We had an interesting couple of sessions at the SMARTstart Incubator this past week. A pair of consultants from Washington and a group of students from Florida State came to town to help map out how the county might approach redeveloping West Pasco.
It quickly became apparent that New Port Richey is “ground zero” for this effort. Between having the only central business district in the area, having a river running right through town, and having a classic “grid” street system, New Port Richey is the perfect base for redeveloping the whole area.
We’ve talked previously about the river and the opportunities that it presents. Somewhat less well known is that New Port Richey hosts some absolutely amazing athletic events. How many of you have been to one of the Gearlink Cup races downtown? Hundreds of bike racers have come to New Port Richey for each of the last several years. Last year’s event in New Port Richey was the Criterium State Championship! The next set of criterium races will come to town on October 4th.
Taken together, the bikes in the photo above are easily worth more than a typical car. We’re talking four and five figure bicycles!
Are the people who bring their multi-thousand dollar bicycles to town for a race the sort of folks we want to live and work in New Port Richey? You bet!
A recurring theme I hear where people talk about the downtown is the lack of retail. We are told that there are too many bars and lawyers and not enough stores. We are told that the sidewalks get rolled up at 5pm each night. Let me turn that argument on its head. What I see after normal business hours are cars parked all around the downtown as people come downtown for dinner and entertainment.
We have a number of restaurants with more on the way. It is true that we have a number of professional offices downtown, but I don’t buy the “too many” bit. What we have are far too many empty storefronts. Fill those with retail and the balance between retail, entertainment, and professional uses returns.
Could a bike shop selling high end bikes make a go of it in New Port Richey? Perhaps not if you only consider New Port Richey proper and the current demographics of our population. Then again, if West Pasco were a city, it would be the seventh largest city in the state (think Ft. Lauderdale size). As I mentioned above, we are the downtown business district for West Pasco. Can a high end bike shop work in a city the size of Ft. Lauderdale? Different answer.
West Pasco has twice the population of Clearwater and nearly as many as St. Petersburg… Chew on that for a bit.
It is time to quit selling New Port Richey short. We have the makings of a great city.
What businesses do we need to recruit to New Port Richey? I’ve got my own list that I’ll share, but I’d love to hear what you’d like to see as well.
- More high tech businesses: This is definitely the geek in me speaking here. We’ve added five tech companies this summer in the SMARTstart Center. When these businesses grow up, they will create good paying jobs.
- A coffee shop: City Development Director Mario Iezzoni even has a location for this one: The old appliance repair place on Bank Street. There is potentially plenty of foot traffic there. The hot dog stand has been a fixture in the Gloria Swanson parking lot for years. If he can make it there, a coffee shop with sidewalk tables ought to flourish.
- A canoe / kayak outfitter: I’ve talked about this one before, so I won’t belabor it. This would be the perfect compliment to our system of waterfront parks.
- A bike shop: One that knows how to work on my carbon fiber bike.
- A deli on the corner of Main and Grand
If we can boost the number of people close by that come downtown to shop, a grocery store could make a go of it. Far fetched? Perhaps today, but not necessarily when the grocer I talked to this past week is ready to move in.
What type of businesses would you frequent if we had them downtown? I’d like to hear from you. Would you consider moving into a high end condo, apartment, or single family home within walking distance of downtown?
I suspect some of the developers who are taking a fresh look at New Port Richey would like to hear from you too.
Rob Marlowe, Mayor
City of New Port Richey
PS. Just a couple of housekeeping items:
- Unless you are on city council, I’d love to hear from you (council members can’t talk to each other about city stuff outside of official meetings). If you want to comment on an article, you have to register on the website before your first comment is accepted. I’m manually filtering out the spammers, so it may take a bit before your first comment is posted. After that, it is automatic.
- We are adding an opt-in mailing list for notifications when new articles are posted. This is separate from comment registration. If you’ve been receiving notification of new posts via the Gulfcoast Networking “News” mailing list, you will need to register for future notifications. The registration form is in the upper right corner of our website.
Mario Iezzoni says
Spot on Mr. Mayor. The city is at the positive beginning of a very great story that is about to unfold. New Port Richey has a stunning downtown with plenty of parks, convenient ecological access to what is natural and beautiful in Florida. I look forward to the next great chapter in this city’s rich history of tourism and development.
Jon Tietz says
Sure would be easier to lure those athletes with the high end bikes if there were a Pinellas Trail style bike trail through downtown. Don’t we have plans for that? Let’s kick them into high gear!
Hopefully I’ll be able to contribute soon with a tech business of my own, but why would I open one in New Port Richey? The internet capabilities here are atrocious. I could move to a larger city like Chattanooga, TN and have access to a publicly owned ISP network at 1 gbps for $55/month. I also can’t hire any workers because they don’t want to live in the “boondocks” and there are no advantages. I can’t attract good employees that I want from Gainesville (seriously, I’ve tried). My employees can’t bike to work because there’s no bike lanes and the sidewalks are too small for biking. Parking is easy, but car insurance is relatively expensive around here. Rent is low, but the buildings are decrepit because of an under-manned and less than aggressive code enforcement policy.
Also, I wrote about re-branding NPR’s city limits. You bring up an interesting point about “West Pasco” as a city. Maybe New Port Richey needs to be expanding its city limits to incorporate more area and enlarge its tax base. That would have helped with those allocation funds that we lost out on earlier this year because we hadn’t grown.
Last, we just had a deli go in and out in under 3 months on the corner of Nebraska and Main. I’m not sure all of these businesses can survive in the now. I think you have to really emphasize that first goal of more tech businesses. And I’m sure you know my position on improving tech infrastructure to lure those companies here.
Rob Marlowe says
Jon, Always good to hear from you.
The City’s draft CIP (Capital Improvement Plan) has $366k in next year’s budget for a multi-use trail on Marine Parkway from 19 to Grand and $292 budgeted next year for the Multi-use trail from the Aquatic Center, Morton Plant and on to the River Walk (Grand Blvd at Mass).
We’ve still got work to do, but more businesses downtown will help the struggling restaurants. We got take out today from a downtown restaurant after Carolyn discovered that USless 19 is a parking lot and getting home by car is problematic at best right now. More folks working downtown and eating downtown will help keep the restaurants going.
The eco-tourism things I’ve been talking about will also draw more folks downtown, as will a vastly upgraded Sims Park
I don’t see us with gigabit WAN access any time soon, so we’ll have to make due with the multiple 100 meg + connections available at our back door now. I’m as surprised as anyone that we filled up the Incubator with high tech companies, but I don’t mind. Flourishing high tech companies will offer good paying jobs right here in New Port Richey.
Rob Marlowe says
Interestingly enough, this came across my desk today… We have faster Internet than Clearwater, St. Petersburg, or Tampa…
http://broadbandnow.com/Florida
Marilynn deChant says
Hello,
I just wanted to add to Jon’s messg that he may be able to learn more about the bike/ped routes in W. Pasco by attending the MPO’s workshop (that’s our county’s long range planning agency) that will be held very conveniently at the library this Thurs., Aug. 7 beginning at 5 p.m. I’m sure the planning team can provide some helpful info.
Also, thank you Mr. Mayor, for your enthusiastic blogs about the resurgence of NPR. I have believed in NPR and its downtown for many, many years and the incubator is just about the most exciting addition to its striving to be “the place to visit, shop, and play.” The incubator businesses are most welcoming and needless to say, we have our pick of fab places to fill our stomachs and wet our whistles!
Marilynn deChant
Rob Marlowe says
I’ve got a MAP meeting Thursday night or I’d be at the MPO workshop.