![\"\"](\"https:\/\/dcp.ufl.edu\/urp\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/34\/2025\/12\/Liz-Abernethy-and-Mayor-1024x683-1.jpg\" "\\"Liz-Abernethy-and-Mayor-1024x683\\"")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nAbernethy receiving the APA Florida 2024 Public Official of the Year Award<\/span> alongside Mayor Ken Welch and Planning and Development Services Administrator James Corbett at the 2024 APA FL Conference<\/p>\n\n\n\n A focus of her time with the City of St. Petersburg was on downtown revitalization. Working directly with the mayor and other city officials, Abernethy and her team focused on code reform that ensured the downtown area remained local in the face of a growing population and the displacement of local businesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFrom a legal standpoint it was tough, because you can\u2019t necessarily turn these larger chain businesses away and tell them they can\u2019t use these spaces,\u201d said Abernethy. \u201cSo what we did was implement what we called a storefront conservation overlay. We knew these larger chains wouldn\u2019t be interested in smaller storefronts due to their business strategy, so by maintaining smaller spaces, we were able to maintain those opportunities for smaller businesses. These smaller storefronts were also more appealing from a pedestrian perspective and kept the charm of the downtown area intact.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Abernethy also said these efforts, which oftentimes get challenged politically, were successful due to support from the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAn endeavor like that often faces significant resistance from those who are anti-regulation, so to be able to implement it with unanimous support was something you don\u2019t see very often,” said Abernethy. \u201cI was very fortunate to be able to practice in a community that wasn\u2019t afraid to do something different and do what needed to be done to address the challenges of the community. And that\u2019s very empowering as a practitioner.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Abernethy with her husband Gary and her son Declan<\/p>\n\n\n\n When asked how she dealt with the various pressures from constituents, politicians, business owners and others, Abernethy said it all comes down to balance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cGiving all the stakeholders the opportunity to be heard and to feel listened to is really the key,\u201d said Abernethy. \u201cWhile the outcome might not be exactly what one stakeholder wanted over another, it makes it much easier when they feel that their concerns have been heard and they can see that you\u2019ve really tried to balance competing objectives to come up with the best solution. That\u2019s when a planner knows they\u2019ve done a good job.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The challenge now for Abernethy is figuring out how to take her experience and the lessons she\u2019s learned through her work and translate it for students. She\u2019ll be teaching her first class, Planning Administration and Ethics, this spring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat I\u2019m figuring out right now is how to ensure students are prepared for the area their career takes them to, whether it\u2019s the public sector, federal, state, local, county, and what the different nuances are,\u201d said Abernethy. “So I\u2019m trying to figure out how to incorporate some of that into this class I\u2019m teaching and how we work on those skills as classroom exercises.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n She\u2019s also leading the colloquium, which serves as an introduction to the planning field and features a guest lecture series, bringing in practitioners from across the industry to share their experiences. Abernethy\u2019s goal is for students to come out of the class knowing what to expect no matter what career route they take.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOne of the defining aspects of planning as a profession is its constant evolution and the need to manage change,\u201d said Abernethy. \u201cFrom the moment you begin your career to the day you retire, you\u2019ll be called on to adapt, think creatively, and navigate increasingly complex challenges. Society changes, culture changes, people change. Our profession must continually evolve alongside that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Learn more about our new Planner in Residence here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Planning by Example: A Conversation With Our Planner in Residence Elizabeth Abernethy Elizabeth \u201cLiz\u201d Abernethy first came to the University of Florida\u2019s Department of Urban and Regional Planning back in 1990. Back then, things looked a little different. Earl Starnes, the department\u2019s first director, had just stepped down one year earlier, and the program was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":223,"featured_media":21449,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"disabled","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"disabled","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21855","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"featured_image_urls_v2":{"full":["https:\/\/dcp.ufl.edu\/urp\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/34\/2025\/10\/Abernethy.jpg",1182,1182,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/dcp.ufl.edu\/urp\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/34\/2025\/10\/Abernethy-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/dcp.ufl.edu\/urp\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/34\/2025\/10\/Abernethy-300x300.jpg",300,300,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/dcp.ufl.edu\/urp\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/34\/2025\/10\/Abernethy-768x768.jpg",768,768,true],"large":["https:\/\/dcp.ufl.edu\/urp\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/34\/2025\/10\/Abernethy-1024x1024.jpg",1024,1024,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/dcp.ufl.edu\/urp\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/34\/2025\/10\/Abernethy.jpg",1182,1182,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/dcp.ufl.edu\/urp\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/34\/2025\/10\/Abernethy.jpg",1182,1182,false]},"post_excerpt_stackable_v2":" Planning by Example: A Conversation With Our Planner in Residence Elizabeth Abernethy Elizabeth \u201cLiz\u201d Abernethy first came to the University of Florida\u2019s Department of Urban and Regional Planning back in 1990. Back then, things looked a little different. Earl Starnes, the department\u2019s first director, had just stepped down one year earlier, and the program was growing at a rapid pace, having achieved accreditation and established a strong cohort of faculty with extensive planning experience in the state of Florida. After graduating with her Master\u2019s in Urban and Regional Planning degree in 1993, Abernethy served as an urban planner with the…<\/p>\n","category_list_v2":"Uncategorized<\/a>","author_info_v2":{"name":"ryanhelterhoffurp","url":"https:\/\/dcp.ufl.edu\/urp\/author\/ryanhelterhoffurp\/"},"comments_num_v2":"0 comments","uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/dcp.ufl.edu\/urp\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/34\/2025\/10\/Abernethy.jpg",1182,1182,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/dcp.ufl.edu\/urp\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/34\/2025\/10\/Abernethy-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/dcp.ufl.edu\/urp\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/34\/2025\/10\/Abernethy-300x300.jpg",300,300,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/dcp.ufl.edu\/urp\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/34\/2025\/10\/Abernethy-768x768.jpg",768,768,true],"large":["https:\/\/dcp.ufl.edu\/urp\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/34\/2025\/10\/Abernethy-1024x1024.jpg",1024,1024,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/dcp.ufl.edu\/urp\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/34\/2025\/10\/Abernethy.jpg",1182,1182,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/dcp.ufl.edu\/urp\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/34\/2025\/10\/Abernethy.jpg",1182,1182,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"ryanhelterhoffurp","author_link":"https:\/\/dcp.ufl.edu\/urp\/author\/ryanhelterhoffurp\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Planning by Example: A Conversation With Our Planner in Residence Elizabeth Abernethy Elizabeth \u201cLiz\u201d Abernethy first came to the University of Florida\u2019s Department of Urban and Regional Planning back in 1990. Back then, things looked a little different. Earl Starnes, the department\u2019s first director, had just stepped down one year earlier, and the program was…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dcp.ufl.edu\/urp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21855","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dcp.ufl.edu\/urp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dcp.ufl.edu\/urp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dcp.ufl.edu\/urp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/223"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dcp.ufl.edu\/urp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21855"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dcp.ufl.edu\/urp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21855\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dcp.ufl.edu\/urp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21449"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dcp.ufl.edu\/urp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21855"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dcp.ufl.edu\/urp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21855"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dcp.ufl.edu\/urp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21855"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/dcp.ufl.edu\/urp\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/34\/2025\/12\/Liz1-768x1024.jpg\" "\\"Liz1\\"")
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