A virtual tour of the new St. Pete Pier

[thelakelander]

2-I doubt St Pete would want to take on a money pit like a floating naval vessel museum. They have focused on residential development, streetscape improvements, public space improvement, clustering (probably one of the best cities in Florida in this regard) and pedestrian interaction with buildings through a form-based code... and less so on one-trick ponies. There is still a large municipal marina next to the Pier, as can be seen in these pictures.

My hotel was in downtown Tampa but I drove over to St. Pete when I heard the new pier had recently opened. I grew up 30 minutes or so outside of Tampa and much of my family lives in Hillsborough and Pinellas Counties. So before dinner with my aunts, I left the pier to take a few images of the Deuces before heading back across the bay. Back when I was a kid, St. Pete was called God's Waiting Room. 16th Street South (near the dome) was pretty much no man's land. It's been a few years since I've visited St. Pete but I was totally blown away by the amount of cohesive adaptive reuse and mixed-use infill development lining Central between the waterfront and 34th Street South.  Very impressive.

Also keeping a close eye out on how the Deuces makes its comeback. It's St. Pete's version of LaVilla, Eastside or Durkeeville, that also happens to be a Florida Main Street program:













One of the few historically black urban neighborhoods in the state that increased in population and grew across all ethnicities in the 2010 census despite the popular Pinellas Trail going through it. Could be a model for NW Jax, Mixontown and Out East as the Emerald Trail system comes on line.

[fieldafm]

2-I doubt St Pete would want to take on a money pit like a floating naval vessel museum. They have focused on residential development, streetscape improvements, public space improvement, clustering (probably one of the best cities in Florida in this regard) and pedestrian interaction with buildings through a form-based code... and less so on one-trick ponies. There is still a large municipal marina next to the Pier, as can be seen in these pictures.

My hotel was in downtown Tampa but I drove over to St. Pete when I heard the new pier had recently opened. I grew up 30 minutes or so outside of Tampa and much of my family lives in Hillsborough and Pinellas Counties. So before dinner with my aunts, I left the pier to take a few images of the Deuces before heading back across the bay. Back when I was a kid, St. Pete was called God's Waiting Room. 16th Street South (near the dome) was pretty much no man's land. It's been a few years since I've visited St. Pete but I was totally blown away by the amount of cohesive adaptive reuse and mixed-use infill development lining Central between the waterfront and 34th Street South.  Very impressive.

Also keeping a close eye out on how the Deuces makes its comeback. It's St. Pete's version of LaVilla, Eastside or Durkeeville, that also happens to be a Florida Main Street program:













One of the few historically black urban neighborhoods in the state that increased in population and grew across all ethnicities in the 2010 census despite the popular Pinellas Trail going through it. Could be a model for NW Jax, Mixontown and Out East as the Emerald Trail system comes on line.

Central Ave is probably the most impressive 'Main Street' in all of Florida. A dense, vibrant commercial thoroughfare without any real dead space through 4 distinct neighborhoods (including Downtown). 

The City of St Pete also just committed a decent chunk of money for the redevelopment of the Deuces/22nd Street streetscape (not unlike Broad St in DT Jax), which can be seen in Lake's picture of the Creole Café (building with jazz musician mural).

[BridgeTroll]

Just returned from the weekend in St Petersburg... my very first thought regarding the pier.  It would be literally impossible for Jacksonville to accomplish what they did. Impossible. It's a really great addition to a really fantastic and walkable waterfront. Well kept and well used parks... not a piece of trash in sight.

It seems that every city I visit the past few years makes me question WTF am I doing in Jacksonville...

[thelakelander]

We'd need a $100 million city commitment, years of public engagement and no time spent on debating the need for basic essentials like public restrooms, fountains and landscaping that requires a bit more maintenance that sod. Cities big and small have been doing this right for decades now, so it's not like it can't happen in Jax. However, it will require a completely different mindset at city hall. Given the track record of the players in charge, unfortunately I think it's pretty impossible at this point in time.

[jaxjaguar]

 If Curry found $100 million that was secretly hidden in one of the recently demoed buildings downtown, he'd put it towards demoing 2-3 more buildings and the highest quality sod in the country.

Unfortunately, there'd be no funds leftover or plan on place to maintain that sod so we'd end up with a weedy surface parking lot within a year.