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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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UPDATE 3/1/2017 11:30 am: The RFP selection committee meeting will be held on March 8, 2017, at 9 am at 310 Court Street, 2nd Floor, Clearwater, Florida 33756. UPDATE 2/17/2017 1:30 pm: The questions and responses to questions are available here. On Wednesday, February 8, 2017, the Forward Pinellas Board authorized issuing a Request for…
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It was probably not how Andy Holcombe wanted to start his first day of an internship with the Philadelphia Phillies. Nor was it my intent to spend part of the morning commute flying over my handlebars and a vehicle’s hood to slam hard into the pavement, but there we were. Although this was just a…
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Smart Growth America’s Dangerous by Design report released today ranks the Tampa Bay area as the seventh most dangerous metro area in the country for people walking. Despite that dubious distinction, we were encouraged to see our area’s standing in the rankings improve five spots from the past three reports. While the trend is positive,…
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Forward Pinellas has new board leadership and several new members going into 2017. By a unanimous vote of the Forward Pinellas Board, County Commissioner John Morroni will be serving as the board’s chair, Clearwater Commissioner Doreen Caudell as vice chair, Indian Rocks Beach Commissioner Cookie Kennedy as treasurer, and County Commissioner Dave Eggers as secretary.…
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The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) – District Seven, invites public participation in and comments on the Tentative Five-Year Work Program for projects scheduled July 1, 2017 through June 30, 2022. Beginning Monday, December 12, 2016, go to www.D7wpph.com to view the Work Program documents, presentations, maps, and submit comments and questions. FDOT representatives will be…
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The Board of the Tampa Bay Area Regional Transportation Authority Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) Chairs Coordinating Committee (CCC) will meet on December 2, 2016, at 11:00 am, in the Hillsborough County Building, 601 East Kennedy Boulevard, 26th Floor, Tampa, Florida, 33602, to conduct a public hearing on regional projects and conduct regular business of the…
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According to Feeding America, more than 48 million people in the U.S. are not sure where their next meal is coming from. In Pinellas County, Feeding America identifies 16 percent of the population, nearly 150,000 people, as “food insecure.” The numbers are worse for children, nationwide and locally. Nearly one in four of the county’s…
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