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Recall the time before the sprawl? They do

By ANDREW SKERRITT
Published July 21, 2006

Call it nostalgia or baby boomer sentimentality, but after years of playing second fiddle to the mall, Main Street is beginning to matter again.

Don't believe me?

Just look at all those developments like Connerton, FishHawk Ranch, Westchase, bringing town centers to their suburban enclaves.

Also consider the big argument they're having in New Port Richey over Main Street Landing, a condo/retail project that's asking the city for financial help.

So far, much of the debate has centered around using public money to jump-start a private development.

But if you think Main Street Landing is just about money, then you must think that buying a PT Cruiser or a Dodge Charger is just about driving.

Main Street Landing is much more. It's about an idea bigger than the city block that some fear will become an eyesore if the project is left unfinished. It's about the present but much more about the past and the future.

This kind of conversation isn't limited to New Port Richey, by the way. Communities with a downtown are always trying to liven things up, attract new business, lure live bodies on the streets after dark. Inverness is talking about spending more money to continue its improvements downtown. Dade City found a way to merge Southern charm with selling antiques. Brooksville keeps trying for an answer.

New Port Richey isn't new to the downtown development game. You visit Main Street, walk along the Pithlachascotee River, sit in the park and you know somebody has been busy.

The city has history and geography on its side. The downtown's Mediterranean architecture harkens back to the Roaring '20s, when this small city envisioned itself as the potential Hollywood of the eastern United States during the silent film era.

Amid all the suburban sameness, New Port Richey, with its riverfront, is a unique place. Downtown just needs people, during the day and at night. That's where a project like Main Street Landing comes in.

People living in condos will walk to the restaurants, bars and other attractions. Young professionals can walk to their office.

"This is a chance for this city to dress itself up," says Peter Altman, the former longtime mayor and county commissioner who is now seeking the city's help to get the project finished.

As a partner, he has a financial stake in the outcome. But he has a big emotional stake in this too. He's not alone.

All the old-timers who spoke up in support of this project and got the City Council to give it another look are heavily invested in what happens downtown. This is their city. Many of them remember fondly the days before the sprawl, when neighbors gathered at events and people strolled near the river.

They regret that their children didn't have the same opportunities, that they had to go to the mall to congregate.

Perhaps they're nostalgic too. Maybe it's the high price of gas. But folks want to be able to walk to places again, see people on the sidewalk, feel like a community again. When you're on Main Street in New Port Richey, you can sense the potential - while you worry about how an abandoned half-finished construction project could spoil it all.

Andrew Skerritt can be reached at 813 909-4602 or toll-free at 1-800-333-7505, ext. 4602. His e-mail address is askerritt@sptimes.com.

[Last modified July 20, 2006, 19:39:59]