To Infinity and Beyond

"To infinity and beyond" must be what some people are thinking about housing prices when they sign a contract to purchase a home they'll never occupy. In fact, in trying to explain Tampa's current market I've told out-of-towners that the philosphy seems to be "Thank God this house didn't sell in the first couple months, now we can raise the price!" That trend seems to be coming to an end, with more realistic price appreciation ahead. Read the Times' Very For Sale for one view. I am noticing some softening, a 1600sf home on the 7500 block of S. O'Brien was recently reduced by $20,000, and the "Price Reduced" signs are sprouting in much higher priced areas too. I noticed 3 on Azeele within 6 blocks of Westshore yesterday.

Back to the Future for Friends of the Port Tampa Library

Many communities can trace their current state of affairs, good or ill, to a particular event. Here in Port Tampa residents point with sadness to the "overnight annexation" into the City of Tampa in 1961, and with much pride to the drive to restore the Commercial Bank Building and adapt it for use as the Port Tampa City Library. The new library story, which began with a condemnation order in December of 1992, might have ended with the dedication on June 14, 1998 if not for the activism the project spawned.

The immediate post-annexation period saw many fine 19th century and early 20th century homes torn down in favor of low income/subsidized housing and the tiny tract homes in vogue at the time. Now many of those post annexation buildings are being destroyed in favor of larger, far more expensive, single family homes and townhouses. Change isn't just coming to Port Tampa, it's already here. No one knows this better than the Friends of the Port Tampa Library and Maritime Reading Room.

After going dormant for a period the group is back and ready to take on some more important preservation work. This time their goal is to digitize the old Port Tampa City archives including tax rolls and minutes of the city council meetings. The Friends of the Library hope that partnerships with USF and the City of Tampa will yield a searchable data base that also preserves the handwritten records.

You can join the Friends of the Port Tampa City Library and Maritime Reading Room by paying $10 in dues at the next meeting, 7:00 PM Wednesday April 26th, at the library.

Development Update

A few updates on projects not represented at the Civic Association meeting last night.

The property at Prescott and Kissimmee, formerly set for development by LIST Group and now owned by Keystone, is full of activity. Keystone is accepting "priority reservations" for the first six of what will be 22 townhome units in what they are calling the "Key West Style." The three bedroom, 2.5 bath, towns are priced from $389,900-$399,900 for just over 1900sf of living space. This makes you wonder just what those houses on the O'Brien properties will sell for since $160,000 seems a bit low. So much for speculation in this blog that Keystone would put single family homes on this property.

Workers were digging footings for Gaspar Properties' 4 unit townhouse development on Prescott today. Elevations and floorplans are available for the
Hemingway also described as a "Key West Style" development.

Bakery Owner Sees Future in Port Tampa

Many of us figured out that the historic Lester House at the corner of Interbay and Fitzgerald sold when the PODS container came and went. CAPT President Jill Buford announced last night that the purchaser is the owner of La Segunda Bakery in Ybor.
He plans to open a restaurant in the historic building and call it "1893" after the year the home was built. According to Jill, the plan is to be open for breakfast and lunch. We hope the beautiful garden is maintained for outdoor seating, and can already imagine a leisurely stroll down to 1893 for some cafe con leche and pastry. Sadly, with the old library torn down there is now land available behind the property for parking.

CAPT Sends Message-No Site Plan, No Action

Last night's Civic Association of Port Tampa (CAPT) yielded some "do overs" for developers. Both Casa Bella and the O'Brien properties will be on the agenda again in April. Representatives say they'll have site plans in hand at that time.

Anthony Galarza of New Millennial Homes was asked to come back to CAPT at next month's meeting with a site plan for 5 lots on South O'Brien St. New Millennial has asked for rezoning of the parcel at the end of O'Brien from IG to PD. The PD designation is needed because two of their five lots are just 50X95. I spoke to Galarza after his aborted presentation where he indicated they expect these houses to sell in the area of $160,000 and, as presented to city planning staff, all five elevations were identical. The O'Brien property abuts MacDill AFB and sits on both sides of the dead end street pictured above. Galarza will return to CAPT at the April 25th meeting where we are sure there will be many questions about garages, or lack thereof, and driveways. CAPT will have a chance to speak in support, or opposition, at the City Council meeting on April 27th.

