Sarasota Livin'

Otis White from Civic Strategics Inc. says

Say It Slowly for State Legislators
Let's Link Land Use to Transportation
The greatest value of the smart growth movement may have been its connecting of land use to transportation. It's so obvious — where you put highways and transit lines affects how land is used nearby — some may well wonder that these things were ever not connected. But this is the price of America's hyperfederalism: Highways are laid out by state governments and transit by regional authorities, and land use is the responsibility of local governments. And many times these entities don't work well together. Which makes the revolt in Prince William County, Va., very, very interesting.

Maybe Sarasota is getting it?!?!? Monday night at the City Commission meeting the SCAT people with consultant Alan Hoffman discussed with the Commissioners a plan (tied with a Federal grant application) to be smart ... here is what page 1 said

[TALK] Making Lemonade Out Of Lemon Avenue: New Bus Line Might Be On Track

It's not often that a Sarasota City Commissioner uses the word brilliant at a commission meeting. But that's exactly what Commissioner Ken Shelin called the Sarasota County Transit Authority's future plans yesterday. And he wasn't alone.
When SCAT manager Anthony Beckford and consultant Alan Hoffman presented their tentative plans for a new bus line to run on Lemon Avenue, past 10th Street, and beyond along what is now an unused railroad line all the way to the Sarasota/Bradenton International Airport, commissioners were enthused about the potential new line. If the line goes through, commissioners could examine increasing density in areas of the Rosemary District, where affordable housing projects are being looked at as a possibility.

"It could be the breakthrough for us," Shelin said of the possible route, which would connect downtown Sarasota to Ringling School and the new public housing project, as well as the airport.

Beckford said he estimates the project will cost between $115 and $120 million, but that SCAT has a meeting with the Federal Transit Administration tomorrow, where it hopes to discuss the possibility of a Smart Starts grants. The Small Starts grants range up to $75 million.

I think it's a great idea...