Contents Politics/Governance – CIT – A Little Civics Lesson Every Now and Then is a Good Thing, Cont Channel District/Ybor-ish/Port – Ybor Harbor Economy — Insurance — What Do We Do — Population — Inflation USF – Stadium Hospitals/South Tampa/West Tampa – Money and Stuff Rays Pasco – Parks ______________________________ Politics/Governance – CIT The County Commission moved to renew the CIT, sort of. The Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners voted to forge ahead on a tax that funds roads, public safety and other infrastructure. Commissioners on Wednesday advanced a referendum askin ..read more

Contents Transportation — Traffic — Streetcar — Brightline Airport – Searches and Growth USF — Stadium — Claw Ybor City/Governance – CRA Pasco — Rental Homes — Maybe Something Rays Meanwhile, In the Rest of the State _______________ Transportation — Traffic The Times had an interesting opinion piece on traffic. Some things aren’t the way they seem. They don’t make sense, at least at first. Take, for instance, the huge shift toward remote work and its effect on traffic. Before the pandemic, about 1 out of 11 Tampa Bay workers worked from home at least some of the time. Now, it’s about 1 in 5 ..read more

A number of things came up this week and a number of things are going on this weekend, so, rather than try to do a whole Roundup, we decided to go with a picture (since it is worth a 1000 words, and all that). The picture, taken in January, is of a newly constructed sidewalk at the plaza in Carrollwood where there is a Foxtail Coffee.  The pole in the middle of the sidewalk is actually a replacement for a previous pole in the same location. When you hear about infrastructure improvements and all the good things they can bring, remember that, without citizen involvement, it can also bring ..read more

Contents Tampa Heights — 2315 N Florida — Robles Park Redevelopment USF – Stadium Downtown/Channel District/Port – Not Yet Transportation — Survey — Gateway Express — PSTA Governance/Politics — Elections — Affordable Housing — Pensions St. Pete – 400 Central Rays Meanwhile, In the Rest of the State — Miami — Jacksonville Meanwhile, In the Rest of the Country ___________________________ Tampa Heights — 2315 N Florida There is a new proposal for an apartment building on Florida in the Tampa Heights area.  Accela for 2315 N Florida here. Framework Group, a Tampa developer, wants to rezone a ..read more

Given it is Spring Break, we have an abbreviated Roundup this week. Contents Transportation — Step Back — Malfunction Junction — Brightline — PSTA Economy — Rent — Unemployment — Wages — House Values — Architect Talk — Population Governance/Politics — Elections Airport – Rankings Rays _______________ Transportation — Step Back It is always hard to get decent transit in the US, harder still in Florida, and it could get even harder: New transit projects in Florida will face additional hurdles if Gov. Ron DeSantis signs two bills recently passed by lawmakers. House Bill 287 seeks to cap how much ..read more

Contents Transportation — Selmon — Amtrak — Gateway Express — Himes Governance/Politics — A Little Civics Lesson Every Now and Then is a Good Thing — Referendum Money — CIT — HART — Live Local West Tampa/Downtown/Hyde Park – On the Waterfront Visual Pollution, Cont Rays Time Meanwhile, In the Rest of the State __________________ Transportation — Selmon For a while now, there have been ideas floated to change the Selmon exit at Florida downtown (like the earlier one here).  Now, there is a new idea: Downtown Tampa’s road network is one step closer to a major overhaul that will improve ped ..read more

Contents Airport – Back to Mexico City Governance/Politics — CIT — School Tax — Referendum Money Economy — Regional Competitiveness Report — Rents — Milken List West Tampa/Hyde Park/Downtown – West Riverwalk Ybor City – Cleansed Hyde Park-ish – 110 South Boulevard South Tampa – Rodeph Shalom, Take 2 Transportation — Survey Visual Pollution Meanwhile, In the Rest of the State _____________________________ Airport – Back to Mexico City Years ago (and not just  in the 90s) there were flights from Tampa to Mexico City.  Soon, there will be again. From Tampa International Airport – click ..read more

Yes, we are a little early this week.  Have a fun and safe Gasparilla. Contents Transportation/Port – Of the Rails Downtown — Cass Square Encore — One Tampa Governance/Politics/Economy – Renew the CIT? Economy — Citigroup — STEM Airports — Records — OC St. Pete/Built Environment – Storage Meanwhile, In the Rest of the Country — Self-Driving Cars — The Other Brightline ____________________________ Transportation/Port – Of the Rails There was an interesting article in the Business Journal about freight and rail. Jacksonville-based CSX Corp. needs to come to the table to help Tampa reach it ..read more

Contents Transportation — SunRunner — Referendum Money — Brightline South Tampa – Rodeph Shalom Economy — Inflation — Rent Governance/Economy/Politics — Live Local — Affordable Housing Airport – Daily Rays/St. Pete – To the People Pasco – At Little of This, A Little of That Meanwhile, In the Rest of the Country _________________________ Transportation — SunRunner As you likely remember, SunRunner’s introduction was reasonably successful, if fare-free.  However, aside from years of opposition from some on St. Pete Beach, there were complaints about homeless people’s behavior on St. Pete Be ..read more

Contents Transportation — HART — Brightline South Tampa – Aqua Downtown – Old Stuff Politics – Mayors Talking Westshore/Tourism – Odd Schools – Yes, But Tourism – St. Pete Rays – Never Ending Meanwhile, In the Rest of the State Meanwhile in the Rest of the Country — Office Market — Road safety _________________ Transportation — HART Much to the chagrin of some, especially those who try very hard to starve it of money (and then say it does not work well), HART is apparently doing pretty well with the pittance it gets. The agency tasked with overseeing public transportation in Hillsborough Coun ..read more