Casa Bella representative Nicholas Husak, of Zaremba Residential Co., didn't fare any better than Galarza. Many CAPT members were prepared with pointed questions about how the Casa Bella development is going to live up to concessions made in exchange for the city vacating the street on the north side of the property. There was much concern over the builder getting 60' of right of way, but giving up a far narrower strip on the south side of the property for greenway. Pictured above, the actual paved strip is 15' wide. The approximate distance from the Casa Bella wall to the drainage ditch is 30-35' as the wall location steps back in some areas. (I think this gives it some welcome variety, and is far better than the tall wall built at the south side of Camden Apartments.)

Husak didn't have a site plan either, and admitted to not knowing much about the greenway plans. He did however assure those present that the utility poles currently in the middle of the paved path will be removed and a top coat put on. The developer will also be landscaping the length of the path so it will indeed feel like a greenway as opposed to an alley. Husak also said they have paid for a design team to take a look at the boardwalk to Old Tampa Bay and reiterated that if it is built the walk will be open for public use.

We look forward to seeing Galarza and Husak again, with the information they need to answer our questions.

Relay for Life Coming to Port Tampa

Teams are forming now for the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life. Scheduled for May 19-20, this overnight event features a luminaria memorial to those we've lost to cancer and a survivors tribute. The basic concept behind Relay is to raise money and awareness with an overnight walk. Teams of 10-15 people accept donations then walk around a track, or ball field, all night. No running is required, and team members take turns walking so no one has to walk all night long.

This is the first year the fund raiser will be held South of Gandy and the Port Tampa Rec. Center will host. (In years past the closest venue was the University of Tampa.) Many thanks go out to CAPT President Jill Buford for interceding with the city. Apparently Parks and Rec needed some community support to approve an overnight activity. For more info on how to form a team call Heather Winberry at (813) 254-3630 or E-mail heather.winberry@cancer.org You can also check out the team leader's handbook and other general relay info at The American Cancer Society site.

Lest you think all the charitable donations that have gone to cancer over the years have been wasted, think of this- When the American Cancer Society first started 1 in 10 people survived a cancer diagnosis. Today 1 in 2 will find their way to remission or full out cure. As Heather said when we met today, "Wouldn't it be nice to have a grandchild on your knee and have him ask 'What was cancer?' and know you were part of making it something for the history books."

Ybor City Night Runs

The husband and I made our first Friday night trip to Ybor last night. Did we partake of the movies, dining, drinking? Of course not. We ran the 9th Annual Hillsborough County Tax Appraiser's Run for Shelter 5K. Jokes about more people being homeless because of property taxes aside, it was a great time with lots of after race random prize drawings. Southwest Airlines donated a round trip for two so we stuck around to the end. We didn't win the trip but did score a $10 gift card to Carmine's, had some free beer, and a couple hot dogs. All in all it was a very well organized run. The husband finished fast enough to win a mug, and I was successful in my quest to not finish DFL (dead f______ last).

Another Ybor night race, this one to benefit UT Cross Country, is scheduled for April 21st. Registration for "Night Moves 2006" is available on active.com or via mail. Registration forms are in the Mar/Apr issue of Florida Race Place which is free at area sports stores. Random drawings at this race will include a Rooms To Go grand prize gift certificate.

You probably won't see me at Night Moves though. When you are worried about finishing DFL you pick your race charity carefully, knowing that it will bring out people who aren't necessarily runners but have an affinity for the cause. Give me a race for Type 2 Diabetes, or in support of Gastric Bypass for low income folks, now there I have a chance.

Rating Schools-Time to Rethink?

Port Tampa's own Westshore elementary is an A rated school again this year. Congratulations to the students and faculty! Love or hate the FCAT you have to be happy when your neighborhood school does well.

Unfortunately I think the FCAT generated report cards, as well as some other measures of school quality, have left many parents with unwarranted satisfaction with their schools while other schools are not given enough credit. In yesterday's Class Struggle column , the Washington Post's regular education columnist, Jay Mathews, writes about critiques of the Challenge Index (which he invented) used in Newsweek's annual rating of the best American high schools. Some highly ranked Florida schools, including Hillsborough High School, are singled out by researchers from Education Sector an educational policy think tank:

"A successful high school should show high levels of student achievement, graduate almost all of its students and not let any demographic subgroup suffer at the expense of others," they say. "Most national and local experts and policymakers share these values. To be sure, graduation rates and student achievement are hardly the only indicators of a school's quality. At a minimum, however, America's best high schools should be expected to meet these basic criteria.

