Miami Beach has successfully used the Community Redevelopment Act to revitalize two formerly “blighted” areas into a thriving neighborhood and commercial district. Now it wants to do the same for portions of North Beach. Community Redevelopment Areas (CRAs) allow the creation of special funding districts where incremental increases in property taxes generated within the CRA…
When it comes to attracting industrial business, Manatee County is being steadily outpaced by some neighboring counties. Catching up with the competition will require a new mindset and lots of cash. Last August, the Board of County Commissioners authorized staff to hire a consulting firm to analyze how officials could use about 6,700 acres spanning…
This summer has proven to be more than just a hot season for Fifth Avenue South in Naples. A sizzling renaissance of sorts is sweeping through the main street attraction at the heart of the city. Riding the wave of niche brands in the retail industry, about 10 new stores recently opened or are opening…
A 32-year-old environmental hazard cleared the way for a developer to receive several economic incentives from the state of Florida thanks to an official brownfield designation. The 96-unit Oaks at Lakeside apartment complex is set to be developed by HTG Creekside on 16.8 acres of land just west of John H. Marble Park in the…
The Gainesville Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) will soon transition into a city department — the Gainesville Community Reinvestment Area (GCRA). Much like the CRA, the new city department will be tasked with addressing some of the community’s most pressing infrastructure and development challenges over the next 10 years. During its Aug. 15 and Sept. 5…
In Los Angeles, where drivers spent an average of 128 hours sitting in traffic in 2018, most commuters still choose to drive to work alone. A new aerial view of a street in downtown L.A. helps make the case for picking public transit instead, as it shows buses flying down a dedicated bus lane. In…
Even with the citizenship question settled, an accurate 2020 census will face an uphill battle. The biggest obstacles to a complete count are the different “hard to count” populations that can be found all over the country, even without the question that many, including the Census Bureau itself, projected would suppress response rates, even among…
To some local leaders, Hurricane Michael made Panama City a blank slate from which they can make significant improvements in the coming years. The Panama City City Commission and city department heads gathered on Thursday for their annual goal-setting session for the coming year. But unlike previous years, the devastating Category 5 storm has potentially…
The two-block stretch of Miami Beach’s Ocean Terrace is now the future site of a $15 million public park space. Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber and city commissioners gave unanimous approval Wednesday to a deal involving a notable trade: In exchange for the city vacating street and sidewalk space in addition to altering its zoning…
The first topic the Fort Myers mayor’s diversity council is set to discuss won’t be an easy one. It’s gentrification. Concerns have been raised because of a redevelopment project approved by the Community Redevelopment Agency on Seaboard Street in Fort Myers, an area near primarily black community of Dunbar. Residents are worried it could change…
A plan to build 126 affordable apartments off of Price Boulevard was chosen earlier this month by the state for financing by Low-Income Housing Tax Credits, and would be the first new complex of its type to be built in the city since 2005. The complex, dubbed Palm Port, would be built on 8.44 acres…
Working with about a $3.5 million budget for the 2016-17 fiscal year, the Palmetto Community Redevelopment Agency isn’t sitting still in planning for the future. With much of its funding tied up in existing projects, the CRA is still introducing new proposals for the coming five years. CRA Director Jeff Burton outlined the new initiatives…
Pinellas Receives $7.5 Million to Build State-of-the-Art Business Incubator in St. Petersburg “This investment by the EDA, along with support from Pinellas County and our partners at the City of St. Petersburg, will help launch the next generation of entrepreneurs in our community,” shared Commissioner Karen Seel, Chair of the 2019 Pinellas Board of County…
MILTON — Amid continuing debate and questions from citizens in Milton over the program’s future, Main Street Milton traveled to Orlando where they accepted awards for innovative practices and projects that contribute to the success of local Main Street programs. Main Street Milton was presented with two awards, the Honor Award, which highlight the very…
A transformation is now underway in Riviera Beach Heights that has been years in the planning. Facing a neighborhood that has been fractured by improvements to the state highway that dissects it, the CRA is creating safe passageways for our children to walk to school, implementing new designs to soften traffic, and connecting the neighborhood…
In an era when state and local governments are having a harder time than in years past filling jobs, some are turning to the “gig economy” to meet their labor needs, according to newly released survey results. The Center for State and Local Government Excellence released the findings from their latest workforce survey on Monday. A total…
Cities, counties and state governments turn to drones to help fight crime, combat fires and assist in rescue efforts. By 2018, at least 910 U.S. sheriff’s offices, police and fire departments, and emergency services agencies had purchased drones, an 82 percent increase from the previous year, according to a study by the Center for the Study of the Drone at Bard…
Former longtime Gulf Breeze City Manager Edwin “Buz” Eddy has taken on yet another responsibility following his retirement two years ago. He was recently hired as a part-time administrative consultant by the City of Century, which has been going through some challenging times. The city of about 1,500 has a mayor and five city council…
Two years ago, Tacoma, Washington, declared a state of emergency over homelessness. With 1,300 people experiencing homelessness in the surrounding Pierce County, and hundreds of them living on Tacoma’s streets, officials kicked off a three-phase plan to address the issue. They deployed rapid resource pop-ups, such as hand-washing stations and portables, and worked to expand…
Several cities are experimenting with applying fees to parked e-scooters as means of managing the devices and helping to prevent an over-distribution of them on streets. Omaha, Neb.; Charlotte, N.C.; and Detroit are part of a three-month pilot organized by the parking technology platform Passport to assess parking fees when scooters are not being ridden.…
The FloridaMakes Board of Directors announced today that Florida manufacturers who received services through the state-wide FloridaMakes network have reported a combined total of over one billion dollars in measurable economic impacts and created or retained 6,953 manufacturing jobs since the program started delivering services in 2016. The FloridaMakes network is an industry-led initiative operated…