temple terrace good at planning
Does this place have an identity?
The middle child between bulky, demanding, big brother Tampa and quaint, cute, little brother Plant City, this third incorporated city in Hillsborough is just sorta there.
On the northeast side of the Tampa Bay area, Temple Terrace is strategically situated between three major interstates— I-4, I-75, and I-275.
Sure, there are gorgeous million-dollar homes along the river, and nice tree-shaded neighborhoods surrounding the golf course through to 56th St. But then again, there are hundreds (thousands?) of apartments and 60’s era housing built all around those. It’s ugly.
And that main intersection of Busch Blvd/Bullard Pkwy and 56th St is just hideous. You can’t really call it a downtown, just a main intersection. And the City of Temple Terrace has been attempting to “revitalize” that spot for seven years now, although some would say it was never vital to begin with, that city leaders have attempted to have something on that corner for 85 years.
IN fact, the City of Temple Terrace history page refers more to the PLANS of the city rather than what actually happened:
The original town plan for Temple Terrace, created in 1922, was a model of town planning in its day.
The stock market crash of 1929 and the Great Depression caused the City to fall upon hard times. The plan that developers originally had for Temple Terrace was never fully realized.
And it ends with a hint of those current PLANS to finish the original PLAN (my emphasis below):
The convenient location and natural beauty of the area makes Temple Terrace an attractive destination to residents and businesses alike. And with plans underway to complete the plan for a downtown area that founding fathers were unable to complete, our City promises to be “A City for Living” for many generations to come.
Yet today, that corner still looks hideous, no improvement is expected soon, and those latest PLANS are being delayed again.
But is that surprising when even the “Citizens for Development in Temple Terrace” have abandoned their plans (website: “Last Updated September 26, 2007″)?
What gives over there?
No tag for this post.
Loading ...
August 20th, 2008 at 1:09 pm
Tommy:
You KNEW I’d reply to this post.:)
The “Citizens for Development in Temple Terrace” website you reference is the site of our ridiculous property-rights oriented opposition who have opposed the Temple Terrace downtown redevelopment at every step. They believe that all development should be free market driven and developer-led which means sprawl: strip malls and big-box retail.
It has taken us 7 years and alot of work because Temple Terrace has embarked on a planner-led development, which is revolutionary in our area. I just wrote an extensive piece for Creative Tampa Bay about the redevelopment, after that is printed I will post it here.
We are thankful the awful “CDITT” crowd has been defunct since 2007!
Our group, the “Citizens for the Revitalization of Temple Terrace” are still going strong. OUR website is http://www.pfweb.com/CRTT/
Regarding our identity, we have gobs of it, but you’ll need to get off Busch Blvd/Bullard Pkwy to see it.
Check out the Temple Terrace wikpedia site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_Terrace,_Florida
August 20th, 2008 at 1:16 pm
TT is just kinda stuck in the betweens isn’t it.
What about New Tampa? All of the Continental Indian’s that work for me live in New Tampa as there is a large Indian community there.
August 20th, 2008 at 1:17 pm
And yes, the awful “Citizens for Development in Temple Terrace” chose their name to closely mimic the name of our group “Citizens for the Revitalization of Temple Terrace”.
What creeps! WHY does Hillsborough County have so many idiots?
August 20th, 2008 at 1:52 pm
It’s actually floundered in poor management from the get-go. The left hand could never figure out what the right hand was doing, and even when experts told city officials that one way was the way to go, the city decided to go its own way.
They’ve been working on this since late 2000, yet if they had followed the advice of the experts they brought in, they could’ve been really moving by 2004, and maybe even had some great condos and such there that would’ve been sold and delivered during the boom.
Now, they’ll be lucky if they get a rehabbed shopping center.
August 20th, 2008 at 2:22 pm
Booyah,
That is incorrect.
The turning point between our project on the fast track and one going much slower was when the 2005 Referendum Bond failed that would have provided seed money for the public infrastructure of the redevelopment area–sidewalks, street lights, landscaping. We learned too late Voting Yes for more taxes in Floriduh ain’t gonnna happen, plus we should have hired a marketing firm to push the bond.
The project is still on the right track but it’s going to take a lot longer, and of course, the density is down from the Torti Gallas plan of 2004.
Even as currently designed it will still be one of the best redevelopments in the county, but what does that say?
Temple Terrace currently has superlative residential and recreational areas, and it’s river portion is second to none, but it’s urban area gateways, admittedly, stink.
August 20th, 2008 at 3:59 pm
I’d prefer to discuss this with someone who is real, and not the city’s PR department.
The fact is that it was made clear by the experts that going to a tax referendum to fund infrastructure was the WRONG way to go. And the fact it took nearly five years to come to that incorrect conclusion is mind-boggling by itself.
Whether it will be the “best” in the country is certainly up to interpretation, and you certainly aren’t biased in any way …
August 20th, 2008 at 4:16 pm
Booyah:
I said best in the “county”; and it only took 8 months (the length of the campaign for the bond) to come the conclusion that a “tax referendum to fund infrastructure was the WRONG way to go”. The reason for this is that Floridians are generally cheap and largely don’t believe in investing in their own communities. The proof of this maxim is all around us.
I wish I got paid by the city for PR, the truth is it is that I’m merely a citizen (like I can only assume you are) who has assisted his community with it’s redevelopment efforts since 2001, and I haven’t been paid a dime for those efforts.
BTW, what’s your beef with my city?
August 20th, 2008 at 9:01 pm
Booyah and GKR, get a room, you two! In all seriousness, Temple Terrace needs progressive leadership to get its redevelopment plans under way. It’s long overdue and that city deserves so much better. (Contrary to rumors started by certain TT city council members, University Mall is NOT about to become USF’s new football stadium.)
August 20th, 2008 at 9:37 pm
GKR, my hat’s off to you and every citizen engaged and doing something to make their community a better place.
TT’s future is up to its residents. If it takes them a while to come to consensus, so be it.
GKR, thank your lucky stars that TT is incorporated so your community is in charge of its future — however rough that process seems at times. Unincorporated communities like Ruskin, where I live now, have our future in the hands of our county commissioners — none of whom live anywhere near here, most of whom know nothing and care less about Ruskin.
BTW, I lived in TT for 12 years and loved it.
August 21st, 2008 at 1:52 pm
Yes, if we are not doing the whole “Mommy is great” thing, then it must be a beef with your city.
Because it’s not the leaders’ fault, it’s the residents’ fault for not voting in a tax increase. Because it’s not the leaders’ fault, it’s Sweetbay’s fault for wanting to make sure its interests are protected.
It seems like blame goes everywhere except for the source of all of it.
I agree, Mariella, it is better to have a local government — even one that is trying to do something they are not qualified to do — than have the county government that doesn’t have a stake in any of it.
I never said the local government doesn’t care: it’s obvious they do. They want a downtown identity, and they deserve to have just that. But the taxpayers there also deserve to have it done with some concern about how their money is being spent.
What is nice is that this project is FINALLY getting off the ground, and that a strong developer — and a local developer — has been chosen to do it. And I hope in the end, Temple Terrace is able to make a return in the long term from this investment, because right now, they aren’t even close to making back their initial investment.
August 24th, 2008 at 7:17 pm
“Make no little plans. They have no magic to stir men’s blood and probably themselves will not be realized. Make big plans; aim high in hope and work, remembering that a noble, logical diagram once recorded will never die, but long after we are gone will be a living thing, asserting itself with ever-growing insistency. Remember that our sons and grandsons are going to do things that would stagger us. Let your watchword be order and your beacon beauty. Think big.”
Daniel Burnham, Chicago architect. (1864-1912)