.