Column

Honorable mention to Pasco's best locales

By C.T. BOWEN, Editor of Editorials
Published October 7, 2007

Snubbed again.

The American Planning Association just released its list of best neighborhoods and streets as part of its first-ever Great Places in America recognition. Pasco locations were shut out. We're in good company. Miami's Ocean Drive was the only Florida mention. Urbanized mixed-use neighborhoods in Pittsburgh, Brooklyn, Buffalo, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle and other locales took the honors for criteria that included good design, functionality, sustainability and community involvement.

So let's try to devise our own favorites. The American Planning Association has separate lists for neighborhoods and streets, and next year will reveal its best public spaces. To be concise, this list includes all three categories. Here goes:

- Aripeka, the rural outpost in northwest Pasco, is great for fishing, wildlife viewing and natural beauty. It's accessible from the south via U.S. 19 and the commercial sign assault in Hudson. Even though proximity to culture is a plus, the vacant Jimmy's Sideshow Museum and Gallery in Hudson doesn't boost the appeal to this part of the county. You also can get to Aripeka via Old Dixie Highway, the lime rock path along the coast that is largely unspoiled except for the slobs who've dumped old furniture and an abandoned personal watercraft on the road side.

Aripeka is bordered by preserved land that meanders north into Hernando County. It is a favorite travel path for motorcycle enthusiasts and fishermen. No, it's not well-planned, and the lack of sidewalks and commercial services are significant drawbacks, but how can you not like a place that features "Bear Crossing" signs?

- New Port Richey's modest housing stock away from the Pithlachascotee River makes it heavy on transients. Still, the people who call this home have much to enjoy. One of our favorites is the area designated as Railroad Square, a yet-to-be-consummated, pedestrian-friendly entertainment district stretching along Nebraska Avenue between Bank and Adams streets. Even without the city's plans to dress up this street segment, it has evolved into a handful of restaurants and watering holes, most with outdoor seating, in which the hungry and thirsty can sample an international array of foods and beverages. Nearby are new outdoor murals reflecting the city's heritage, an art gallery, the Richey Suncoast Theatre and still more restaurants and taverns.

- North of downtown and abutting the river is the Cotee River Park, a linear path with picnic areas and fishing spots running from Main Street to Massachusetts Avenue. Proof of its popularity comes from the available parking - or lack of it. At mid-afternoon three days ago, each of the parking areas along Grand Boulevard was filled to near capacity.

Port Richey's waterfront, unfortunately, cannot crack this list. The numerous "for sale" and "for rent" signs along Grand Boulevard indicate this is an area seeking change, but its local government is focused on dredging canals on the west side of the city. A planned overlay district closer to the bridge across U.S. 19 is still in the talking stages.

- Longleaf's new urbanism attracts the fanciers of front porches, street parking, rear garages and small lots. The commercial activity remains limited, though a catering and dinner-to-go site, and the neighboring cigar lounge both enjoyed a steady line of patrons just after 5 p.m. one recent weekday. A neighborhood school and village square are a short stroll away.

- San Antonio is what Longleaf aspires to be. Its mix of new construction and historical housing surrounds a village core that has a restaurant, market, antique store, salon and professional offices adjacent to City Hall, the Fire Department and U.S. Postal Service branch. Across the city park sits a Catholic school and church. Its grid could use sidewalks and the village center would benefit from more retailing, but it is easy to see why this community has so many lifelong residents.

We also like what others might consider an inconvenience, the popularity of using post office boxes because the area didn't obtain home delivery of U.S. mail until this century. It means many in the town venture to the post office daily, creating the personal interaction of neighbors bumping into neighbors that can be absent in gated communities.

Like Aripeka, you also have to watch out for nature. The San Ann Market features a "Rattlesnake Crossing" sign, a nod to the community's largest civic event:the Rattlesnake Festival.

- It is difficult to name another street in Pasco County that carries as much historical notoriety as Dade City's Church Avenue, the brick street that is one block west of Meridian Avenue, the main east-west street through downtown. It is the site of stately historic homes and several churches. Even the boarding house, the Gray Moss Inn, is well known for having served lunch to President Coolidge. Church Avenue becomes the city center each December as it is host to a Christmas celebration featuring a walking tour of decorated houses and musical presentations by individual congregations.

Mobile home appeal

Pasco is home to tens of thousands of mobile homes, so we can't ignore those communities in compiling this list. There are many, like Club Wildwood in Hudson, Scotland Yards and Lake Pasadena outside Dade City and Betmar Acres in Zephyrhills, with fine attributes. So, our tie-breaker goes to public safety. Travelers Rest Resort Inc., in northeast Pasco County - nestled among the rolling hills of citrus country, as its advertising brochure claims - has the pool, tennis, shuffleboard and golf course amenities that appeal to retirees. The difference, however, is this place has its own fire department, which puts it off the scale on the functionality rating.

- Zephyrhills has done much to improve upon up its retirement haven reputation over the past two decades, including helping to build a YMCA, designating a historic district, refurbishing its downtown with decorative sidewalks and lights, preserving a depot museum, and developing a splash park for kids.

Our pick for best neighborhood here is the area near Fifth Avenue, on the east side of Gall Boulevard. Any place within walking distance of a downtown movie theater is a desirable place to live.

This list, you may have noticed, includes only eight neighborhoods, streets and public spaces. Readers should extend it. Tell us what you think is a great place in Pasco and why. Send your suggestions via e-mail to bowen@sptimes.com and we'll try to publish them.

There are plenty of other nominees with strong geographic or quality of life characteristics, including the rolling hillsides of St. Joe or Pasadena Hills in east Pasco, the waterfront communities near the Gulf of Mexico and the beaches on the west side of the county, urbanized neighborhoods along River Road in New Port Richey or the Congress Park area on Dade City's south side, or planned developments like Trinity, Connerton and Seven Oaks.

Nobody said a journalist is the final authority. Just ask the American Planning Association.

[Last modified October 6, 2007, 20:27:36]