Archives for July 2014

One of the recurring questions we ask about New Port Richey is: “What makes us uniquely New Port Richey?”

There are several possible answers to the question, all depending on how we approach the question.

Years ago, a member of city council suggested that it would be great if we had lots of antique shops like Dade City.  More recently, others have suggested we needs lots of little gift shops like Dunedin or Tarpon Springs.  All three cities have some “hook” that brings folks in for a visit.

A quarter century ago, Dade City was in similar shape to that of New Port Richey today.  A Main Street program was created and it worked aggressively to rebuild the downtown.  Their mission accomplished, the Dade City Main Street organization closed their doors last year.  A downtown merchants’ association continues to help the thriving local businesses in downtown Dade City.

Dunedin has the Scottish / Celtic tradition of its founders as a hook.  They have a Celtic festival each year.  They don’t try to hold it downtown, but rather  in a nearby park and they have free trolley service between the downtown and the festival site.  More recently, Dunedin found itself smack in the middle of the Pinellas Trail and numerous businesses downtown cater to the visitors who are attracted by the Pinellas Trail.

Tarpon Springs uses its Greek heritage as its hook.   A walk down the waterfront in Tarpon will give you a one of a kind experience.

With all due respect to Dade City, Dunedin, and Tarpon Springs; we are our own city.  I’d like to suggest that we need to play to our own strengths, not those of somewhere else.  What are those strengths?  I can think of several, but perhaps the biggest one is both the most obvious and the most overlooked:  The Pithlachascotee River.

The Cotee River, as it is better known, meanders from the southeast corner of the city to the northwest corner of the city.   Pasco County’s redevelopment plan identifies New Port Richey as part of “The Harbors” area and mentions the Cotee River as a possible venue for a water taxi connecting downtown New Port Richey to the waterfront area of Port Richey.  That is fine, as far as it goes, but it misses what I believe to be the best parts of the river.

The section of the river between the Main Street bridge in downtown New Port Richey and the US 19 bridge at the border of the Port Richey waterfront has some very picturesque homes and quite a bit of history. This is the section of the river that the Miss Daisy tour boat currently plies and that is identified as where a regular water taxi might run.

This section of the river also has quite a bit of boat traffic as boaters launch from the Main Street boat ramp and head out toward the gulf.  This traffic will only increase if Port Richey follows through on a proposal to start charging launch / parking fees at their Nicks Park boat ramp.  The closer you get to the US 19 bridge, the less protected the river is from wind and you have to stay in a marked channel as you get near the US 19 bridge in order to avoid the shoals.

The river narrows upstream from Sims Park and  the Main Street bridge and the character of the river changes dramatically.  There isn’t nearly as much motorboat traffic and the river is largely protected from the wind.  You continue to see beautiful waterfront homes all the way to the Frances Avenue Park.  Halfway between Sims Park and the Frances Avenue Park, you pass under the Grand Blvd Bridge.  This bridge is low enough to limit the size of boats continuing upstream.

Immediately upstream from the Frances Avenue Park, you encounter a very wide, but tranquil area and then enter the much narrower wilderness of the Grey Preserve.  The picture at the top of this post was taken from the Frances Avenue Park.

Dade City doesn’t have a river.  Neither does Dunedin.  Tarpon’s Anclote River is heavily commercial as it goes through Tarpon Springs.  I believe the Cotee River is something we should be considering as we try to define what makes New Port Richey unique.