"Yet our analysis shows that many schools on Newsweek's list do not meet these minimum standards. Using publicly available student performance data, we found that many schools on Newsweek's 2005 ranking have glaring achievement gaps and high dropout rates. By presenting them as America's best, Newsweek is misleading readers and slighting other schools that may in fact be better than those on Mathews' list. For example, the magazine ranks Eastside High School in Gainesville, Fla., as the third best high school in the nation, but only 12 percent of Eastside's black students were reading at grade-level in 2004. And Newsweek ranks Hillsborough High School in Tampa, Fla., as America's 10th best high school, but only 17 percent of black students and 26 percent of Hispanic students met the state's modest grade-level standards in 2004. While some students at Eastside or Hillsborough may be receiving a challenging education, it's clear that many are not. And Eastside and Hillsborough are not outliers. In fact, schools with substantial inequities in student achievement make up a significant proportion of Newsweek's list of best high schools."

To read about some alternatives for rating schools take a look at Mathews' columns about Park City Utah's attempts to adopt criteria to rate the nation's top ten school districts.

Sidewalks NOW on McElroy

City Council voted last night to allow some minor changes to the PDA at Newport Tampa Bay, basically allowing the developer to build over lot lines within the contiguous area of the development. In other words, they can cross lot lines they own but still have to follow setback rules for adjoining properties. Residents of Westshore Club condominiums spoke up for construction of a sidewalk on McElroy. Eco Group, the developer, wanted to put up a boardwalk over the drainage ditch that runs the length of McElroy from Westshore to Bridge St. Residents and City Council want none of that. Eco Group does not want to be held liable for choosing the wrong size culvert when filling in the ditch to construct a concrete walk and wanted to wait until their reconstruction of Bridge St. is complete. Councilman Dingfelder said he'd intercede with public works to get a ruling on what size concrete pipe should be used. The whole council agreed that the sidewalk Eco Group agreed to when they were first given permission to develop the former Imperial Yacht Basin needs to be built forthwith. Al Steenson of Gandy Civic Association (aka Sunbay South) did his usual able job of speaking up for concurrent infrastructure development SOG.

To Eco Group's credit, their spokesman once again assured Council, and the public, that Bridge Street and other thoroughfares will remain public and that the waterfront esplanade on the site plan is designed to draw the general public, not just residents, to the marina area.

Port Tampa Meetings

Just a reminder that the regularCivic Association of Port Tampa (CAPT)meeting will be held at the recreation center on Lancasterat 7:00 PM on Tuesday, March 28th. Friends of the Port Tampa City Librarywill meet at 7:00 PM on Wednesday, March 29th.

Library Demolition Begins

It was going to be a dance studio,but became too expensive to fix. Now the old Port Tampa City library is coming down. Kimmins Demolition took the front windows out yesterday and the work continued today,

GreenFest 2006 Saturday and Sunday

GreenFest returns to Plant Park at the University of Tampa this Saturday and Sunday with programs scheduled from 10:00AM-4:00PM. Keynote speaker Mark Shelby will open with "Principles of a Florida Yard" at 11:00AM on Saturday. I've given up my rose habit in favor of paying at least cursory attention to my family so I'll be skipping Tim Myers' 1:00PM Sunday talk on "The Care and New Trends in Florida Rose Gardens." For a full schedule of workshops and demonstrations visit www.greenfest.org Proceeds from this annual event go to Friends of Plant Park for park restoration.

RWF...all the way to Disney

It occured to me that should anyone actually read my full profile, and some posts, I could leave the false impression that I am one of those Bayshore Blvd. runners you see stripped down to a little sports bra and racing shorts. In actuality, I pursue a fitness regime that can best be described as Running While Fat (RWF).

When I left the army I swore I would never run another step unless pursued by a bear, and then I'd only have to be faster than my companions-not the bear. That promise to myself held for 10 years until I woke up one day and decided I would run the 8.15 mile Great Aloha Run in Honolulu 5 months hence. I phoned the husband who was, of course, away from home and asked for some treadmill buying advice. He said he'd do some research and get back to me. "No," I countered. "I am standing in front of some treadmills right now." I hauled one home with absolutely no reason to believe it wouldn't become a very expensive clothes tree. It didn't. I finished the Aloha Run with no problems and went on to complete the Marine Corps Marathon in '01. When you are slow as molasses, have absolutely no natural talent, and carry far too many pounds, training for a marathon is a very time consuming business. However, I do get my money's worth out of race fees just from time spent on the course and am willing to take the plunge again.

