Too much of a good thing?

Cleared site for the planned Heights of Tampa project.

News of the “Encore” project formerly Central Park Village getting a shot of federal money has me wondering.  Will groundbreaking on this $800 million dollar project between downtown and Ybor City compete with The Heights of Tampa project just over a mile away?

After all, too much simultaneous  development is what helped lead us into this real estate abyss in the first place.  Both projects are admirable- even necessary, but if the competition causes either project to languish for lack of tenants and residents, both could fail.

As in most things in life, timing…………………………………….   is everything.

Death by Degrees

Three consecutive nights of sub-freezing temperatures have been  “Armagarden” for cold sensitive plants in the neighborhood.  Hardest hit seem to be Papaya, Corn Plants, Mexican Sunflower, Clerodendron and Angel Trumpet (pictured).   Will they survive? As they say in the news biz, “it’s too soon to tell”.

This is it!

I’m a little late to the blogging party, but here goes nothing.  The point of this exercise is… exercise.  A blog is a convenient excuse to write. Plus starting  a blog was #10 in a list of 10 things every journalist should know  in 2010.  I took that as good advice as well as a warning. 

In the spirit of writing about things one knows, I decided to write about my immediate environs which happen to be an interesting and fast changing neighborhood in the shadow of downtown Tampa.

If I become more fluent in hyperlinking, plug-ins and web hosting, then I’ll have achieved my objective.   If  these posts actually interest someone or spark discussion of important neighborhood issues- all the better.

So please check in from time to time to see what’s going on in this quirky little corner of The Bay Area- Tampa Heights.  To get some background and find contacts in the neighborhood, check out the Civic Association page.

This is Archie, the dog Mayor and Vicar of Tampa Heights