TAMPA, FL (October 5, 2020) — The City of Tampa Planning Department has launched an initiative to help develop plans to enhance and preserve the quality of the City’s neighborhood commercial districts. The Neighborhood Commercial District Planning Program will involve the City working closely with neighborhood community groups to build upon and strengthen each district’s unique identity with a focus on the ‘neighborhood commercial corridors’ that exist around the City.
“There are small commercial districts located in the heart of many Tampa neighborhoods. These are the places where commerce and community come together to define the cultural, social, and economic bonds of a community,” said Randy Goers, City of Tampa Director of Planning. “Community input will be critical to the success of the program and we are eager to gather this feedback from our residents.”
The program will start with two neighborhood districts, the Main Street Commercial District located in West Tampa and the Palma Ceia Commercial District located in South Tampa. Via outreach avenues like community meetings and input surveys, the Planning Department will address current opportunities and challenges through thoughtful facilitation and strategic analyses tailored to the specific district. Plans may consider issues related to:
- Housing affordability
- Historic preservation
- Transportation and transit
- Integration of public facilities
- Streetscape improvements
- Land use and community design
- Social equity
- Mobility
- Connectivity
- Parks and recreation
- Environmental enhancement
- Economic revitalization
- Sustainability and resilience & more
Plan Hillsborough staff is supporting the City’s initiative by providing land use data and analysis, market data and analysis, and qualitative reporting based on interviews with residents and survey responses. This also includes conducting field reviews in the form of walking audits of the corridors, public outreach, and multimodal data, such as bus service frequency and the level of stress the roads create on pedestrians and cyclists.
“The importance of this collaboration between City staff and residents cannot be understated. This program will allow us to develop a thoughtful strategy to bolster our neighborhoods and transform Tampa’s tomorrow,” said Mayor Jane Castor.
“The new City of Tampa Planning Department is empowered to help facilitate long-term planning that will guide our City into the future and meet the evolving needs of its residents. We encourage members of the public to participate in this important effort,” said Carole Post, Administrator of Development and Economic Opportunity.
To learn more and register, visit https://www.tampagov.net/planning-and-development/district-plans or contact TampaPlanning@tampagov.net.