The husband has suggested we run the Disney marathon in January. Easy for him, completer of the Honolulu (2x), Berlin, New York, and Marine Corps marathons. The nut has done the JFK 50 miler twice. But the thought of Disney is appealing. I like any course described as "flat and fast." So, the registration is going in the mail this afternoon and I'm posting this. That should be enough to discourage backing out.

10 Things to do in Port Tampa

Had a great weekend. The husband got back from Qatar and Iraq on Friday night so we had a family activity fest. It occured to me that we spent all of our time actually doing, and very little of it driving to go do. Here are ten things to do without ever leaving Port Tampa. (We did 1,2,3 and 6)

1. Take a morning run.
2. Kayak, sail, swim, or fish, at Picnic Island Park.
3. Play tennis at the Port Tampa Rec Center.
4. Play basketball under the lights at the Kwame Doster Rec Center.
5. Play baseball at either Rec Center's field.
6. Watch wildlife (turtles and raccoons were Sunday's sightings)
7. Use a bbq grill at the Spanish American War Memorial Park and have a picnic.
8. Fly kites at the beach, or the hill.
9. Get a bunch of friends together and have a little BMX competition on the hill.
10. Take a free computer class at the Port Tampa City library.

What's That Smell?

Returned from a trip to Mexico Beach on Monday to be greeted in our driveway by an odor I couldn't quite place. At first I thought it was the usual teen daughter over use of "smell goods." She would admit only to a fruit scented deodorant. Later, on a dog walk I smelled it again and thought it was just dryer sheets as I could tell that a couple people on the block were doing laundry. But the smell, which I had finally decided was thorougly pleasant, persisted when we walked past the baseball fields.

On Thursday, my long walk to take alley pictures yielded the answer. All over Port Tampa the Yellow Elder(Yellow Bells, Tecoma stans) is in bloom.

In one of my favorite books, Tough Plants for Florida Gardens, Felder Rushing describes the flower as lightly fragrant. However, we have so many in absolutely full, gorgeous bloom right now it is easy to find an established plant by following your nose. I shouldn't have been surprised to find out that Tecoma stans is native to west Texas and New Mexico as our dry season seems to bring out the best in what here is a small tree rising to over twenty feet. (Apparently it can be a spindly little thing out west.)

If you're interested in planting a tree in your yard I highly recommend taking a look at 100 Florida trees you should plant instead of oak, and the exchange of comments. While you're there take a look at Smitty's post on his recent Everglades trip, I really enjoyed it.

City Council Looks at Alleys

Tampa City Council members heard staff reports about Tampa's alleys yesterday. The basics: Tampa's older neighborhoods, especially those closest to the Central Business District (CBD), grew up with alleys to hold the "business end" of households and commercial enterprises. Trash collection, as well as public and private utilities were routed here. There are paved (concrete and asphalt), dirt, shell, and grass alleys that are still in use as well as overgrown, trash strewn, and vermin infested alleys. I assume they are counting both human and rodent vermin as crime was cited as a problem too. Though most of the crime was noted as illegal dumping. In the early 80s there was a push to vacate alleys as quickly as possible, in part because garbage trucks were getting too large to navigate many of them. Over 90% of the alleys vacated since 1980 were vacated in the 1980-1983 period.

Now, alleys are in vogue again. The historic areas of Hyde Park, Seminole Heights and Ybor City embrace them as part of the original landscape and new developments are being built with alleys for detached or rear loading garages. Here in Port Tampa South Tampa Square is laid out in a "neo-traditional" pattern with rear loading garages opening to, yes, alleys. (Full disclosure- I love this new urban model. Wish a side/rear loading garage had been available with our house.)

As for Port Tampa's historic alleys, I am not aware of any that are still completely open, though many have not been officially vacated by the city. Under current rules, which City Council wants to refine, alleys are vacated only when a property owner requests it. Reasons for approval include: crime, illegal dumping, vermin infestation caused by overgrowth, to recognize what's already happened on the ground through the construction of fences or buildings that make the alley impassable, or when someone owns more than one lot and wants to make the property more buildable. In Port Tampa, Council routinely approves alley vacation. Garbage collection is all done at the front now. But even if you can't detect the old alleys on the ground you will often see where utility lines run down the back property lines instead of down the streets. (The photo above is a partially vacated alley that is still used. Note the sidewalk to nowhere put in by the builder of the newly constructed houses on the left.)


