Greetings, I'm Back - I confess, I took a little bit of vacation from City Hall. August is typically a good month to do that, though there is plenty happening even in August any more. Here at the city right now we're still working the spring training issue, trying to bring a new SPD headquarters into focus soon, and any number of other things.
But for now, before that vacation spirit gets away from us completely, and recognizing that this is the time of year when many Floridians travel, I'm going to ask this question - In your travels this summer, what did you see or learn about somewhere else that you think would be useful for us, or that we could replicate here in Sarasota? I'll start with an example; I was in Jackson, Wyoming which is a very high-transient place with many thousands of tourists passing through or staying in a very small town every day. One thing they do better than we do is provide public restrooms downtown. Other than at the bus transfer station and down at Island Park, I don't believe there are others here. Actually they probably have about that many as well, but serving a much smaller downtown.
What have you seen this summer that you think we could learn from?
But for now, before that vacation spirit gets away from us completely, and recognizing that this is the time of year when many Floridians travel, I'm going to ask this question - In your travels this summer, what did you see or learn about somewhere else that you think would be useful for us, or that we could replicate here in Sarasota? I'll start with an example; I was in Jackson, Wyoming which is a very high-transient place with many thousands of tourists passing through or staying in a very small town every day. One thing they do better than we do is provide public restrooms downtown. Other than at the bus transfer station and down at Island Park, I don't believe there are others here. Actually they probably have about that many as well, but serving a much smaller downtown.
What have you seen this summer that you think we could learn from?
posted by Michael McNees at 5:13 PM
12 Comments:
I've spent most of this year commuting to Milwaukee every work week, so have some things that I definitely have learned to enjoy here.
1. Primarily, it's the neighborhoods that make Miwaukee interesting and worth wandering around. Not residential neighborhoods as such, but mixed use neighborhoods like the Third Ward and Brady St. These are characterized by shops and restaurants (almost always NOT national cookie cutter chains) with residential or commercial space above. Two or three story buildings in most of them, a few up to 7 or 8 (though these tend to be in areas with very wide street spaces that prevent a cavernous feel).
In Sarasota we have this in the Hillview area and St. Armands. Downtown has lost this with the caverns created by the new buildings and will continue to lose what's left with new buildings and national chains.
2. Festivals. EVERY weekend in the summer has one. This weekend it's an Arabian Festival; prior weekends have been (or will be) French, German, Irish, Music (Summerfest), African, etc. They enjoy the good weather.
Sarasota has a bit of this, but the vast majority of what might be called festivals are Arts/Crafts shows that are inevitably redundant and not worth attending.
3. Sports. The city here is intune with the Brewers and Packers, but also embraces the PGA event here and any other stop here by event-based sports (auto racing for example).
Sarasota has the Reds (Major and minor) and.... nothing else. Nothing to bring the community together otherwise in the sports world. Minor league hockey, tennis or golf. ANYTHING would help tie the community more.
4. Parks. All of the parks I have seen are full of people in the summer, because they all have something to do. Tennis courts, access to the Lake, etc. Plenty of parking helps to, but access from nearby neighborhoods seems to drive people as there always seems to be people walking to them.
Sarasota (near downtown at least) has the hard-to-get-to bayfront and will have Payne Park. But Payne Park has poor foot access (given that changes there seem to not include enhancements to sidewalks even a block away). And none of these busy parks are dominated by a set of high-rise buildings like Payne Park seems poised to be. And the bayfront has very limited parking available due to Marina Jacks cordoning off spaces.
Milwaukee and Sarasota are not really a good comparison. See the descriptions http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milwaukee,_Wisconsin vs. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarasota%2C_FL
Obviously, Sarasota does not have the population to support our own major league team. (We barely support our minor league team.) I disagree that we don't support what is really our own team, the Tampa Bay Bucs. Get out to a local sports bar or go to a game and you will be amazed how many Sarasota folks are season ticket holders. We had a PGA Senior Tour event here in the past, but again, people forget that even though Sarasota is big in area, it does not have that large a population and is dominated by the nearby real metropolitan area of Tampa/St. Pete. We're too close to Tampa to have our own major events as any event big enough to be called a major event would be held in Tampa and then Sarasota ends up being too nearby to repeat the event here. We're lucky to have some national acts for entertainment that come through here, e.g. The Bluesfest. So, it's unlikely you will see a PGA Tour even in Sarasota as there is one in Tampa. It's why I suggested in another post that part of the Ed Smith project be some tennis facilities so maybe we can attract a tennis tournament. Tennis is something, (between Bolliteri, The Colony and professional players that live here), that Sarasota could put itself on the map with.
