Elements of Urbanism: Downtown Tampa

[urbaknight]

I think that Jacksonville should be deconsolated,  cut away the suburbs and let them go back to being their own small towns. Then Jacksonville can do more with downtown.

[duvaldude08]

I think that Jacksonville should be deconsolated,  cut away the suburbs and let them go back to being their own small towns. Then Jacksonville can do more with downtown.

I really do think that is Jacksonville's true problem. I think citys finances are spread to thin. This really is a massive city to manage. If we werent coslidated, we probably could do alot more for downtown.

[Keith-N-Jax]

I seriously doubt that. DT problem has been lack of vision, poor planning, and failure to follow DT master plan. City keeps chasing its own tail.

[duvaldude08]

I seriously doubt that. DT problem has been lack of vision, poor planning, and failure to follow DT mater plan. City keeps chasing its own tail.

Hey Keith spell check sir  (gotcha back)

[Keith-N-Jax]

lol yeah you did.

[tufsu1]

deconsolidation would be a terrible idea....I know this will seem surprising to the "sprawl is the whole problem" people, but the City brings in a lot of revenue from our suburban residents and businesses.

Check with the folks in Tampa...they have a very conservative County Commissions, because the unincorporated areas have all the power....unfortunately, they also have much of the money and still have a good bit of control over what happens in the city. 

[simms3]

The suburbs boost the tax base.  Jacksonville downtown property values have absolutely plummeted and no longer contribute a large share of the tax base.  If we go back to pre-consolidation, the tax base will be so small.  There is no way downtown, Springfield, Riverside, Avondale, Murray Hill, and the ghetto are supporting everything we want to get done downtown in the next 5 years.  We need the Southside tax base for the time being, and then maybe once things pick up in the core and property values go back up we can tease the idea (it will never happen).

I think Tampa and downtown Tampa are about a half mile ahead of us.  I wouldn't say "miles", but they have benefited from an influx of wealthy new residents recently and some older residents wanting to seal their influence before the new guys take over.  Hence all of the new attractions and museums and restorations named for Tampans (can we call them that?).  Jax has more potential and has kept more of their older building stock, but we need more "stuff" downtown.  The new Tampa Museum of Art makes me nervous.  I think the Cummer is the best art museum in the state, but it needs some attention if it's going to hold onto that reign.  Their Riverwalk looks like it may be "better" than ours, too.  We need an improved Riverwalk, a good riverfront park anchor, and some sort of attraction to pull more people in immediately.

Tampa has cruise terminal downtown (though from what I hear many people think it was done so poorly), FL's best public aquarium, arena right downtown, two new museums right downtown, new Riverwalk, TECO, etc etc.  In Jacksonville, as soon as the economy picks back up we should immediately jump on board to pull in an old ship, moor it on the Southbank or by the Hyatt, and build a state of the art maritime museum.  We also need to get the Landing going.

Personally, though, I would much rather live in Jacksonville and I like the people in Jacksonville a whole lot more.  There is something that I have always found weird with Tampa (people wise).

[finehoe]

There is something that I have always found weird with Tampa (people wise).

I've always felt that as well.  I wonder what it is?

[Keith-N-Jax]

Tampa aquarium is a dump fish bowl. It could be much better, well atleast they have one.

[thelakelander]

Here is an idea we should pay attention to.

Downtown Selmon Greenway clears planning hurdle

By GEORGE WILKENS | The Tampa Tribune
Published: January 3, 2011

TAMPA - A plan to create a recreational trail beneath and adjacent to the Selmon Crosstown Expressway through downtown Tampa has cleared a feasibility hurdle but faces an uphill fight for funding.

The proposal is to create a multi-use trail like those in downtown Boston, Minneapolis and other cities. Such a path for cyclists and pedestrians also is prudent in Tampa, according to a study by a consulting firm hired by the Hillsborough County Metropolitan Planning Organization. At its Dec. 14 meeting, the MPO supported the feasibility plan's findings.

Now the Tampa-Hillsborough Expressway Authority will seek a way to pay for the Selmon Greenway.

The owner-operator of a downtown bicycle shop who is familiar with the trail proposal said it would be an excellent link among downtown, Ybor City, Hyde Park, the Channel District and beyond.

"Everyone is extremely excited about it," said Kellie Cyr, of City Bike Tampa, citing buzz among customers and other cyclists.

There are no trails downtown or nearby, said Cyr, who has participated in meetings about the greenway and believes it will take time for the proposal to gain widespread acceptance. She is optimistic: "Everything will come to fruition, but you've got to have funding for it," she said.

An expressway authority spokeswoman said the agency hopes to pay for the greenway by incorporating it into a broader project â€" widening a stretch of the 30-year-old Selmon toll road to six lanes and replacing the decking on the existing four lanes.

Using a $75 million lawsuit settlement related to the 2004 collapse of the expressway's reversible lanes, the authority will restructure its debt, spokeswoman Susan Chrzan said. The authority's board voted to use that money to pay down long-term debt, allowing it to borrow $300 million to $400 million for other projects.

"We're going to issue new bonds so (we) can do the widening of the area downtown, from about 19th Street to the river; we call it the viaduct," Chrzan said. That could happen as early as this spring, at which time the viaduct project contractor would be selected.

"Were still are in the planning stage; we're still in the trying-to-find-the-money stage," Chrzan said. "We're going to try and see if we can get money within that bond structure" to include the greenway, a project of about $2 million.

"We're hoping we can do other things" under the debt restructuring and bond issue, she said. "But we're not yet ready to say it's a go."

Other funding sources will be in the authority's sights. "We'll probably be going and asking for help to get the money," Chrzan said. "That might be city, county, federal, wherever we can get it; grants bonds, whatever."

The expressway authority proposed the multi-use trail more than a decade ago, a 15-foot-wide urban path to improve pedestrian and bicycle access to the Downtown Riverwalk, Meridian Street Greenway, Bayshore Boulevard and the Channel District. The trail also is intended to increase downtown park space and add art and educational elements.

"We think its great idea," Chrzan said. "It's not that it's a dead issue; it's that we have to find the money for it."

The executive summary of the proposed Selmon Greenway calls it, "a unique opportunity to include a walking/cycling facility in a highway reconstruction project."

Planners envision the 1.7-mile greenway including benches, fountains and outdoor exercise equipment, plus lighting for safety and aesthetics.

Boston's Rose Kennedy Greenway was built where Interstate 93 once ran before the Big Dig project took the highway underground. In Minneapolis, the Midtown Greenway is a 5.5-mile stretch through downtown along an old rail line.

In Tampa, much of the right of way beneath the toll road is used for public parking. The feasibility study shows the greenway would eliminate 86 of those 973 spaces, but they won't be missed, Karen Kress, director of transportation and planning for the Tampa Downtown Partnership, has said.

Downtown parking garages have 22,000 spaces and on-street parking in the area accommodates another 2,000 vehicles. The downtown group is squarely behind the proposal and has received no negative comments about it.

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2011/jan/03/030727/selmon-greenway-clears-planning-hurdle/news-breaking/