Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, a leading architect and founder of the New Urbanism, will be the featured speaker at the second annual Sandra Starr Foundation conference, “Building Urban-Suburban Alliances.” The conference, which is free and open to the public, takes place on April 15, 2000 (Communiversity Day), 9:30 a.m. to noon and then 1:30 p.m. to 3 p.m., at the Princeton University Art Museum (McCormick Auditorium).

The morning session features a discussion of the emerging issues that bridge the communities of Mercer County, particularly the suburban interest in limiting sprawl and the urban interest in attracting new development and jobs. Among the speakers will be Marty Johnson, president of Isles; Connie Mercer, executive director of HomeFront; and Mel Lehr, a transportation expert. A dozen citizens will also present their ideas about how people could better work together.

At 1:30 p.m., Ms. Plater-Zyberk, the dean of the School of Architecture at the University of Miami, will speak about her new book, Suburban Nation: The Rise of Sprawl and the Decline of the American Dream. She is also co-founder with Andres Duany of the architectural firm Duany Plater-Zyberk “If you want to talk about solutions to suburban sprawl,” Paul Goldberger writes in a recent article in The New Yorker, “Andres Duany and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk are the people to go to.”

“That’s why we’ve asked her to talk here,” said Paul Starr, president of the Foundation. “She also has expertise about our community-she worked on a redevelopment plan for Trenton and has served as a trustee of Princeton University.”

During the lunch break and at the end of the conference, attendees are encouraged to join the Communiversity celebration.

Sandra Starr was a Princeton Borough councilwoman until her death in 1998; the Foundation named in her honor seeks to promote progressive community leadership in the Princeton-Mercer area. The April 15 conference is co-sponsored by the Office of Community Relations of Princeton University. For further information, call the Foundation’s Associate Director Deborah Kaple at 497-1939, or check www.sandrastarr.org.