Be part of something BIG
for Hillsborough County!
Do you have a vision for the future of Tampa, Temple Terrace, Plant City and Hillsborough County?
The Planning Commission and Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) are embarking on a joint effort to update our county's and three cities' Comprehensive Plans simultaneously with our countywide Long Range Transportation Plan. Several scenarios for the year 2040's growth and infrastructure will be drafted, and circulated for public comment later in the year. All who are interested in crafting the scenarios, checking the assumptions, and helping distribute an interactive survey are invited to join the Imagine 2040 Working Group. Or sign up for Imagine 2040 just to receive occasional email news about this important project, which will be on-going through 2013. To sign up, please click here to send us an email.
 Early in 2013, together, we will develop big ideas, trends and forecasts to help direct a vision for Hillsborough County illustrated through conceptual growth scenarios. This summer, citizens across Hillsborough County will be invited to share thoughts and new ideas with respect to the Imagine 2040 scenarios in a variety of ways - from small neighborhood meetings to large community events and through technology, so anyone can have their say on how Hillsborough should grow without having to leave the comfort of home.
This fall, all of the smart solutions and big ideas will be pieced into a final scenario representing the choice and voice of the our community. In the fall, we will seek approval from the Planning Commission and MPO Board on this preferred scenario. The Imagine 2040 scenario will be used by the Florida Department of Transportation to update travel demand forecasting and will ultimately serve as the vision for improved quality of life as we update the Comprehensive Plans and 2040 Transportation Plan in 2014.
You are warmly invited to the February 12
Imagine 2040 Visioning Workshop!
Please take a moment to register and take a brief pre-workshop survey now!
|
How is the Hillsborough MPO doing?
 It's time for the Hillsborough Metropolitan Planning Organization's Federal Certification Review, and we need you to weigh in on the transportation planning process!
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) are in the process of a review to certify planning requirements as defined in Federal laws and regulation are being achieved. The certification also provides the FHWA and FTA opportunity to add value to the planning processes through the sharing of best or innovative planning practices, techniques, and/or technology.
Please join the Federal Certification Review Team for a Public Meeting on Tuesday, February 5, 2013 at 9:00 a.m. in the Board of County Commission Chambers on the 2nd floor of the County Center Building at 601 East Kennedy Boulevard in Downtown Tampa (immediately prior to the MPO Board Meeting). Those unable to attend, but would like to provide public comments, may submit their comments electronically below:
Public comments will be accepted through March 5, 2013.
|
| Let your voice be heard on the County's future economic development
|
Thank you, Chair Amon!
Joe Amon was appointed by the Tampa Port Authority to serve on the MPO's Citizen Advisory Committee (CAC) in 2001. A geoo-technical engineer with Ardaman & Associates, Joe was elected Chair of the CAC in February 2003. Supported by his wife, Debby Amon, in his CAC duties, he has been re-elected every year until this year, when he chose not to run again.
Chairing well over 100 meetings in the last decade, you may have seen him giving CAC reports to the MPO on HTV. Though he will no longer be chairing, he still will be continuing to contribute still serving on the Citizen Advisory Committee.
 | |
Joe Amon honored by the MPO CAC for
ten years of dedicated service as Chair.
|
|
New Port CEO on board
In December, the Tampa Port Authority Board of Commissioners voted unanimously today to hire A. Paul Anderson as the authority's new port director and chief executive, succeeding Richard Wainio, who had served in the position since March 2005. Most recently the port director at the Port of Jacksonville, Mr. Anderson has a distinguished, 30-year professional career serving in senior level public and private sector positions. He served five years on the Federal Maritime Commission by Presidential appointment. We look forward to working with Mr. Anderson as he captains the largest economic engine in west and central Florida, the Port of Tampa, generating nearly 100,000 jobs and some $8 billion in economic impact for our region.
|
Queens development hangs tough in hurricane
 |
This article was reprinted with permission from bettercities.net as an example of a new urbanism development more resilient to natural disasters like those we face locally.
|
The new urban Arverne-by-the-Sea, one of the largest current residential developments in New York City, surprised many residents by its resilience to Hurricane Sandy. Arverne, located on the Rockaway Peninsula in Queens at a subway stop, is mostly complete and will eventually be home to 2,300 households. The last major section, a two-block-long mixed-use main street, is being planned now. A supermarket has recently been built, a YMCA is under construction, and a small retail development has been completed adjacent to the subway stop. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has moved its local headquarters into a storefront at this location.  Arverne's urban plan, by Ehrenkrantz Eckstut & Kuhn Architects (EEK), orients the street network toward the transit stop and includes an extensive network of mid-block pedestrian passages. The project has "been much criticized, for its size, its ostentatious appearance, and the quality of its housing," writes The New York Times. "It was the mantra of many dyed-in-the-wool Rockaway-ites that these pretty, modern homes were really flimsy matchboxes that would blow over in the first big storm."  Arverne's housing reputation just took a big leap after the storm swept away many Rockaway neighborhoods and left others looking like war zones. Arverne was barely damaged and homes continued to sell after the storm. EEK associate principal Eric Fang, who worked on the site plan a decade ago, told Better! Cities & Towns that the planners took action to prevent wave damage, including incorporating a dune setback zone. Gerry Romski, the development's project executive, told The New York Times that global warming and sea level rise were talked about from the earliest stages of design. "A heavy-duty, sophisticated drainage system, designed to handle flood surges, was instrumental in mitigating flooding," the Times reports. "The system - which features underground chambers, wide street mains and storm drains on each house property - connects to large sewer mains that the developer installed in public streets that they rebuilt around the project site, as part of an agreement with the city... . Also helpful was a natural buffer of sand and beach grass that was maintained near the boardwalk." The houses are covered in fiber-cement siding, which is an unusual material in Queens - but it proved tough in this storm. The Arverne homes suffered little wind damage. There were a few places in the community where flooding occurred, however.
|
|
|
|
|
| Upcoming Events |
FEB 5, 9aSpecial MPO
Federal Certification Review Public Meeting
FEB 11, 2pPlanning Commission Meeting FEB 11, 5:30p
Planning Commission Public Hearings FEB 12, 4:00p
Imagine 2040 Working Group Visioning Workshop
FEB 20, 6:30p
Terrace Park -
University Square
Vision Plan Workshop
For more information and to view other meetings and events: In accordance with Title VI of
the Civil Rights Act of 1964
and other nondiscrimination laws, public participation is solicited without regard to race, color, national origin, age, sex, religion, disability or family status.
|
Take a Survey
|
| Video Central |
 | |
Feeling Good about Tampa Bay - music by Michael Buble
|
|
|
|
