What would you like to see us do to make Tampa a better place?

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Permalink Reply by David Jenkins on August 7, 2008 at 2:51pm

*Mass transit
*Capping and reversing urban sprawl, which will revitalize the urban corridor, particularly Downtown
*Dismantle the Hillsborough Country Old Boy network once and for all
*A real arts resurgence - which means actually having people go to shows and support events. I run an arts organization, and I can't tell you the number of people who sit around and talk about the arts all day or who work for organizations allegedly for the arts who are not actual arts supporters. I don't count seeing Phantom of Opera every time it tours through. No more luncheons or catch phrases or writers on a book tour - get out and support the actual arts already. The city and county could be doing so much more to help with this as well.

I could point to many cities that were once similar to this area that made some strong choices, committed to them and are now actually bright, progressive cities. We need leadership that's willing to go to bat for these changes, and folks below who will actually work to get things done. Less talk, more action!

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Permalink Reply by Anne Younger on August 11, 2008 at 10:14am

I would like to see more public art.

The downtown area is fine, that is a gimme. Every city of more than 100,000 in the US has some sort of public art in the downtown area.

But what about in the neighborhoods? Why can't the people living in suitcase city or Sulpher Springs have art in their public areas? Think long about how you would answer that.

Maybe an appreciation for the arts starts at a grass-roots level, not at the elite educated monied top tier. The way a society treats the poorest of it's members is far more telling than the monuments it erects.

I don't know if this one idea is something that Tampa gets.

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Permalink Reply by maggie council dipietra on August 13, 2008 at 6:00pm

David Jenkins said:

*Mass transit
*...Less talk, more action!

RIght on, brother. I don't think enough people are really aware of the economic impact of the arts in our community, or the importance of their individual support.

One thing Tampa could do, if it is going to have a strong arts community, is to make Tampa an attractive place for artists to live.

Something along the lines of what was done in other cities like Memphis and Seattle, where good health insurance was made really affordable for artists making 51% of their living from their craft or disclipline. The coverage included their families. The cities worked with banks and insurance agencies to come up with a plan. That would be a good start.

Because then artists could have more opportunities to actually do their art. And I'm really tired of playing benefit concerts for musician friends because they're hurt or even die because they had no health insurance. It's estimated that roughly 1,000 of these kind of benefit concerts happen every weekend across the nation.

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Permalink Reply by Tamba Bay Trendsetters on August 23, 2008 at 5:23pm

Hi Julia, great idea on starting Brand Tampa. I too saw the need, not only in Tampa but nationwide, but of course we start at home.

I started Tampa Bay Trendsetters with similar goals, to improve business-client relationships and trying to fund some youth projects. I am game whenever you hear of serious individuals wanting to create a positive difference.

My group is http://businessnetwork.meetup.com/812/. I would love for you to join us and bring all your contacts.

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Permalink Reply by Tamba Bay Trendsetters on August 23, 2008 at 5:53pm

Hi Jessie - if you can get the college students together, I will definitely use my business incentives to keep them motivated and going.........

Jessie Stehlik said:

I would *love* to see more innovative transportation alternatives. I love they're talking about water taxis. How cool would it be to park my car at a dock in Apollo Beach and ride a boat to work every morning?? A fuel efficient, non-polluting boat... of course. :) I'd catch the sunrise and sunset on the water every day. Awesome.

I think a really great resource we can tap in to is college students. They're fresh, energetic, and want to change the world. Maybe they can help us organize some sort of huge, spontanious gorilla marketing event. Kind of like the massive NYC pillow fight... but not. And have that event draw lots of attention to [insert whatever it is that we want to see happen in tampa] and whoever sponsers the event would give us lots of money to make [insert whatever it is that we want to see happen in tampa] start to happen.

Yeah.

I say you get on that and make it work. But if you hit me with a pillow I'm telling your grandmother.

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Permalink Reply by Dennis Allen Higgins on August 28, 2008 at 2:07pm

I would like to see Tampa concentrate their discussions on things that we can actually accomplish. We all know that Tampa needs better mass transit but currently there is no way that we as a city can afford it (We are a poor city in a bad economy). I think Tampa should really think about improving what they already have as far as organizations go.
Tampa should make their community service organizations more efficient. For example. We have how many Art committees in Tampa? I’m not sure of the exact number but I know it’s more then ten. Why does Tampa need more then ten art groups? Why would any city? And why do we need ten groups who are supposedly working towards the same goal but are going about in in many different ways? Money shuffling around, meetings beheld, un marketed small shows held in obscure venues and galleries, but nothing is really getting done to help the arts in Tampa. The only group that I see that has done something we can see and enjoy is ART loud.
Tampa has a lot of people that care for the arts but in a city with so many different art organizations working against each other (or rather not working with each other) the arts will not flourish.
Tampa needs unity. All of these art groups need to sit down together and discuss the problem at hand. They need to make a plan that involves everyone working together and on the same page. They need to work together and get things done for Tampa not their group. The Arts in Tampa will go nowhere until we are able to unite the arts in Tampa!!!

The same goes for all comunity organizations.

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Permalink Reply by Jessie Stehlik on August 28, 2008 at 8:59pm

Cool. Message me and we can toss around ideas. :) I'm up for starting a movement. Viva la resistance! Or...you know...somethinglikethat...

