TAMPA - More than 200 people - real estate agents, architects, planners, promoters, educators - showed up at a Tampa Downtown Partnership community session Thursday evening to offer their vision for the future of downtown.
Everyone agreed that a breath of energy must find its way into Tampa's downtown before the city can really consider itself an urban success.
They offered a variety of suggestions on how to get there. Among them: more residential areas downtown, better use of the waterfront, more parks and green space, more cultural events, a better sense of security 24 hours a day, a more pedestrian-friendly design and more retail space.
And, perhaps most importantly, determination.
"The will that is in this community is what is going to be important," said Karen Brand, vice president of marketing for the Tampa Bay Convention & Visitors Bureau.
The idea of revitalizing downtown is not new. It has been talked about and mulled and planned for decades, with varying degrees of success.
But Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio has named it a priority. She spoke passionately earlier this year about creating a cultural arts district, reviving the riverwalk and luring retail, residents and tourists downtown.
The city has a solid base on which to build, a team of designers and planners working with the Downtown Partnership said Thursday.
Taylor Yewell, who worked on a market analysis of the area, said Tampa generally is growing faster than the rest of the region up 7.3 percent since 2000, with a projected 9 percent over the next five years. Add to that the hot housing market and a local economy that has expanded while unemployment stayed steady, and the potential is there, Yewell said.
"A lot of cities are green with envy and would love to be in your position," he said.
The Downtown Partnership plans to sketch out a road map for revitalization. Christine Burdick, the group's president, said part of that plan means seeking the views of local citizens and business leaders. Hence, Thursday's meeting.
"This is too important a process to not get the community's impressions," Burdick said. "Downtown Tampa is on the brink."
