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Ybor needs more than PR

Having spent a decade and millions in tax dollars to transform Ybor City into a partying district, Tampa has no quick fixes to widen Ybor's appeal. People have plenty of choices for a night out, and while Ybor's security problem is overblown, the old Latin Quarter still relies too heavily on bars and nightlife.

It is all well and fine, as the city of Tampa decided the other day, to unveil a new campaign to market Ybor's "softer, gentler" side. But the mistake is believing marketing is the answer. Ybor has less of an image problem than a tired routine. It has drifted for years because native-born city leaders overestimated the power of nostalgia. While the city dawdled on whether Seventh Avenue should be open to automobile traffic or whether parking should be free, the larger question - what to do there? - got brushed aside.

Most people need more than brick streets and Cuban coffee to make the place a regular stop. Having a debate between bars and retail also carves Ybor's audience into two. Why can't the city and the merchants devise a strategy to integrate night and day? Why must Ybor's entire character change from Thursday night to Sunday morning?

Rather than talk, as council members did, about creating a "positive spin," selling "the product" and getting "on board," officials need to agree on Ybor's strengths and build an environment around it. This is not a job to leave to publicists. Creating a niche for Ybor in the competitive entertainment market will require more public investment, in everything from the preservation of historic factories and clubs to cultural programming and incentives to lure back the artists. The ad people need something real to crow about.

Locals will get jaded hearing Ybor is rounded if the experience doesn't change. Not only will the ads have been a waste, but the message would be that Ybor remains a one-trick pony. The historic quarter has too much potential to allow that to happen. Before it spends more money on spin, the city should conceive a vision for Ybor and a plan for sticking with it.

[Last modified December 12, 2005, 01:10:15]