Tamba Bay Trendsetters said:

Hi Jessie - if you can get the college students together, I will definitely use my business incentives to keep them motivated and going.........

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Permalink Reply by S. Cheong Choi on September 2, 2008 at 9:30pm

Re: mass transit amongst other things I don't think a lot of things that are apparently unaffordable are actually non-issues in terms of discussion. Lots of things are a matter of changing mentality through small actions like for example refusing to go to North Tampa or St. Pete unless there is more than one person going (for the example of mass transit). Or talking about moving to places where you would be considered an "urban pioneer" (ie living there not just because it's the only place you can afford but because you think it's a neighborhood with great potential) rather than trying re-zone entire neighborhoods to mixed usage by yourself.

That doesn't mean however that we shouldn't make community service more efficient or less apt to work against each other. As far as arts groups though, I think there is really no need for unity. At least until it's clear what "the problem" is. I think the arts in Tampa are doing surprisingly well for a city (or multi-city area.... whatever) this size. The arts in Tampa does just fine in smaller more flexible groups. Some of the larger groups and shows tend to include the artists/venues/meta-types as both groups and individuals and for the most part I don't see a whole lot of bad blood between them. If there were a need, I feel that larger cooperative would spring forth. Up til that point, I'm curious what that need might be....


Dennis Allen Higgins said:

I would like to see Tampa concentrate their discussions on things that we can actually accomplish. We all know that Tampa needs better mass transit but currently there is no way that we as a city can afford it (We are a poor city in a bad economy). I think Tampa should really think about improving what they already have as far as organizations go.
Tampa should make their community service organizations more efficient. For example. We have how many Art committees in Tampa? I’m not sure of the exact number but I know it’s more then ten. Why does Tampa need more then ten art groups? Why would any city? And why do we need ten groups who are supposedly working towards the same goal but are going about in in many different ways? Money shuffling around, meetings beheld, un marketed small shows held in obscure venues and galleries, but nothing is really getting done to help the arts in Tampa. The only group that I see that has done something we can see and enjoy is ART loud.
Tampa has a lot of people that care for the arts but in a city with so many different art organizations working against each other (or rather not working with each other) the arts will not flourish.

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Permalink Reply by Cheryl on September 5, 2008 at 4:09pm

I def. agree with Dennis on the point that all community organizations in Tampa need to work together. It's ridiculous that organizations who are supposedly working towards the same goals feel the need to rival one another and fear losing funds if they work together (these are things I've seen while living and working here). This is def. something I've noticed with several organizations around Tampa... even among organizations that are supposedly united.

Dennis Allen Higgins said:

I would like to see Tampa concentrate their discussions on things that we can actually accomplish. We all know that Tampa needs better mass transit but currently there is no way that we as a city can afford it (We are a poor city in a bad economy). I think Tampa should really think about improving what they already have as far as organizations go.
Tampa should make their community service organizations more efficient. For example. We have how many Art committees in Tampa? I’m not sure of the exact number but I know it’s more then ten. Why does Tampa need more then ten art groups? Why would any city? And why do we need ten groups who are supposedly working towards the same goal but are going about in in many different ways? Money shuffling around, meetings beheld, un marketed small shows held in obscure venues and galleries, but nothing is really getting done to help the arts in Tampa. The only group that I see that has done something we can see and enjoy is ART loud.
Tampa has a lot of people that care for the arts but in a city with so many different art organizations working against each other (or rather not working with each other) the arts will not flourish.
Tampa needs unity. All of these art groups need to sit down together and discuss the problem at hand. They need to make a plan that involves everyone working together and on the same page. They need to work together and get things done for Tampa not their group. The Arts in Tampa will go nowhere until we are able to unite the arts in Tampa!!!

The same goes for all comunity organizations.

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Permalink Reply by Anne Younger on April 15, 2009 at 2:01pm

Regarding David Jenkins' comment."One thing Tampa could do, if it is going to have a strong arts community, is to make Tampa an attractive place for artists to live."

Didn't the city council talk about making the downtown area more amenable to artists a few years ago? Seems like they discussed making loft space and affordable housing, urban pioneering and all those other buzz-words for revitalizing a downtown area. Then they built the trump tower. Who can even afford to live downtown? I think this kind of thisg has to come about in an organic way. Like the Village in New York. The first ones in there move in because it was cheap and seedy. That made it a stylish place to live and it got too expensive for artists.

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Permalink Reply by Stephanie on May 8, 2009 at 10:52am

I live in CLW and would like to see more late night places to hang out for dessert and/or coffee with internet and plenty of plugs. The latest place I can find so far are Starbucks and Borders at 11p.

Also finding myself wondering what there is to do on weekends if you dont' feel like clubbing or bars. The arcades are sucky or too oriented to kiddies. Mini - Golf stops at 10pm. Really the only option seems to be midnight movies?

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Permalink Reply by Anne Younger on May 14, 2009 at 11:11am

Stephanie, you might have to drive out of the cultural black hole of Clearwater to find late night venues. I find that there are usually interesting events held at art galleries on Friday and Saturday nights, late. Check out the Art Pool, also Globe Coffee Lounge and Studio@620. If you listen to Art In Your Ear on WMNF on Friday afternoon, you will hear all kinds of interesting events happening.

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