Legacy of J.C. Nichols
"J.C. Nichols was one of those rare individuals, a dreamer with a
capacity for making his dreams come true. He dreamed moreover in terms
of great practical benefit to his city. Few men can have so variously
and profoundly influenced the development of (the) American community."
—inscription at the J.C. Nichols Memorial Fountain
The ULI J.C. Nichols Prize for Visionaries in Urban Development
reflects the values of J.C. Nichols and the mission of ULI, which is to
provide responsible leadership in the use of land to enhance the total
environment. According to ULI President Richard M. Rosan, the prize
spotlights "cutting edge" individuals or organizations employing
innovative processes, techniques and insights to obtain the highest
quality development practices and policies. "This prize is designed to
encourage developers, redevelopment planners and community leaders to
think profoundly about how urban development affects the livability of
our neighborhoods," Rosan says. "Our goal is for the prize to be a
highly visible symbol focusing public attention on the importance of
true visionary community development."
While the prize encourages creativity, it also recognizes the core
principles of community values, spirit and cohesiveness espoused by J.C.
Nichols.
Jeannette Nichols, the wife of J.C. Nichols' late son Miller Nichols,
explains that J.C. Nichols approached development in terms of building
total, connected communities. "When J.C. Nichols built homes, he thought
of all the other aspects of a person's life—art, culture,
education, shopping, worship—and he incorporated them into his
neighborhoods," Mrs. Nichols says. "J.C. Nichols built for permanence.
His neighborhoods flowed right along. He gave them homogeneity."
Nichols positioned homes to take full advantage of the sun's
east-to-west movement. He built homes to suit the landscape; he did not
alter the landscape to suit the homes. Nichols expected homeowners to
plant trees and shrubs. He established homes associations to sustain the
neighborhoods he built and to keep homeowners accountable, instilling in
them a sense of pride and belonging.
Country Club Plaza, which Nichols built in 1922 in anticipation of
the explosive popularity of the automobile, carried on Nichols'
tradition of incorporating attractive architecture and sculptures into
his developments. The Plaza's Spanish motif, including several towers
with intricate, colorful tile work, served to "set off the shopping
center and make it inviting," Jeannette Nichols says. "He didn't want
people just to come shopping, he wanted them to spend time there, to
enjoy being there."
Miller Nichols, who died in 2001, succeeded his father in the J.C.
Nichols Company, making changes over the years to keep the Plaza current
with patrons' needs. But, its role as a community "energizer" has
remained constant, Mrs. Nichols says. Today, customs that were started
in the 1920s—Yuletide lights, an arts fair—still are
favorites with Kansas City residents.
Wayne Nichols, the grandson of J.C. Nichols, says his grandfather
understood the diverence between simply building subdivisions connected
by streets and utility lines, and building neighborhoods connected by
community events and shared amenities. Indeed, J.C. Nichols never
described his developments as subdivisions. "J.C. Nichols believed that
you must create the software of communities as well as the hardware. In
this respect, he was very much a visionary. His imprint, his giving the
community an identity, is still alive," Wayne Nichols says. "It's that
sense of community, of togetherness, that makes J.C. Nichols' work so
important to modern community planning."
The ULI J.C. Nichols Prize for Visionaries in Urban Development is
funded by an endowment donated by the family of J.C. Nichols.
In 2000, the establishment of the first ULI J.C. Nichols Prize for
Visionaries in Urban Development coincided with the 50th anniversary of
the J.C. Nichols Foundation—now the ULI Foundation—which was
created in 1950 by ULI Trustees to perpetuate Nichols' ideals. In the
1940s, Nichols was instrumental in moving ULI forward by leading the
establishment of the Institute's Community Builders Council (CBC). The
council served as a forum in which industry professionals in the United
States and Canada could exchange ideas and offer analyses of real estate
practices. CBC meetings led to the publication of the Community
Builders Handbook, produced by Nichols, which was the first
authoritative publication on community planning and the forerunner to
subsequent ULI development handbooks. The objectives of the CBC are
carried out today by a wide range of specialized ULI councils.
J.C. Nichols and some of his peers initiated the urban planning
process in the early 1900s through train trips in which they would
"visit each other, throw their plans out on the table, and help each
other design communities," Wayne Nichols says. "Their goal was to create
beautiful communities—not subdivisions, not shopping
centers—but long-term, integrated planned communities. They saw
themselves as building human environments. Their motto was 'land
development is a responsibility, not a right.'"
"If J.C. Nichols were known only for his creation of the Country Club
District and the Plaza, he would still be honored as a pioneer in
quality real estate development. Yet his own vision was much broader.
His intention was to make the city better, make his peers better
professionals, and make the face of the nation better." —Excerpt
from The J.C. Nichols Chronicle: The Authorized Story of the Man,
His Company, and His Legacy
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