Good News From Florida’s CRAs

Transit News from Tindale-Oliver

Falling Revenues and Growing Demand for Services Challenge Cities, Counties and School Districts. Click here: The Local Squeeze

You are invited to attend a Special Call Commission Workshop on Saturday, June 16, 2012 at 3:00 P.M. for the purpose of listening to Town Manager Candidate Finalists Interviews. 3:00 PM – Candidate Panel Interviews Town Hall Commission Chambers 6:00 PM – Community “Meet & Greet” Reception Town Hall Mirror Ballroom At the June 20,…

CRAs as Economic Engines

Fort Myers Downtown Streetscape Wins International Making Cities Livable Award FORT MYERS, Fla. (May 24, 2012) – On May 22, 2012, the Fort Myers Downtown Streetscape project won the 2012 International Making Cities Livable (IMCL) Walkable Neighborhoods award at the IMCL conference in Portland, Oregon. The City of Fort Myers ranked first over other cities…

One of Tindale Oliver’s urban designers, Erin Chantry, will be reporting live from CNU20: The New World that is taking place in West Palm Beach, Florida. Attending as a member of the press, she will be writing a  series on the importance of integrating transportation, land use, and  urban design. It will be based on…

Florida PACE Funding View more presentations from FloridaRedevelop.

Panama City CRA News On Thursday, April 19th, 2012- City leaders celebrated Ink Trax’s grand opening with an after hours block party. “Driving through downtown a year before I got elected, I was thinking about revitalization and this just kind of gives me goose bumps. This is what it’s all about. This is what the…

Manatee County CRAs Are Busy By: John Rehill, Bradenton Times BRADENTON — At Manatee’s South County and Midtown CRA’s, success is shining through. The plans have taken root and the results  are even better than expected. Midtown is the star of success, and South county is coming up not far behind. That’s what happens when…

Margate CRA Regulates Car Repair Shops By: Alyssa Cutter, Sun-Sentinel Pawnshops and car repair stores are now banned from Margate’s Community Redevelopment Agency. The city commission passed the ordinance after determining the area had enough of both types of businesses and decided to close it. The existing 81 car repair shops and nine pawnshops will…

Sunrise making push for redevelopment Something as simple as freshly painted entry signs can help rejuvenate the city’s eastern neighborhoods. Other projects on the city’s wish list, such as a world-class medical complex that would bring jobs and tax revenues, might be more difficult to accomplish. During a workshop, Sunrise officials discussed ways to encourage…

Pioneer descendant forming foundation to help maintain St. Petersburg’s downtown waterfront parks ST. PETERSBURG — The city’s downtown waterfront parks are a gem. Actually, says Phil Graham Jr. with conviction, they’re St. Petersburg’s most important asset. The descendant of one of the city’s earliest settlers and landscape architect of the new Dalí Museum has come…

Sunrise to talk redevelopment at Tuesday workshop SUNRISE—Commissioners are encouraging residents, business owners and landlords to attend a 6 p.m. workshop Tuesday to help them brainstorm ways to redevelop the city’s neighborhoods and commercial areas. The meeting will be at City Hall, 10770 W. Oakland Park Blvd. Last week, commissioners approved a new incentive program…

Turning blight into a destination Hillsborough County Commissioner Victor Crist’s “Innovation Destination” plan may be ambitious, even grandiose, but it offers a promising way to revive blighted neighborhoods in Tampa and Hillsborough County. He plans to discuss the proposal at Wednesday’s commission meeting. Some areas within the community development district would be designated for tax…

 CRA submits downtown vision plan The vision for South Cape is for it to be a community within a community.That includes streets cut out and defined by their look and character and destinations for people to stop and look around with an emphasis on four quadrants around Cape Coral Parkway. That area would be called…

Zephyrhills looks to expand redevelopment efforts ZEPHYRHILLS — City officials have been developing a vision for a thriving community, and on Monday evening, the council took the first step toward bringing those dreams to life. The council gave its initial blessing to an ordinance that would nearly double the size of the Community Redevelopment Area,…

Channel District gets firm footing in downtown Tampa A few years ago, Mayor Bob Buckhorn said, the Channel District was a ghost town. There were many abandoned warehouses. There was no residential development. The district’s primary function was ancillary use to Tampa’s busy port. Not anymore. Demand grew for residential and commercial development. Creating a…

Mitchelville Freedom Park Mitchelville Freedom Park is a Historic and Interpretive Museum to be located at Fish Hall Creek Park on Hilton Head Island, the site of the Historic Town of Mitchelville.  This very important historic site was the home of the first freedman village in the United States during the Civil War. The museum…

Could $20 for a gallon of gas be a reality? Author Christopher Steiner joins Metro Center Outlook to discuss America’s dependence on oil. (2012)  

Transparency is the New Leadership Imperative http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2012/04/transparency_is_the_new_leader.html

Updated Information:West Atlantic RFP New information regarding the RFP for West Atlantic Properties has been uploaded to the CRA website, including Addendum #1 to the RFP. Other information and documents now available including the following: Property appraisal reports Land Surveys Presentation from the March 30th pre-bid meeting Pre-bid meeting attendance Various clarifications Any future updates will…