The Tampa Bay housing market is underserved in providing affordable housing options for residents, and that trend is expected to grow. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the Tampa Bay region had the fourth highest population growth in the country for 2016. Additionally, 39 percent of Pinellas County households are considered cost-burdened by the Department…
Is traffic congestion getting better or worse in Pinellas County? How many people are using the Pinellas Trail? Are the streets getting safer for pedestrians? If you’ve ever asked questions like these—or just wanted to know more about the current state of transportation —the Countywide Trends and Conditions Report for Pinellas County is for you.…
Residents of Lealman and Kenneth City could have another transportation option in their area’s future – one that positively affects community health, is safe, and provides an inexpensive option by not requiring a car. Forward Pinellas and consultant AECOM, in partnership with Pinellas County, have completed a planning study that is the first step in…
Thank you to everyone who participated in the Forward Pinellas Transportation Technology Forum on September 28, 2017. The forum provided a platform for information sharing, discussion and decision-making on innovative and emerging transportation technologies, ranging from aerial transit to autonomous and connected vehicles. The presentations from the forum are available on our website. To ensure…
You read about them in the paper just about every day: an elderly man killed crossing 34th Street S in St. Petersburg, hit by a driver at 1:42 AM. Or maybe it’s a young woman, attempting to cross US 19 near Sunset Point Road; stepping in front of a truck driver is all the information we…
St. Petersburg Council Member Jim Kennedy is a member and former chair of our board. Given recent editorials and articles in the Tampa Bay Times about forming a regional MPO, he felt compelled to respond. An abbreviated version of this letter ran in today’s paper. The Tampa Bay Times continues to beat the drum for a regional…
For most of us in Pinellas County, we don’t have to think about how we get to the doctor or grocery store: it just involves our cars and the best roads to get us where we want to go. But what about people who don’t own a car? Or those who can’t drive? Accessibility to…
Editor’s Note: This is the first in what we hope is a continuing feature of guest posts written by our partners in the community. Read on to learn about the emerging role of drones in planning from Jacobs planner Chris Zuppa. Last year, TripAdvisor ranked Clearwater Beach as the number one beach in the country, so it’s…
While building transportation projects is a contentious process in Tampa Bay, we are not alone in struggling to engage the community and get projects done. I wrote in my previous post about the Florida Department of Transportation’s peer exchange trip to St. Louis for about 20 local representatives, a trip designed to give us a…
One of the first lessons I learned as a consultant many years ago is that every community has its own public decision-making process. What flies by with no commentary in one city can make for contentious late-evening public input and visceral debate in another. Whether it’s advancing a transportation project or making changes to a…
Pinellas County’s land use and transportation planning agency will be funding three local projects that make streets safer for all users. The Forward Pinellas board voted unanimously Wednesday to approve up to $1.1 million in funding for three complete streets projects: construction of sidewalks on 34th Street South in St. Petersburg, and preparing plans for…
There is something brewing in Pinellas County. Residents may have noticed the recent rise in the number of breweries, microbreweries, and brew-pubs, and it’s not just a “hop-tical” illusion. Cities like Dunedin and St. Petersburg helped establish Pinellas County as a premier market in Florida for independent craft breweries. Today, the Tampa Bay area…