The Pinellas beaches, the Gateway/Mid-County area, and the US 19 corridor reflect different aspects of Pinellas County, but all have a few things in common. First, they share in driving the Pinellas County economy and serve essential regional economic functions. They are multi-jurisdictional areas with unique local challenges and preferences. Transportation is a critical aspect…
By Sue Miller, MPO Bicycle and Pedestrian Planner The Pinellas Trail welcomes bicyclists, walkers, skateboarders, dog-walkers, strollers, inline skaters, and strollers. It brings together residents, tourists, seasonal visitors, the young, old, bird-watchers, training athletes, elementary students, retired engineers, grandmothers, and nature-lovers. On Saturday, December 5, 2015, this very trail will celebrate its Silver 25th Anniversary…
The week of Thanksgiving is the busiest travel time of the year. The American Automobile Association (AAA) estimates that 46.9 million Americans will travel 50 or more miles from home this Thanksgiving weekend, driving to each other’s homes, or to the airport, to visit friends and family for the holiday. Living in St. Petersburg, I…
A recent Tampa Bay Times story described St. Petersburg’s pursuit of a bike share program intended to expand accessibility throughout the city’s commercial core. Could the rest of Pinellas County follow suit? Imagine if you didn’t have to drive to your next lunch meeting with clients, or drive downtown for coffee with your wife on…
If we’re going to adapt our land use and transportation planning to a new reality, we’re going to need to rethink access in Pinellas County and the Tampa Bay region. Our automobile-oriented culture is undergoing changes from demographics, market trends, technology and public preferences. Those changes favor seamless travel experiences that connect people to places where we…
Floridians love this time of year. Fall is in the air as the weather cools a bit, pumpkin spice lattes can be found in our coffee shops, outdoor dining is more popular, rain showers are less frequent, we take our kids trick-or-treating on Halloween, and we get an extra hour of sleep as daylight saving…
When I started out as a newbie to the Pinellas Planning Council (PPC) and Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO), I continually heard the term “Complete Streets.” After I began to research the term and inquire about it, I was intrigued with what I learned. Complete Streets is a transportation policy and design approach that requires streets to enable…
4th Avenue South traces the history of St. Petersburg, and foretells its future.
Regional leadership is a must in Tampa Bay for a whole host of issues, including transportation, economic development and resilience in the face of climate change. The Tampa Bay Times recently lamented a lack of leadership, and PPC/MPO Chairman Jim Kennedy prepared a response that highlighted the important, if not sexy, groundwork being laid to enable the region to…
During Wednesday’s PPC/MPO Board meeting, the Board recognized October as Community Planning Month. The American Planning Association (APA) designated October as National Community Planning Month to highlight the role of planners and planning in communities. This year’s theme is the role planning plays in creating healthy communities. Throughout the United States and its territories, communities…
I am a millennial. One of the 73 million born roughly between 1982 and 2001 that makes up a quarter of the population in the U.S. and the largest generation of its workforce. We are creative, multi-tasking, tech-savvy souls who love our social media. We also like living in walkable urban environments with a sense of place. When…
One of the things I enjoy most is finding a place that I can claim as my own. There’s an old Jimmy Buffett tune, “I Have Found me a Home,” which captures the comfortable ease of becoming part of an accessible, inviting community like Jimmy found in Key West and I’ve found in Dunedin, Winter…