Urbanism in St. Petersburg (Offseason edition)

Bus stop on 1st Avenue North: Ibises are like the pigeons of Florida,
but a novelty to us Midwesterners

Our trip to St. Petersburg was guaranteed to be a roaring success, if only because we boarded a plane in weather that wanted to rip our faces off, and less than three hours later we were greeted by weather that wanted to hug us and tell us everything was going to be all right. 

along the Pinellas Trail in the Warehouse Arts District:
maybe everything is going to be all right?

Meanwhile, the whole Tampa-St. Petersburg metropolitan area seemed to be holding its breath, awaiting the onslaught of spring breakers when February turns to March. The off-season may not be the best time to try to take the measure of a city's urbanism in three days. Even so, that is what I propose to do here, with all due caution and buckets of caveats.

1. Walking

A noted St. Petersburg architect, Tim Clemmons, said of his visit to downtown in 1982, "I had a favorable first impression, but I didn't see a single person" (Snider 2019). Despite the efforts of Clemmons and others since, we haven't seen a lot of people walking, either, though there were a steady supply of dog walkers. No doubt that will change next month!

No doubt through the efforts of Clemmons and others, St. Petersburg has installed pedestrian treatments...

Bumpout with curb cut, 6th Street at Central Avenue

 and bicycling infrastructure...

Separated bike lane, 6th Street S

Pinellas Trail: bike/ped trail that runs by both
the Rays' stadium and the Warehouse Arts District

I saw at least one example of a walk light before the driving green.

Walk light, 6th Street at 1st Avenue N

But streets are wide...

300 block of 6th Street S

...and cars drive fast. As of 2016, St. Petersburg had the second-highest pedestrian death rate in the country (Stephenson 2016), but by 2024 had dropped out of the top fifteen (Solum 2024). The whole State of Florida still has the second highest pedestrian death rate, behind only New Mexico (GHSA 2024: 11).

Infrastructure comes and goes; a few blocks west of the separated bike lane on 1st Avenue S, we saw a cyclist draw the ire of our Sun Runner driver for riding in the BRT lane, which he was doing, but there really was nowhere for the rider to go to get out of the way.

There are a lot of destinations, including museums, coffee shops, and restaurants within walkable range of where were staying, and Tropicana Field (home of Major League Baseball's Tampa Bay Rays) is seven blocks straight west of here. (See also "Elements of Urbanism" 2008 for an old but accurate list).

2. Transit

The Sun Runner on a sunny morning

We had to use Uber from and to the airport, but were able to rely on public transportation or our feet for all other travel. We bought passes ahead of time on the Flamingo Fares app, which was fussy but workable. The first day, we took the Sun Runner (Bus Rapid Transit) along 1st Avenue North out to St. Pete Beach. The Sun Runner is comfortable, and accommodates bicycles (there are three of these storage gizmos).

Bicycle storage on the Sun Runner

The Sun Runner comes every 15 minutes during the day between Downtown and St. Pete Beach. Ridership was diverse by race, age and social class, which is a definite win. Card readers were installed at two doors. I found them to be fussy, too, but observed no cheating (unlike Minneapolis-St. Paul), possibly due to occasional security presence. 

The second day we went to the Byrd Hill Nature Preserve on the south side of town. We took the #4 down, and the #20 back. Both are straight north-south routes. The newer bus on the #4 line had an extremely informative message board showing the next three upcoming stops.

message board on the #4 bus

Per the Pinellas County Transit Authority website, as a senior, I am entitled to a $1.10 fare per ride (less than half the normal $2.25), but I have to get my card validated somewhere so I skipped it. There is a $5 fee cap per day, which the Flamingo Fares card handles, but we did not ever verify that fact.

Transit oriented development: Grocery store by the 8th street BRT stop

We didn't travel to Tampa or Clearwater, which I gather is more complicated to do by transit. And St. Petersburg-Clearwater Airport is, weirdly, completely inaccessible by public transit. For hopes for future passenger rail in the region, see Blanton 2021.

3. Coffee

Jane by the entrance to Paradeco Coffee Roasters

There is just a ton of coffee in this town. The usual multinationals are here, of course, but much less in evidence than are the many, many local establishments to choose from in St. Petersburg. 

Our first visit was to Kahwa Coffee on the Southside, on our way to the Byrd Hill Nature Preserve. Kahwa is a local chain, with eight locations in St. Petersburg proper, and more throughout the Tampa Bay region. The Southside location, which opened in July 2023, is in a residential area; besides Jane and me, there were just two men who were working from their laptops and phones. (Would it have been different on the weekend, or during the tourist season?) It was neither suburban-shiny nor urban-cozy; there were a few couches, but mostly plastic tables and chairs, and the concrete floor was painted gray. The coffee was top-notch, and Jane was exuberant about the selection of teas.

Interior, Southside Kahwa Coffee
(swiped from kahwacoffee.com)

The next day we went downtown to Paradeco Coffee Roasters, in the Plaza Tower near the pier. It's listed as a woman-owned business, and LGBTQ+-friendly, which in these unfriendly times I have come to value. On a morning when the streets seemed a bit sleepy, the place was simply packed! Chairs and tables, tile floor, one type of drip coffee, and again, a tea selection that had Jane enraptured. (She went with an orange-turmeric iced tea, pictured below.) There were people working on laptops, people not working, and families with children. Some people greeted people at other tables, which is a very good sign. So, very social if not very cozy.

One would have to spend a lot of time in St. Petersburg, I think, to get a real sense of the range of coffeehouse experiences.

We did not get to Black Crow Coffee on 1st Avenue S,
but it came recommended by previous lodgers

SEE ALSO:

2050 Long-Range Transportation Plan produced by Forward Pinellas (MPO)

St. Petersburg Walking Tour https://floridastories.oncell.com/en/st-petersburg-176884.html