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Eliza Juliano, CNU-A


Eliza Juliano is the Director of Urbanism at Canin Associates in downtown Orlando where she leads the Urban Design and Planning studio. Canin Associates’ multidisciplinary team tackles projects including master-planned communities, infill, form-based coding, transportation design, and public sector planning.  She also led the development of an innovative approach to MetroPlan Orlando’s Long Range Transportation Plan that addressed how land use and urban design impact multimodal transportation outcomes. She completed a Masters of Urban Planning Degree at the Harvard School of Design and is currently on the board of the Florida Chapter of the Congress for the New Urbanism. Juliano also served on the sustainability committees for Orlando and Orange County.

Why are you devoting your time to this cause?
I encountered the New Urbanism while pursuing a Biochemical Sciences degree at Harvard.  It immediately resonated with my contrasting experiences growing up in Manhattan and in suburban South Carolina, and I vowed that no teen should be trapped in sprawl again.

In 15 years, what does the region look like?
In fifteen years, Orlando will be a paradise for bikers and walkers with towns and city centers are that are very walkable and bikeable. And the gaps in our trail system with connect those central places to far and wide recreational opportunities throughout the region. An important key to making walking and biking a part of everyday life is having enough places within a reasonable distance to walk and bike to. That means higher density development in the right places with the right walking and biking connections.

Earliest memory of walking or biking?
I got a tricycle with red accents and streamers when I was three. Best Christmas gift ever.

Street, sidewalk, or trail rider?
Street; except when I am thwarted by one-way streets.

If you could change one road in Orlando to better accommodate walkers and bikers, which would it be?
Corrine Drive is such an amazing opportunity because there is already a thriving community there and many people are walking and biking even though the conditions are pretty miserable. Imagine how many people would if it was actually pleasant. Behind that I would say Mills Ave but that’s going to be a lot more difficult because it carries more traffic.