If the Quay project ever gets done, I think that will help bring the population closer to the water. It will probably kill a lot of downtown businesses, but we'll see what happens there. It would be nice if the city did allow some commercial development along the bayfront as has been suggested in the past. I don't mean a convention center, but just some shops and amenities that would encourage people to be on the bayfront.
srqcomment-
"What have you seen this summer that you think we could learn from?"
That's the question, not 'find a city exactly like ours...'. Are Milwaukee and Sarasota the same? No. No two cities are exactly alike, but that doesn't mean that ideas and situations cannot be compared. Cities in Europe are mentioned in this space regularly, Mr. McNees referenced a resort town in Wyoming. Your objection to Milwaukee is hereby noted. And ignored.
I never mentioned Tampa teams being Sarasota's teams on purpose (Green Bay, while not in Milwaukee, for many years played games in Milwaukee...and given Green Bay's size, Milwaukee is the de facto hometown). Suggesting that support of Tampa teams brings Sarasota closer together as a community is naive as to the potential role of sports in a community. I also never suggested a major league team here. Specifically mentioned minor league, actually. And the old Sr PGA event and womens tennis event suggest that it's possible for Sarasota to host events. Maybe even bring Tampa people HERE instead of us having to go there. I go to a large number of games, and that drives me to wish there was a local alternative in more than just baseball.
I also never suggested 'major events' (did you actually read my post?). Festivals, especially those downtown, of a scope relative to the size of the town that they are in are a great chance to get people together and draw in people from outside the core. I, personally, think we could learn from a Milwaukee and diversify the types and find a consistent location where someone from Lakewood Ranch or North Port would be able to plan on something being nearly every weekend in season. Our festivals are scattered across town and of a limited variety relative to what could be.
matt k: You are welcome to ignore what I said. I suggest you take a look at http://www.sarasotaneighborhoods.org/ as you seem to think Sarasota only has two neighborhoods with commercial and residential space. As far as golf, there already is a PGA tour event in Tampa. There will never be a PGA Tour event in Sarasota because of that, (except maybe a senior tour event if corporate money could be found to underwrite the cost. Several hundred thousand dollars.) You'll notice I did mention tennis. You can't hold a major tennis tournament on open public courts. You need a facility that can accommodate grandstands for the main court, additional courts for preleminary matches and vending for food and sourviners as you would have in a stadium. Where do you propose this tennis tournament be held? Hockey? Someone tried to build a hockey arena in Lakewood Ranch. At the time that got underway there was also talk of building a hockey arena at the Sarasota Fairgrounds. When the Lakewood Ranch facility began, that was the end of it for the Fairgrounds as there is no way to have two minor league teamss in two small markets adjacent to each other. You saw how well the facility in Lakewood Ranch worked out. Bayfront Park is not the only waterfront park in Sarasota. Besides which, when 4th of July happens you get thousands of people there without the parking at Marina Jack, so that is possible to do. There is also the 10th street area near Van Wezel, (of course any large event would interfere with anything going on at Van Wezel), as well as Ken Thompson Park on City Island. There used to be events at Ken Thompson until greed took over and St. Armands merchants scheduled their "arts" event on the same day causing huge traffic jams. Now, because of that, the City will not allow any non-marine related large events to be held in Ken Thompson Park. Bye bye festivals on the water there, except for the boat show. Downtown festivals? There are a ton and they are not all repetitive like the "art festivals" held in St. Armands and on Siesta Key. There is also the Farmers Market held every Saturday, which kind of makes it difficult to have any other weekend event on Lemon & Main. Then again, you run into the greed situation. The merchants on Main St. want to get a financial benefit from any festival that closes Main St. They're not happy with just getting tons of people downtown. They also want the money from things like beer sales. Except they are not willing to put up the money to cover the expenses of a large event. (Ever price out the cost of large tents, live music, insurance?) Without 2/3 of the businesses agreeing, you can't close the street. So, now you're back to needing another location to hold the event(s).
