Sarasota Livin'

Bozo the Bard brings clown culture to downtown...

Lots of people were looking at the clowns this morning while I was on my bike ride... not the crowds that "unconditional surrender" had but the season is early and the clowns just appeared... I bet they will be popular ... I think they are well done.

PS the bard is at the library -- where else !!

As foretold in several previous posts ....
The Clowns are coming .... in October

TideWell's Children's Services Program

and now a boy clown comes to life

Today was a beautiful morning at Five Points Park. The farmers market in combination with an art/craft fair brings out a huge crowd. Certainly this is not a bad use of the park - it just needs to be able to stand up to the use.

Don't forget there is a meeting Thursday night at Selby Library about creating a new master plan for this great urban park.

I had a flat tire on my bike this morning !!!! First maintenance in 2 years. Downtown was jammed by the time I got there. I love seeing all of the people enjoying themselves.

There was a recent meeting about the future of Five Points park held by the City of Sarasota Planning Department. They have put together a nice web page about the history of the park.

SRQ Magazine has a nice article "Main Street: A Walking Tour" that is a historic tour of Main Street including Five Points and Palm Ave.

Give your opinion of the future uses of Five Points (due Tuesday) here is a link to the survey

To learn more you can bring your valentine to:

Build your own !!! I guess this idea has been around for a while but I think it is pretty funny ... it would make great street theatre.




Check out this link for the details..
click on the "Build your own PARK(ing)! picture if you don't want to read...

Below is an email I sent this morning...

Mayor, Commissions,

I wanted to pass along my personal support for this project continuing forward. I think that the vitality, parking spaces and decent paying jobs that this project will bring to downtown are worth the effort to make it happen.

Of course, mine and most peoples' concern is that the City not "over pay" for this to happen. I would like to see the City and the developer reach a "deal" that is fair.

I think that the City of Sarasota has committed to and should build parking for the downtown area. I also think that this is a good location for it to happen - at the "right" price.

There are many issues that our City is facing that are very important but having a healthy economy with jobs available is an important part of any solution.

--
Joe Moraca
http://www.moraca.org

Neil from CoolTown identifies the "cool town" places in this picture from their neighborhood in Washington DC.

Click on the picture for the questions and answers.

FYI the cool stuff is all local business in a very "mixed use" block. Much like a traditional downtown neighborhood street.

Sarasota needs to keep working on adding diversity to downtown. We have the "highend" pretty much covered. We need to focus on the rest of the picture to keep things working.

The Palm Beach Post has an article about growth that we should be seeing in Sarasota in about 10 years. WPB had its own Duany Plan for downtown. Buildings limited to 15 floors on main roads 3-5 floors any where else.

Seems they have been so successful the downtown is full:

As envisioned in 1995, the 71-page master plan capped building heights at 15 stories. High-rise buildings would be limited to main thoroughfares, with the rest of downtown limited to two to five stories.

Three major amendments were added over the years, including incentives for building residential units and the option of taller buildings under certain circumstances. For instance, the 26-story Opera Place won extra height by agreeing to build a new venue for Florida Stage.

In 1996, voters made an amendment of their own, passing a ballot measure capping building heights east of Olive Avenue.

Today, the downtown master plan area is flooded with 4,800 residential units. Another 1,300 are under construction and 2,800 are on the drawing board.

Developers riding the crest of this construction wave are pressing for taller buildings, especially along Quadrille Boulevard and Okeechobee Boulevard. Frankel has questioned whether the master plan crafted almost a decade ago can still meet the needs of a fast-growing city.

Better to be too successful that have a dead downtown...