Here are pictures of an overgrown alley in southwest Port Tampa and a new alley put in by developers just east of Wall Street. City council did not make any decisions in yesterday's workshop but it appears clear they do not favor wholesale vacation of alleys, but do want to come up with a uniform approach to handling when/if to vacate. I thought I sensed reluctance to vacate alleys that are still at least theoretically passable, perhaps after clean up. New criteria for people seeking to have an alley vacated should be out in a couple months.

Port Tampa in the St. Pete Times

In today's St. Pete Times, Port Tampa the blogger, found: A call for improved postal service CAPT President Jill Buford as well as long time Port Tampa resident Carol Curtiss are quoted.

I've posted about the Post Office before, and whined about the hours. As pointed out in staff writer Sherri Day's article, it is a real pain to go to the Interbay branch to pick up a package. However, the only thing that will sway the USPS is increased usage. I assure you Port Tampa is doing her part, and the hours do not make that an easy task.

Military (Family Life) Myths, Part I

Recent conversations with non-military Tampans has me thinking about how little the average American knows about military life, even when they live very close to a military installation like MacDill. A few myths debunked, and not too much of a rant, I hope.

Military kids drain local schools of resources.

Most military kids do not live in government housing, so someone is paying the same property taxes everyone else pays for schools. For those who do live in housing the feds provide "impact aid." Children of service members all have access to health care and at least one parent is a high school graduate who reads and writes English fluently. They are less likely to need special services than their non-military peers.

Pay is so low lots of military families are on food stamps.

While some service members with children qualify for food stamps, they usually do so because of the size of their families. Advancement beyond the lowest ranks comes swiftly and they soon climb beyond the threshold for food stamps, unless they have more children.

Our military would be a lot less expensive if we got rid of those frivolous things like golf courses, and other recreation facilities. Only the brass uses them anyway.

This really frosts me. The military needs to attract and retain physically fit young people. MacDill has a lot of brass, and retirees, but the typical user is just a regular guy or gal who likes to spend off duty time on sports. To my mind, one of the best retention tools around is the opportunity for athletic participation beyond the high school or college years.

No Purple Houses

There is no Home Owners Association in Port Tampa to tell us not to paint our houses purple, yet there are no purple houses. Imagine that, no rules yet no one running amok.

My personal favorite house color appears a few streets over from ours. This very intense peach would pass muster only in a HOA with architectural guidelines designed to evoke a Jimmy Buffet concert. A little tongue in cheek wink at a tropical vibe. Yet it works. Shaded all day by two immense oaks a more "tasteful" color would disappear in the perpetual twilight.

A brand new house on Swoope is painted turquoise. On a stucco home surrounded by large palms this color takes me back to Lucaya, where fifty cents and a sense of adventure yielded the best bus ride I've ever taken. Willingness to listen to the driver's running social and economic commentary caused the merciful lowering of the music volume. It is said Reggae music is so popular because the beat is the same as the human heart. I would guess this was discovered through the throbbing temples created by max volume in enclosed spaces. I like the gutsy move behind building a home on spec, then choosing an edgy color. (Off topic-another great bus ride is the circle route around Oahu. Pork hash dumplings, aka dim sum, at 7-11 are my favorite island junk food but you have to get out of Waikiki to get them.)

So, should you be traveling in Port Tampa and run across a Mediterranean Revival home with an orange front door give us a friendly wave. You don't know how close this house came to being pink. Very, very, pink.

Yellow Ribbon Hypocrisy

The daughter is a newly licensed driver still working her way through the stringent Mom and Dad Graduated License System. We are in Phase I-allowed to drive to work along approved route, no passengers, call when you arrive/depart.

So, to the person with the yellow ribbon magnet on their car who nearly t-boned her on Westshore this afternoon I would like to say, "Thank you for your support of her father's military service. Now, how much consolation do you think that would be if he had to attend her funeral?"

Port Tampa Terror

I hate to admit that my son's first full sentence was "Friday night at the Omni, in At-laaaaant-a." Yes, he learned how to talk from Georgia Championship Wrestling, beamed into our home at the University of (not the end of the world, but you can see it from there) North Dakota via Ted Turner's Superstation and our free college provided cable. So, imagine my excitement when I stumbled upon this poster from the Archives: Championship Wrestling From Florida Yes, Mike Graham, half of the old-school US tag team championship pair, wrestled as the Port Tampa Terror! Now I'm sure it's just another case of Port Tampa being confused with the Port OF Tampa, but I thought it was cool nonetheless.

