making downtown neighborly
On a recent Sunday, the St. Pete Times opined that the city of Tampa should make downtown more neighborly, and offered suggestions for improvement. They said that nobody is taking the time to find out if people can live there comfortably, and the area remains unfriendly to pedestrians.
Roads. Transit policy downtown is still dominated by a mission to move cars… streets need to be safer to cross… crosswalks need to be better marked, and authorities need to crack down on reckless motorists. The city should also review what it could do to make downtown more pedestrian-friendly… install meters operated by charge cards or provide coin changers for existing ones.
Aesthetics. … repair many sidewalks, especially in the outer areas. It should also, where possible, remove utilities and the needless signs in and around the sidewalks… More garbage cans wouldn’t hurt.
Recreation. Downtown has few bike racks and no well-known or convenient place for the public to launch a kayak or canoe onto the river. Yet the new condos cater to the 20-somethings and the outdoor lifestyle. There is a disconnect between what downtown has and what it is selling. That is dangerous for the market if new buyers have their expectations dashed. The city also does not maximize downtown’s proximity to nearby areas. Ybor City, the historic Latin Quarter, is easily reached by bicycle, but it too lacks bike racks and isolates itself. Recreation has income potential, and it cannot be an afterthought.
You might remember, wifey complained that the brick crosswalks are difficult to navigate in high heels.
Tags: downtown, neighborhoods, pedestrians, tampa
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November 27th, 2007 at 12:10 pm
I agree with all of these assessments. Well, except maybe for the observation that Ybor is “easily reached by bicycle”; it’s close and there are streets that will get you there but I wouldn’t say that navigating the area between on a bike would be advisable, let alone “easy”.
But simply put, Downtown is just not an inviting destination for visitors or prospective residents. There’s obviously much, much more that needs to be addressed but this would be a pretty good start.
November 27th, 2007 at 12:52 pm
The thing about downtown Tampa is that it’s designed perfectly for people to drive in, go to an event, and drive out. There is absolutely no connect to the idea of people remaining in the city, mingling, etc. Heck, how many parks in downtown feature more concrete and brick than they do green? Downtown reeks of that “look but don’t touch” feel.
I’m awestruck by the skyscrapers every time I see them — but then I see picctures at street level — where nothing is happening except people driving through downtown. More so on weekdays than on weekends.
The core needs a more lived-in feel. Maybe some of the Times suggestions would work, some I am not so sure (kayak launch downtown? how many downtown residents have enough storage space to store a kayak or canoe?)
November 27th, 2007 at 12:57 pm
Oh, yah. I’m riding my bike from downtown to Ybor. Where will it get stolen? Downtown? Ybor? Or somewhere along the way…?
November 27th, 2007 at 4:13 pm
Good thoughts, but there’s more to do. I live in Seminole Heights and would *love* to be able to bike downtown, but you can’t ride on Nebraska or Florida without taking your life in your hands. How about blocking off two or three feet of roadway with K-rails or a nice scenic brick partition so we could ride from (say) Sligh down to Morgan street without getting killed by an impatient motorist? You’d need the partition to keep some bonehead from using the bike lane as a passing lane or turning lane (the way some of them use the right-turn-lane as a passing lane, fouling up traffic for the rest of us).
November 27th, 2007 at 4:16 pm
Downtown is not neighborly because not a lot of people live there yet! Neighborhoods are made up of people who call a place home. Once people move there, amenities will follow.
Also, in response to the above comment, downtown is not attractive to residents who are looking for a quiet (read: bland) suburban (read: boring) place to live.
And finally, I have been living in Ybor for quite a while now and I am glad to let you all know I have not once been mugged, stabbed, or murdered.
C’mon Tampa, let go off your small town mentality. Inner city neighborhoods are not dark scary places. And your bike is going to be fine.
November 27th, 2007 at 4:29 pm
Chris – Tampa St. has a bike lane from MLK all the way through Downtown.
Everyone – I line in Tampa Heights, work very late nights Downtown and hang out almost exclusively in Downtown and Ybor and in 9 years have only had one problem – a window broken out in a parking lot in Ybor on a Monday night at before 8pm. Nothing was stolen, so for all I know it was a drunk or a kid …
November 27th, 2007 at 7:15 pm
I live in downtown and have for 4 years. In those 4 years I’ve been to 4 raves at the Amp in Ybor and I rode my bike every time. The fourth time one of my tires was slashed while I was at the club, no doubt because all the local cops were inside the club making sure I wasn’t doing ecstasy instead of outside making sure drunks from Fuel weren’t engaging in property damage. I walked home carrying my bike in the rain, which sucked, to be honest, but I’d ride my bike back to Ybor again in a heartbeat. I ride it to movies at Channelside. I ride it into Hyde Park. I’ve lived here long enough to say with conviction I do not feel threatened by the likelihood of crime against myself or my property. That’s that.
And heck yes a kayak/canoe launch downtown is a great idea! I’ve had a kayak for three years. I’m selling it, incidentally, if anybody wants one, because I don’t use it often enough, but it’s asinine that I live a stone’s throw from the river and yet there’s no place around that I can put my kayak in the water. I have to go all the way down to the convention center, park someplace far away from the water, and haul a 15′ kayak down to the docks there. Yeah, that’s gonna happen. Consequently I’ve never actually paddled around downtown, even though I live here. I go up to Morris Bridge or out to Picnic Island. That’s silly… and if I have room to store a kayak, you can bet other folks living down here do too, and would like to do the same. Problem is going to be parking, there must be parking at the launch point, even if only a half-dozen spaces.
