Invision Tampa Invites Input For Nebraska Avenue

The Invision Tampa team is ready to present a draft Nebraska Corridor Master Plan to the public.

On Tuesday, Sept. 24, from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m., the team invites the public to join in a discussion about the planning results responding to community feedback from previous one-on-one meetings, group workshops, neighborhood meetings, surveys and research, as well as to consider preliminary concepts, ideas and strategies suggested by stakeholders. The meeting will be held at the Children's Board in Ybor City, at 1002 E. Palm Ave.

“Connectivity between urban areas has always been a part of the Mayor’s goals and this project ties in nicely,” says City of Tampa Economic Opportunity Administrator Bob McDonough. “Until now, there had never been a comprehensive study of this area that looked at connectivity between major projects, design guidelines, amenities, funding strategies, zoning, land use and growth strategies. This plan will take a holistic approach of all of the various disciplines and future requirements and tie them together in one study.”

Ultimately, the InVision Tampa project is designed  to create a better downtown Tampa: a walkable, bikeable community with a public transit system and increased population in the downtown urban core; a city with strong, safe neighborhoods, more parks and connections to a riverfront with clean waterways.

“It is a very exciting time in Tampa!” McDonough says. “I was a student at the University of Tampa in the early 70s and have witnessed the growth and change in our downtown during the last 30 -- almost 40 -- years. The changes in the last five years have been the most dramatic that I have seen and I can't wait to see the next five.”

Invision Tampa is working toward creating a new master plan for downtown Tampa, the Nebraska Transit Corridor, Hillsborough Avenue and surrounding neighborhoods. Spanning from downtown Tampa to Ybor City on the east, Armenia Avenue on the west and north along Nebraska and Hillsborough Avenues, the area under study includes the University of Tampa (UT), North Hyde Park, West Tampa, Tampa Heights, Ybor City, V.M. Ybor, downtown Tampa and the Channel District.

"InVision Tampa is going to create a blueprint for downtown Tampa for the next 25 years. We are literally studying how people live in Tampa today and how they will tomorrow,'' says Mayor Bob Buckhorn. "InVision is looking at how we can improve Tampa's urban core through community participation and proposed ordinance changes.''

The Invision Tampa project is funded by a federal grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

Writer: Alexis Quinn Chamberlain
Sources: Bob McDonough and Mayor Bob Buckhorn, City of Tampa