Lawn Mowing Saturday

Today must have been the day everyone in southwest Port Tampa decided it was time to brave the oak pollen and spend some time outdoors. I use a quiet electric lawn mower so I was happy to be serenaded by a group of middle school aged girls playing softball in the park a block away. One of the things we love about Port Tampa is that kids can walk to the parks for some unstructured play. No calls of "out" or "safe" turning into free for alls with parents shouting at refs here. If the kids can't come to an agreement the game disintegrates and everyone goes home. Somehow they manage to work it out, as do the basketball players who play under the lights at the Kwame Doster rec center.

Our neighbor's great grandson is mowing her lawn today. She's lived in the same house across our street since 1942 and says she can remember when the mosquitoes were so bad "you could just stand in the middle of the street and they'd carry you along." The bugs aren't nearly so bad now but not everything has changed. Keep a tight lid on your trash or the racoons will soon find it. I saw tracks in the ditch this morning.

Time for some lemonade and a break on the back porch. The sun has climbed so that the porch is fully shaded, the wind is rustling the palm leaves just so, the daughter is at the Yankees game and I have that rarity in the adult world-an hour or two with nothing to do...

Sidewalks Explained

St. Pete Times reporter Sherri Day has done an excellent job explaining how new sidewalks get built in South Tampa, and why they are sometimes trails to no where, in Where the Sidewalk Ends

Development Updates

Construction on Ivy Homes" two new houses in the 7400 block of S. Elliott is going quickly. The Emy Isle model will easily be the largest house on the far west end of Port Tampa. Ivy also plans to put the Emy Isle on their lot at Germer and Idaho. No specific floorplans are lined up for Ivy's lots on Shamrock and Sparkman.

South Tampa Square by Inland has jumped Wall St. to the west. They've cleared what appear to be 6-8 lots, having torn down 2 houses that appeared ready to fall down, and a lot of brush. And of course since there was dense brush they also cleared the remains of illegal dumping. While I'm not 100% behind the use of formerly open land for houses built right up to the legal setback, I don't mind seeing the mattresses and sofas that litter the landscape go. Inland has posted "For Sale" signs and there are already "Sold" signs on a few lots.

Spoke to Casey from Land Care yesterday. (They are developing South Town Park.) He says the commercial development on Tanker Way will have a courtyard like arrangement suitable for cafes with outdoor dining. He also opined that things are moving so quickly in this part of town that it now looks like they're 18 months away from construction rather than the 2-3 years originally reported here.

There is a "for lease" sign on the recently vacated commercial property at the corner of Westshore and Prescott. This corner is an unsightly conglomeration of parking, chain link fence, and ramshackle buildings. If anyone knows what's going on here please e-mail or post a comment.

Picnic Island Park a Secret Gem

I hesitate to sing the praises of Picnic Island Park because the daughter and I have been using it as our own private kayaking spot. However,in March 4th's Trib Community Wants To Add Port To Its Map Dulcinea Cuellar reports, "Shannon Edge, the city's neighborhood and community relations director, said heavy industrial areas or parks usually are excluded from neighborhood maps because no one lives there." It's time for CAPT to make the written request it would take to change this greivous ommision.

Granted, there are more beautiful beaches in the area, but how many are a just a few minute's drive from virtually any spot SOG? My odometer tells me we're only 1.5 miles from the awesome dog beach. Too bad the dog is 16 years old and not really into beach frolicing. The park is on the Great Florida Birding Trail, has a fishing pier, shelters available for rent so you can schedule a party on a busy weekend and be sure you'll have a spot, playground, boat ramps, and not a single concession or commercial establishment in sight. That is, with the exception of the awesome views of St. Pete across the bay. For more info check out Picnic Island Park, the official web site, for more information.

The Unit, Do I Like It?

Taped The Unit for the husband tonight since he is in Qatar, courtesy of the US Army, and will miss the first couple episodes. With SOCOM headquarters right here at MacDill I'm guessing the Tampa area ratings for this show will be a tad higher than some cities, though Fayetteville NC will probably have us beat.

If you didn't see the promos, Dennis Haysbert (of 24, and Allstate commercials) is one of the leads in this show about a top secret army unit. It is based on Delta Force and one of the co-creators is David Mamet (of all people). In the pilot the guys rescue a trade delegation from a highjacked plane, while on the homefront the wife of one of the new unit members is in for a shock when she discovers just what kind of organization her husband has joined, and that she is pregnant. It ends with a cliffhanger of one of the wives in bed with the Colonel who keeps sending her husband on deployments.

