Mayor Buckhorn: InVision Tampa to 'Redefine' Downtown
Master plans for the InVision Tampa project will be shown to the public at a presentation tonight.
With the hope of connecting major arteries of Tampa Bay to create a pedestrian-friendly feel and encourage small business growth, Mayor Bob Buckhorn, urban planners and a consulting firm discussed InVision Tampa's purpose and focus on Tuesday morning.
"We've set out on a course to reshape and redefine our urban core," said Buckhorn, standing behind a podium in the courtyard of City Hall. "There's been a resurgence in downtown Tampa in ways you can't even imagine."
Buckhorn, county urban planners and members of consulting firm AECOM plan to unveil InVision Tampa's master plan to the community during an open house for the public from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m. today at Tampa Preparatory School, 727 W. Cass Street.
The master plan for the two-pronged $1.43 million project, referred to as "City Center," will revamp the area of town that extends from downtown Tampa to Ybor City, winding through Armenia Avenue on the west end and north toward Nebraska Avenue to Hillsborough Avenue.
The goal?
"To connect the community to make it more walkable and liveable," said Peter Sechler of AECOM.
InVision Tampa's second leg will create rail transit for the Nebraska Avenue corridor, Buckhorn said.
"Our goal is that 10 years from now," Buckhorn said, "the waterfront is the center of our downtown, not the western edge."
What do you think of the project? Do you plan to attend the open house today? Tell us in the comments.
chris
3:00 pm on Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Don't think I'll make it to the open house, but I'm very interested in the goals of this new plan. The trend around the country is urban renewal, revitalization and rebuilding urban neighborhoods and communities and I feel like Tampa is still behind the curve. It's a shame because the Tampa Heights/Seminole Heights corridor has such amazing potential to become a stellar urban zone. We already have a great sense of community and great home-grown business and projects seem to be cropping up more and and more. It would be fantastic if our city planners and govermnet could help to nurture them. Grants and tax breaks for locally-oriented businesses and projects would be great, some sort of light rail would be amazing, but also I feel like zoning issues need to be addressed soon. We need to do something about the blight of used car lots and cheap flop-house motels dominating our neighborhoods before we can make this a truly walkable community.
Camille C. Spencer
9:12 am on Thursday, November 29, 2012
@Chris: Thanks for your comment. I think the hope is that this project will put the area on par with others, but it's going to take years for it to come full circle.
Joe Clay
8:29 am on Saturday, December 1, 2012
We'd also need to figure out how to make it cool for 9 months of the year to make anywhere in Florida walkable. Most days I can't walk to my car without breaking a sweat and it's 15 feet away from my front door.