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'The Point' is, it isn't that other place

Pinellas Point, tired of being confused with Pinellas Park, has a snappy solution that's catching on.

By CRISTINA SILVA, Times Staff Writer
Published August 26, 2007

One is a city in central Pinellas County. The other is a neighborhood in southern St. Petersburg.

Pinellas Park and Greater Pinellas Point might seem to have little in common other than a similar name, but apparently that's enough to confuse some people.

Now, residents in Pinellas Point are trying out a new nickname in an attempt to stand out. "The Point," as some people have recently taken to calling the neighborhood, was selected because it is snappy and unmistakable.

"I think the Point will catch on pretty quick," said Barbara Hawkins, president of the Greater Pinellas Point Civic Association. "We are just trying to make it easier to have it roll off the tongue."

Pinellas Point residents say whenever they mention their hometown to friends in other cities, they often have to clarify whether they are talking about the city or the St. Petersburg neighborhood.

In recent years, the media have been guilty of the error, too. Various newspapers, including this one, have mistakenly described the neighborhood as "the Greater Pinellas Park Civic Association" in print.

"Pinellas Park is better known than we are," said John Bagg, a Pinellas Point resident. "When you say Pinellas Point, people hear Pinellas Park."

But Bagg isn't so confident that "the Point" will catch on.

"It would be extremely hard to do because the Pinellas Point area has been called that for a very long time," he said. "I would have a harder time letting people know where I live if I tried to say 'the Point' instead of Pinellas Point."

Pinellas Park officials said they weren't even aware of the identity crisis.

"We have never been mistaken for Pinellas Point," Tim Caddell, spokesman for Pinellas Park, said, laughing. "We get mistaken for the county, though. We get calls for county services all the time. Maybe we should change our name to 'the Park.' "

Cristina Silva can be reached at 727 893-8846 or csilva@sptimes.com.

[Last modified August 25, 2007, 22:25:22]