It was more interesting than I thought it was going to be, but it's going to have to pick up to keep me away from House consistently. A few quibbles. Army wives would never talk about living "on base," instead it would be "on post." Also, a good deal of tension in the first half hour is built around the new guy's wife not understanding what's going on. It is the brave, but stupid man, who would volunteer for Delta, get selected to go through all the training, get selected to actually join The Unit, then not tell his wife what he had signed up for.

One thing did ring true. The line near the end where the new guy says "Are you kidding? You get to shoot guns, jump out of airplanes, and come home to your family. It's damn near perfect." I've heard that dozens of times in real life.

Tampa Rail-Read, Comment, Link!

Tampa Rail has updated and basically started over blogwise. Head on over to the site for the latest on all regional, and state, proposals for rail solutions to the transportation nightmare that is Tampa Bay. TR has specifically asked for comments from new downtown residents, but hey, add your voice to that comment thread-even if all you want to say is, "I love sitting in my car and I'm waiting for the day things are moving so slow I can check my e-mail, apply mascara, or take a nap while at the wheel." Oh wait, aren't some drivers already doing that?

South Tampa Square

Port Tampa has been watching the new South Tampa Square development first reported in the Trib back in December '04. This single family and townhome neighborhood is being developed at the south end of Wall St. with "the hill" to the East, MacDill to the South and existing homes on the North and West. At long last they have prices, floor plans, and "Now Selling," posted on their web site. Check it out.

Unaffordable Housing in Port Tampa

I check zip 33616 on REALTOR.com a couple times a week just to see what's happening to housing prices in the area. It's not an exhaustive list of homes for sale as it doesn't include the full Multiple Listing Service (MLS), but you don't have to register and risk getting sales calls. Anyway, my non-scientific analysis reveals 65 properties for sale excluding bare lots, up from 29 in August '05. Many of these are not within the Port Tampa boundaries because 33616 includes West Shore Yacht Club, Casa Bella and portions of Sun Bay South (aka Gandy). However, the new construction listings in Port Tampa City include a variety of builders, sizes and styles, of single family homes. The price range is $329,000-$559,000 and I'm still smarting from the coffee I snorted through my nose. Three of these houses are within one block of our house which was built in 2005. One is the exact same floor plan priced $140,000 more than we paid and we've only been in it four months, though the contract was signed almost a year ago.

When I'm not busy taking care of that broken arm from patting myself on the back (for my astute real estate choice) I'm worried that the neighborhood has become unaffordable for military families like ours. We chose Port Tampa primarily so the husband could ride his bike or run to his office at MacDill, then we fell in love with it. We've been downright obnoxious in our declarations of how little gas we use and how much more family time we have than his co-workers who commute from FishHawk Ranch. We'll have to silence or crowing soon, there's no point encouraging people to consider becoming our neighbors when they'd have to win the lottery to do it.

Historic Port Tampa City

At the last CAPT meeting it was noted that after disappearing for a while the street sign at Everett and Westshore had been replaced with a new sign, but Everett is spelled Everette. This may be appropriate however as Juanita street is actually a misspelling of Juniata that has become institutionalized. Signs along Ingraham are spelled Ingrahm on the west end near Morton. Or should I say, signs along Ingrahm are spelled Ingraham on the east end? Mascotte is mislabeled as Mascott on at least one street corner north of Prescott. I think it's kind of quaint. If you'd like to do a walking tour of Port Tampa City, along with a stop at our own Flat Ironesque triangular building, check out the Port Tampa Historical Trail


Do it quick, while you can still recognize the spots mentioned.

Redneck Riviera

The sand is white and sugary, and the sun bright, but beyond that little is the same here on Florida's Panhandle. That is when compared to 1993, the last time I was here. It bears even less resemblance to the halcyon days of the mid 80s when the drive down from Ft. Rucker, Alabama seemed a small price to pay to spend every Saturday at Spinnakers or La Vila in Panama City Beach.

After watching the building boom in Port Tampa for a while it was interesting to take the long way here to Mexico Beach via the SunCoast Parkway and 98 instead of I-75 to I-10. The building from Panacea west could be characterized in a couple ways. When you see an enormous home going up on the narrow strip between the highway and the water, right next to the skeletal remains of someone else's dream, you have to admire the eternal optimism or cringe at the stupidity.

On the plus side, both Appilachicola and Port St. Joe seemed to have benefited from some good economic times without totally losing their old Florida charm. Ah ha, a Port Tampa connection after all. We're going to see a lot of change in the next couple years, but with vigilance and the effort it takes to be the squeaky wheel, we should be able to keep our "small town in the big city" feel.

