Jud Kurlancheek began working in Miami Beach as a planner in 1970, and he advanced to be the planning director. The city struggled financially and had a redevelopment plan that would demolish all of the buildings on Sixth Street to build canals. This was opposed by the artists, architects, and preservationists who wanted to renovate the Art Deco buildings. Being the planning director, he was caught in the middle and shifted towards historic preservation of the buildings. He had a plan to rebrand the city to make the government officials see the value in keeping the architecture. This was successful and the area became known as the "Art Deco" district.