Downtown is getting livelier, I can tell you that. It has a LOOOOOONG way to go, no doubt, and St. Pete’s downtown outshines Tampa’s by a wide margin, so we should take every scrap of advice they offer. But it’s getting better, and should continue to.
Should, that is, as long as this doesn’t come to pass: “That is dangerous for the market if new buyers have their expectations dashed.” Exactly. I’ve noticed that as well, particularly the Novare developments are offering a lifestyle that might be available in downtown Atlanta (where Novare is based), but it isn’t Tampa yet. Tampa better get on the ball, because if the downtown resale market goes in the tank because the adverts don’t match the experience, it will not recover for many years–it’ll be measured in decades. And I have a place I need to sell next year!
November 28th, 2007 at 9:35 am
Kayak ramps for the river… what a great idea! Even better would be a kayak rental place.
November 28th, 2007 at 10:32 am
what is there to do downtown once you get there? not everyone wants to go to raves, or Fuel or even the performing arts center…there’s no real hang out atmosphere
November 28th, 2007 at 11:14 am
I’m so glad Jose and David defended Downtown and Ybor. I live in Brandon, 2 blocks from the movies and I drive with my kids to Ybor to see a movie. I feel safe, safe enough to encourage people to go there. Downtown has The Jerk Hut and Spain open at night and these places could become great hangouts. Hangouts only become hangouts when people go…go and see.
November 28th, 2007 at 12:54 pm
Downtown isn’t a wasteland. There are places that deserve to grow, and can if given the opportunity. Adding and improving the amenities listed in the original post would help accomplish that. Unfortunately, the cliche about perception being reality is at work here. If people think they’re at risk or that there’s just nothing to do or if it’s just a hassle to go, mere word-of-mouth (regardless of how sincere and credible it is) isn’t going to sway them. The city is going to have to make an effort to put out a welcome mat.
November 28th, 2007 at 3:54 pm
Geoff -
Raves? It isn’t the 90s anymore. Fuel? It closed over Thanksgiving weekend (Thank God). When people start saying “there is nothing to do in Ybor” or “there is nothing to do in downtown”, it really begs the question, where exactly in Tampa is it NOT that way? Carrollwood? The mall?
November 29th, 2007 at 4:17 pm
Jose – someone earlier references raves, so that was my reason for citing it. Nonetheless, successful neighborhoods offer variety in activities. A successful area is one for those who want to club, shop, walk, eat, read, relax, enjoy the arts, museums whatever have the choices available to do so. My biggest frustration with the River Walk is the lack of planned commercial areas. Has Pam ever gone to San Antonio? THAT is a successful River Walk.
November 30th, 2007 at 10:48 am
I just moved downtown this past week. I moved into Grand Central at Kennedy. Here’s what I’ve noticed thus far. The view I have is beautiful. I feel safer here than I did living in Tampa Heights. The dog walk is in the building on the 9th floor. No chance of bums coming up to me when walking my dog anymore. When I called Eddie and Sam’s for pizza delivery this week, they told me that they only deliver within walking distance and they had a slow night so shut the ovens off at 6:30 (they close at 8pm). I just transferred my prescription to the CVS in downtown. Guess what? Pharmacy isn’t open on weekends. So today, I have to rush home and get my Rx at lunch, cause guess what again? they are only open til 6pm. Oh, the pizza we did get delivered – NY Pizza in Channelside and it was good!
Grand Central feels weird as not many residents live there. For example, when I walk the dog on the 9th floor, only three units are occupied from the 9th floor up to the 15th floor on the pool side in the west building.
Most of the traffic is from commuters getting off the crosstown in the morning. When we go out on our balcony in the morning, the city is full of life. At night, we see some cars, no people. But I have my scooter and will go around over the next few weeks to find where people hang.
November 30th, 2007 at 1:02 pm
Don’t you worry Geoff, Scourge Tampa Bay is on the job! We will arrange for our members to hangout and get drunk downtown and claim success. Granted we will do it once then talk about it for several years claiming it was a business function that lead to the Pope’s selection or something, we are not big on doing things or being honest.
November 30th, 2007 at 4:45 pm
There is some life in the CBD downtown, but for Tampa, you have to LOOK for it, and most places will be open later if people get out and go there. Performing Arts Center, Museum of History, Museum pf Photgraphy, Police Museum, Fire Museum, Tampa Theater, Forum, Plant Park, Canachobee Park, Curtis Hixon Park, Lykes Gas Lamp park, Courthouse Square Park. Thai Corner, Hattricks, Andreychuks, Gilligan’s, The Hubb, Shark Club, SPAIN, Fly Bar, Kelly’s Pub, Malio’s are all open late.
There needs to be better marketing of their new weekend trollwy service from channelside to the performing arts center through downtown. And yes, who ever opens a blades, bike and kayak rentals place near the Publix will make a fortune renting to locals and visitors for biking, blading on bayshore blvd, and kayak launches from docks on the river.
December 4th, 2007 at 3:55 pm
This looks like a job for Scourge! You might be surprised when I tell you that I am actually not in favor of major tax dollars spent in the downtown CBD for the purpose of accomodating a residency base that not only does not yet fully exist, but may never. In 1980, estimates projected that the CBD would be home to more than 90,000 jobs by now. It is only half that, as economic centers in West Shore, I-75 corridor, and USF are also major employment centers. The highest demand factor for one’s choice where to live is its proximity to work. But if people are working in other places than downtown Tampa, why should those areas (whose residents pay taxes all the same) be shorted on public services like transit for the sake of forcing an idea on an area that may never become what idealists dream? Is our next “walkable” community perhaps somewhere besides downtown? St. Pete works because the density already exists…that is not the case for Tampa.