The City Of Tampa's War On Cars (St. Petersburg, Sarasota: hotels, neighborhood)

[Concert D Major]

Lanes being converted for obnoxious scooters & bikes. Parking lots becoming hotels. Cross-walk signals giving pedestrians a head start so there's less green-light time. Confusing left-turn signal patterns. Lanes dangerously too narrow. No more free parking north of Kennedy & rates going up. Confusing amber pedestrian crossing lights. Really getting fed up. Is this whole city on some stupid agenda against cars?

[theurbanfiles]

Originally Posted by Concert D Major

Lanes being converted for obnoxious scooters & bikes. Parking lots becoming hotels. Cross-walk signals giving pedestrians a head start so there's less green-light time. Confusing left-turn signal patterns. Lanes dangerously too narrow. No more free parking north of Kennedy & rates going up. Confusing amber pedestrian crossing lights. Really getting fed up. Is this whole city on some stupid agenda against cars?

I think the point about no more free parking is a salient one. DT Tampa (and, it's really specifically there) has to be kinda careful about that. It isn't exactly a "hub of activity" at this point for the area, and from a competitiveness standpoint, you can get cheaper (or free) parking in any sort of neighborhood around it (Tampa Heights, Ybor City, Hyde Park, Midtown) are all cheaper, or free. Plus, there are generally more free spaces in St. Petersburg's and Sarasota's downtown, both of which are arguably more happening at this point. I would need to understand the brain trust behind that. I can understand charging $2.80 per hour during say, Lightning games, or $2.00 per hour during business hours.. but the machines are advanced enough and digitized to the point where they should have dynamic pricing. Maybe even free or $0.60-1.00 per hour on Sunday, or after 5 on weekdays when there are no events. People can and will go elsewhere, as I do.

I can't really speak to the narrowness of the lanes or amber crossing lights, so I won't, it's just not something I particularly notice there.

The crosswalk signals thing maybe isn't all bad, but maybe it should just be a longer light signal in general. Florida does have 7 or 8 of the 10 most dangerous metros in the US for pedestrian fatalities, so actions taken for safety I don't mind, if timed well and also giving enough time for cars to get through on a cycle. I've often found left turn cycles are too short in general, suburb, urban, or otherwise. I don't think bike lanes are bad (I think it's important given that often it's illegal for bicyclists to ride on the sidewalk in many places, so keeping that infrastructure is important. I don't think it's necessarily a "this or that" thing with taking away those lanes, I think it was just poorly set up to begin with and so it's experiencing further growing pains given the existing road layout wasn't perfect, to begin with.

The hotels specifically.. to me that's good for business. I think garages are a much more efficient use of space than parking lots. Both in terms of revenue and having specifically designated space for cars to park in the city, and Tampa could maybe use a few more of them. But hotels replacing lots are indicative of a positive for the touristic and financial health of the urban core and metro in general since those hotels are providing jobs, resources/amenities, and property/fiscal revenue for the city.

Just my two cents. A city/downtown inherently isn't usually going to be as car-friendly as the suburbs, thanks to it being denser, and having people doing other things out and about to get around (walking, biking, etc.). That said, Tampa I really don't think is at a point as a city where it's like Chicago (or even Denver) and space/parking is at some sort of premium... and if it were, it would (to me) need to provide a transportation alternative that is steady and reliable like a light rail network first.

[Ft Laud Guy]

Majority-vote wins local elections. This is what the majority voted for.

[PyeInTheSkye]

Of course there's a war against vehicles....and larger ones, including trucks.You're not imagining it. The intelligentsia wants to convert everyone to smaller chitbox suv's including small electric ones. These egg-head leftist urban planners are steeped in the academic bs desirability of higher density living, communal spaces/usage is better than individual choices. If they had it their way, they would enforce people not to use air-conditioning because of gas emissions, and they would have "common cooling centers" you can visit, and you can't wash you car in your own driveway except on every other two weeks on a Thursday at 650pm to 705p.


No you're not imagining the transition.

[Jandrew5]

Originally Posted by Concert D Major

Lanes being converted for obnoxious scooters & bikes. Parking lots becoming hotels. Cross-walk signals giving pedestrians a head start so there's less green-light time. Confusing left-turn signal patterns. Lanes dangerously too narrow. No more free parking north of Kennedy & rates going up. Confusing amber pedestrian crossing lights. Really getting fed up. Is this whole city on some stupid agenda against cars?

Are you trolling? You actually enjoy having a sea of parking lots?...

No one is entitled to free parking, but it is not hard to find. Cross walk signals are for pedestrian safety, apologies they get in the way of yalls 2000 lb 45mph speeding SUVs. Nor are they confusing? It's quite simple, if theyre flashing, you slow down and let people cross. If theyre not flashing, you keep going. Very simple.

Same goes for the bikes and scooters, and i dont like the scooters, its all about safety. Many people drive cars, some take bikes, buses, scooters, streetcar, or their legs. You act like theyve removed a whole lane on 275 just for electric scooters. Relax.

[Huasho]

Tampa, Tampa on my Mind . . . . .

[OptimusPrime69]

"war on cars" yeah, ok OP
if u dont like it move somewhere else.

[WaitingGame]

If Tampa has a war on cars, then the cars are winning.

[sinatras]

I wish the City of Tampa had a war on potholes.

[Concert D Major]

Narrow roads as in N. Nebraska Ave., N. Florida Ave, W. MLK...

Lanes so stupid narrow busses, fire engines, trucks, wreckers can't even get by.

And now they're dicking around with Nuccio Pkwy., another car lane taken away & being converted to one of those obnoxious scooter lanes.