Elements of Urbanism: St. Petersburg

[Metro Jacksonville]

Elements of Urbanism: St. Petersburg



A photo tour of downtown St. Petersburg: Florida's “Sunshine City”.  Ron Barton was the Director of Economic Development for the City of St. Petersburg before joining the JEDC in 2005.

Full Article
http://www.metrojacksonville.com/content/view/954

[UglyBilly]

Wow for a city that's 1/4 the size of Jacksonville, They have Great concerts AND a Dali exhibit?!
Makes me sad.

[Beloki]

Why doesn't Jax hire one of their city planners???

[copperfiend]

Baywalk has had its share of problems. Many of the stores have closed and the movie theater may be next.

[aj_fresh]

Nice pic!!! 

[ProjectMaximus]

Wow for a city that's 1/4 the size of Jacksonville, They have Great concerts AND a Dali exhibit?!
Makes me sad.

It's a Dali museum, not just an exhibit. But to be fair, both Jannus and Dali serve the Tampa metro, not just the city of St. Pete.

[thelakelander]

To be fair, Dali was an attraction St. Pete leaders went out an convinced to locate in their downtown years ago.  They saw the collection as not only something to serve their city and metro, but also an attraction that would pull people from all over the world to visit their city.

The Museum celebrated 24 years in St. Petersburg in March 7, 2006. However, the history of the collection began in Cleveland, Ohio in 1942. Industrialist A. Reynolds Morse and Eleanor Reese began their marriage and their lifelong involvement with Dalí and his wife, Gala, as friends and collectors with the purchase of their first painting Daddy Longlegs of the Evening-Hope! in 1943. They spent the following 40 years seeking out the artist's work and assembling the largest private collection of Dali's art in the world.

Ten years later, they began the search for a new, permanent home for their collection. After seeing an article in the Wall Street Journal, "U.S. Art World Dillydallies over Dalí," St. Petersburg attorney James W. Martin persuaded local leaders to approach the Morses to choose St. Petersburg. With the financial support of the City of St. Petersburg and the State of Florida, the collection moved to Florida in 1980.

The Museum opened its doors in St. Petersburg Florida, in March 1982, with the Morse bequest - the most comprehensive private collection of Dali's work in the world. The Raymond James Community Room, a two-story, 11,000 square foot addition, opened in January 1989 to accommodate the museum's many programs and activities. In April 1995, major renovations to the original gallery space consisted of several interior walls, which provided additional space to display special exhibits and more of the museum's collection

With the expanded facility the Museum began a program of loaning works and having changing exhibitions. The Young Dalí opened first in 1995, with works from the Museum's collection traveling to London, New York and Spain. Some highlights of the Museum's exhibition history are: Andy Warhol at the Dalí; Contemporary Artists from Zaragoza; André Masson: the 1930's; Masterpieces of Surrealism; A Disarming Beauty, The Venus de Milo; Forms of Cubism, and Joan Miró Painted Sculpture.

http://www.salvadordalimuseum.org/about_us/museum_history.html

What St. Pete's leaders did is no different then Charlotte leaders going out to attract a college and the new NASCAR museum to Uptown or Greenville with BMW.  What they did years ago is what we should have done with Florida Coastal, UNF, the Art Institute or the Farmer's market.

[Jason]

Nice pic!!! 

Ennis definitely has an eye for nice scenery... 



Never been to St. Pete, but it is definitely on my list.

Doesn't Pinellas County have the highest population density in the State?

[thelakelander]

Yes, Pinellas County is built out.  As for the scenery, I had no idea of what was walking down the sidewalk until I had already snapped the picture.

[Kathryn]

We went through there a couple of years ago on Spring Break on a Saturday and got to enjoy their AWESOME farmers market.  It reminded me of something you would see in a much larger city--great variety of food, cool stuff to buy.  We were very impressed.  One thing also about St.Pete and Tampa--no vagrants at all hanging around the downtown and waterfront.  Their downtown areas don't seem to be home to as many churches and other "do gooder" organizations--maybe that's one reason why they are free of litter and vagrants.

[thelakelander]

No that you mention it, they don't have as many churches located in their CBDs.  However, they do have their share of vagrants.  They just aren't on the waterfront.  In St. Pete, Williams Park serves as the downtown bus terminal.  Compared to the rest of downtown, its a pretty unpleasant place.  It feels like a green version of Hemming Plaza. 

In Tampa, vagrants used to hang out along Franklin Street on the north end of downtown.  The city has been cleaning this area up so now it appears activity has moved to Franklin, north of I-275, and the Marion Street Transitway (BRT only street).   

[Kathryn]

Well, at least we weren't as aware of them as we are in downtown Jax.  We even made a big deal when we actually spotted one in St. Pete since we had been talking about that we hadn't seen a single vagrant all day.  Nothing like the swarms of them that are constantly in Hemming Plaza every time we take the kids to the Main Library (and in the library also).  It looks just like the Depression from the 1930's at that place. 

[DemocraticNole]

I live down here in Pinellas County now after living in Jax and to be honest St. Pete is very unimpressive. I know no one who lives outside of St. Pete that likes to venture down there except to maybe a Rays game. The rest of Pinellas County is essentially 1970's strip malls EVERYWHERE, except maybe the beaches. It also takes forever to get anywhere because there is essentially zero public transit and only one freeway (I-275). Most people go to Tampa for entertainment, shopping, etc.

[thelakelander]

I guess you're not liking those drives down US 19?

People may travel to Tampa for more entertainment and employment options but for years, DT St. Pete has seemed to be the more livable of the two.  It really functions like an urban neighborhood instead of a highly commercial oriented downtown.

[DemocraticNole]

I guess you're not liking those drives down US 19?

People may travel to Tampa for more entertainment and employment options but for years, DT St. Pete has seemed to be the more livable of the two.  It really functions like an urban neighborhood instead of a highly commercial oriented downtown.

US 19 = Pure Evil. It's also embarrassing how haphazardly they are upgrading it to freeway standards.

You are right that as of right now downtown St. Petersburg is the more livable of the two downtowns. However, downtown Tampa is improving rapidly. There are many condos that are already downtown with some more being built in the Channelside area. South Tampa is already a flourishing area with lots of infill and refurbished buildings, great nighlife and restaurants, and is extremely walkable.

My point about St. Pete is that while yes people do live downtown, it seems to be that they are kind of isolated from the rest of the Bay Area. There aren't a whole lot of people who do not live downtown who are rushing to go down there, unless it is for a Rays game. Even then, people want to build a waterfront stadium, which is a waste of money and stupid because the current design proposal has it outdoors. That is a brilliant move with all the rain and heat in the summer.