South Town Park Retail etc.

Called the development coordinator for South Town Park this morning. If you haven't seen the sign South Town Park is going in on undeveloped property at the southeast corner of Interbay and Tanker Way, just east of Manhattan. It will be bounded on the west by Tanker Way, north by Interbay, south by MacDill AFB, and to the east is a large trucking company, though it's unclear if the site goes all the way east to the truck parking area. Here's the scoop:

Phase 1 of this gated community will be 32 "twin townhomes" aka duplexes priced from $379,900. They are going through permitting now and hope to start in April. Phase 2 will be 12 single family homes with groundbreaking expected in 18-24 months. Phase 3 will be a small u-shaped grouping of retail on Tanker Way with places like "Dunkin Donuts and Starbucks." However, no specific tennants are lined up as building is realistically at least 2 years out.

So, if anyone with more experience in Florida can tell me why people think gated communities are all that, please tell me.

Also, residents of the trailer park on the west side of Tanker Way are all supposed to be out by May but I'm not seeing much action there.

February CAPT Meeting

The Civic Association of Port Tampa (CAPT) meets at 7:00PM on the fourth Tuesday. Here's a recap of last night's meeting.

The bylaws are just about ready for review by the membership, they will be in computer editable format by the next meeting.

Renovation of the Spanish American War Memorial Park is going forward. Dedication of the new park entrances, complete with brick columns and wrought iron fencing, should happen this fall. The Rough Rider Society has stepped forward to refurbish the historical marker and will provide a color guard and other pageantry for any dedication ceremony. Ultimately the park will include new sidewalk trails with brick trim designed to emulate railroad tracks. (Historically appropriate as Port Tampa was a port of debarkation where soldiers arrived by train then transfered to ships for the trip to Cuba.) When the renovations are complete the much used park will be an impressive western gateway to Port Tampa. The Port Tampa Woman's Club has taken the lead in fundraising for these improvements. Their next meeting is scheduled for 10:00 AM, Saturday, March 11 at the PTC Library.

The park, however, is not at the boundary of Port Tampa City. The actual boundaries are: North-Everett St. (The now vacated street forms the southern border of Casa Bella) South-MacDill AFB, East-Manhattan, West-Old Tampa Bay. The Casa Bella developer is to replace the missing neighborhood sign on Westshore. The other sign is on Interbay just west of the Interbay and Manhattan intersection.

In other Casa Bella news, the developer has assured CAPT President Jill Buford that the proposed boardwalk over Tappan Nature Preserve, to the water, will be for public use, and asked for CAPT support. CAPT supports the private financing of this park improvement if, and only if, it is fully accessable to the public, not just Casa Bella residents. CAPT membership has asked Jill to get clarification on how Casa Bella is going to comply with the Tampa Greenway plans as it appears the southern border of the development may not allow enough room for the agreed upon path.

The American Cancer Society is looking for a site SOG for it's Relay for Life fundraiser. With 13 sites in Tampa this is a very popular event. However, interest would seem to support a site closer to Port Tampa than the current U of Tampa location. The city has already nixed the idea of Picnic Island Park over reluctance to host an overnight event. CAPT members support helping the Society find a SOG location and Jill recommended taking the request for help to the Interbay Peninsula Partnership (IPP)

The IPP will be meeting for review of the goals set out in its formation MOU (memorandum of understanding). One goal, "Continually develop strategies to enhance and attract quality housig South of Gandy Blvd," seems to have been met. Perhaps the next MOU will include a goal of retaining and attracting affordable housing (but I editorialize).

Warecraft, a fabricator and installer of vinyl fencing, has approached CAPT with a fundraising opportunity. For every project of 100' or more Warecraft will donate $100 to CAPT. While CAPT does not specifically endorse Warecraft, if you're going to put up a fence check out Warecraft and let them know you found out about the company through CAPT.

PortTampa, the blogger, was unaware that the the old Port Tampa City Jail is still standing, and in use. One third is used by the Fire Department as a weight room for the station next door and the remainder is used by CAPT for storage. Well it's time to get some of those stored items out so May. 6th will see the "Sale at the Jail." There will be some interior doors for sale that came out of the jail when it was renovated, as well as other antique and restoration items. More on this as the date nears.

The meeting was adjourned after a brief exchange of development rumors. More on those in a separate post. Don't miss the next Friends of the Library Meeting Wednesday, March 29, 2006 7:00 PM at the library.