1927. Nolen's plan remained a guiding vision (although Harlem Village was nixed), and Venice stands as the most complete example of the Garden City in Florida. Neighborhoods segregated by class and cost were connected by parkways and linked to the Civic Center. Combining the lines of Nature with a civic orientation, Venice offered, Nolen wrote, "an inspiration to those who would make this world a better place to live." At the 1926 National City Planning Conference, held in St. Petersburg, Nolen presented Venice in his presidential address, "New Communities to Meet New Conditions." More than any other state, Nolen believed, Florida needed "a state plan" to "regulate reasonably" the location of future towns and cities. Nolen envisioned a state of interconnected garden cities based on Venice's regional and town plan. Although Nolen's agenda never moved beyond the conference, his vision drew admirers. A year later, Lewis Mumford, in the keynote address to the same conference, proclaimed, "At least one planner realizes where the path of intelligent and humane achievement will lead during the next generation." Both Mumford and Nolen advocated regional planning and the new town as the means to channel urbanization into a higher level of civilization. They also saw planning as an art form that revealed mankind's highest aspirations. "City design" could only "succeed," Mumford remarked in his conclusion, "when the city planner tries to fathom and express ... what the best life possible is." John Nolen died at his home in Cambridge on February 18, 1937. Impact on Wisconsin Nolen developed plans for the University of Wisconsin, the city of Madison, and the state park system. His comprehensive approach blended social, economic, and physical aspects of urban life with the preservation of natural beauty. He felt strongly that: His plan for the city of Madison is considered a preeminent example of the urban landscape movement. Nolen later cited the grounds surrounding Worcester College as an inspiration for his plans for Madison. In 1908, John Olin of the Madison Park and Pleasure Drive Association contacted Nolen for advice in laying out Madison city parks. Without the money to pay Nolen, Olin enlisted the support of the city, the University of Wisconsin, and the state. Together, they devised a contract to have Nolen make recommendations for the beautification of each. Perhaps Nolen's most important contribution, though, was his plan for a state park system. Having seen the rapid deforestation