Tampa Bay will continue to grow, whether we make big investments in transportation or not. The question is whether it grows up, with density, walkable neighborhoods, and new transit demand, or if it continues to grow out, with more traffic, greenhouse gas emissions, and unserviceable sprawl.
With the funding train leaving the station after All For Transportation was overturned, Tampa residents have to acknowledge downtown Tampa can no longer wait for regional transit to achieve its 21st century potential.
Our urban core and adjacent neighborhoods need to be rapidly retrofitted for real alternatives to driving, and to build demand for transit, for the people who live there.
One of the most effective ways to do this is to stop mandating excessive space for cars that goes drastically underutilized, which drives up the cost of housing and commercial businesses, makes most forms of missing middle housing infeasible, and promotes car-centric suburban style development in our urban core.
If the state or county won't let us have transit, we have to skip it for walkability and bikeability wherever we can.—Nathan Hagen. Chapter Lead, YIMBY Tampa
To commemorate the leap year, Creative Loafing Tampa Bay asked readers and local leaders to chime in on what Tampa Bay needs to be a better place in four years. These are some of the results of the "What Tampa Bay Needs" survey.
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Tampa Bay needs more housing for people instead for cars
Nathan Hagen chimes in on what Tampa Bay needs to be a better place in four years.
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