OK, this is getting old.
Let's see, I didn't say only two neighborhoods, I merely listed two. If your goal was to to criticize everyt word I write, you SHOULD have attacked Hillview and St. Armands as poor examples of vibrant live/work neighborhoods. As in both cases the two types of buildings don't actually overlap. In fact, I think only Burns Court would be a truly good example of what I was originally discussing (Towles, for example doesn't really have a mix of retail types, restuarants; it's more single-purpose). But you didn't point any of this out, just jumped on anything to attack my post (why, I don't know, perhaps you didn't have a very nice summer?). But if you are going to, do it well.
Next. PGA. I once again didn't say the PGA should be in Sarasota, just said it was in Milwaukee, and embraced. I actually mentioned the SR PGA as an example of what we could do and have done. And what about the LPGA or another Tour? Sarasota could handle a golf event, and it could be good for the community.
I also didn't say we presently had the perfect facilities for these events, merely highlighted how important they were to Milwaukee. Having a goal and a general vision to get there might actually lead to facilities being developed. And wait, we DID have a nearby WTA event. So it's possible, and with more commitment (and better facilities) it could happen again.
Hockey? A failure to build in Lakewood Ranch should eliminate the possibility in Sarasota? Huh? If they had the proper financing, there would be hockey there. That proves more that it IS possible than that it isn't.
Again, I didn't say that bayfront park was the only waterfront park. But it's probably the only one where a festival of any stature could be held IMO. And the parking and traffic on the 4th illustrates how tough it would be to do much there. Another venue? Payne Park, if the City ever does do anything, might be perfect.
And frankly, I do find the majority of downtown events to be pretty repetitive with the number of 'art' festivals driving this. CERTAINLY compared to what happnes near downtown Milwaukee (where I was looking for ideas).
Look, if you have no ideas of your own, at least attack mine better. Actually READ what I'm writing instead of putting words in my mouth.
Again, I apologize in advance as this is off the "beaten path" but in your introduction about getting a new SPD "into focus" it reminded me of some questions. How much has been paid to ADG over the years while reviewing the police department and was this company contracted through a formal bid? Will they then be allowed to submit for the overall police department architectural services if they have been acting as a consultant without a bid, if that is the case? You mentioned in budget deliberations that you have switched janitorial contracts six times yet your bid website does not reflect that you had your own bid for these services. Did you bid each time. If you didn't have your own contract to establish your own criteria are you sure that contracting out the service was given a fair shake?
Restrooms downtown! What a great idea. Progressive cities have them. Why not Sarasota
I really like the sidewalks in SanFrancisco. They use some sort of mica or glass in their concrete that shines so they sparkle instead of a dull concrete color. Our city is very small and the sidewalks could use some creativity to make them more attractive instead of the current bubble gum designs. Why not brick all of our sidewalks in the shopping areas? How much could that cost? In addition Sarasota needs much better pedestrian cross walks or at least more attractive as well. We are trying to build a walkable city are we not?
Darren:
Replacing the sidewalks with brick would cost millions. Not to mention the disruption to the adjacent businesses. Obviously you can't put the brick over the existing sidewalks as they would be too high, so the existing sidewalks would need to be jackhammered out. Wow. What a mess for months for some minor asthetic gain. Ideally, some business owners who are proud of their business would own or share a pressure washer and clean the sidewalks. It amazes me how many businesses don't even sweep the sidewalk in front of their own business. When the palms are dropping seeds in some areas, that mess gets tracked into their stores. A few minutes work would make a big difference.
Regarding your guest column in the HT today (9/13): Well said.
Is this blog still active? Did Mr. McNees simply take his award, given in large part for having this blog, and then dump it? Are the issues involving Ed Smith and the Van Wezel too hot to handle and discuss publicly?
Hello SRQ, I missed you too. See above!
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