Building an Urban Gem On Florida's Gulf Coast

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Also worth noting about the cross-bay ferry: it only runs in the winter, because the boat it uses operates the Boston to Provincetown ferry in the summer! It's even the same crew in both MA and FL.

Our boy is slipping into doing a nationwide speaking tour and I’m all for it. Great video btw

So happy you finally made it to St. Petersburg, although it looks far warmer than I imagined it. Can't wait for your visit to Moscow!

Wish we could have seen your talk in St Pete! My wife works at PSTA and the city of St Pete Beach is extremely hostile to any sort of public transit. They are the reason there aren’t articulated busses, and they pushed the PSTA board to start charging fares on the sunrunner. Most people including the transit authority staff wanted to keep it free. They used fear mongering claiming the free bus caused an increase in crime. They also don’t even pay into the PSTA general fund unlike most of the other cities in the county but somehow feel entitled to make demands that affect the rest of the county. The other thing I wanted to mention is that the ferry used to have a much more convenient boarding location closer to the pier and beach drive but it was sadly moved a couple of seasons ago.

Also, the Pinellas trail is INCREDIBLE. I live near it and take it to the city every day. It is an amazing rail-trail.

I spent 20 years in St. Petersburg watching it become what it is today. I will tell anyone one listens that its hands down, no questions, the best city in Florida. Looking at the cost of living, it looks like everyone heard me.

Heyyy! St. Petersburg is my hometown! Pretty good breakdown. I'm glad you enjoyed visiting, it has changed considerably since I was a kid but it is a place that is still near to my heart. Fun fact: the traffic calming in Old Southeast was actually installed back in the 1990's as a way to try and discourage the open drug markets that plagued the neighborhood. Notice it forces traffic into entrance/exit chokepoints. The idea was it made it easier for the police to monitor vehicles entering and make quick exits difficult. Pretty insane how expensive the city has gotten. Affordability is probably the single biggest issue for our city.

Hey City Nerd, loved your video. As a resident of Pinellas County I wanted to put some notes and comments for your video: 1) You are completely right that St. Pete Beach is not a "team player" in helping the SunRunner, it goes beyond that. Not only have they stunted the potential of the whole line, but they are the reason the Service does not have articulated busses. 2) Albert Whitted Airport has been in constant battle for the city for over 25 years. Many mayor's wanted to redevelop the land but unfortunately it never seems to come to fruition. 3) The Tropicana field area is proposed to have a massive redevelopment as you may be aware that is going to be big for the Rays and the city, most of the problems boil down to how it is funded and that is the controversy. 4) The Ferry service has only been active for about 5 years. While it's current St. Petersburg location is not very attractive or convenient, this is only a recent temporary location. The real original location was near the Pier (in fact the Pier was the original final destination) and they moved it to its current location because they are constructing a new dock for the ferry. 5) The travel to Tampa us unfortunately a joke with public transportation. I myself have used it. It takes 1 hour to go there to downtown alone at a transport station far from many popular places. The service is infrequent and if you don't time it right, you are left stranded for hours unless you Uber across. There is a plan for an RRT system that will use dedicated lanes, but so far has been shelved due to the politicians. However with all this construction going on and new political interests in Brightline, new transportation projects are starting to be taken more seriously. Overall, I loved the video and can agree that all that you said was really accurate.

Wow, thank you. The fact that a guy like you got invited to lecture a Florida chamber of commerce is the most affirming thing I've heard in ages.

St. Pete was a little secret for locals until about 2010 or so, best city in Florida. Glad the town treated CityNerd well

The idea that they won’t dedicate even one of the 5 lanes of the road to a bus lane is infuriating.

Thank you for not being afraid to bring up the tough questions and topics when talking to these organizations who might actually be able to make changes. Sometimes people are blind to the problems in their own city, but once you point them out they are hard to ignore. Great video!

Another part of Florida that I was surprised by despite being surrounded by awful suburban development is Winter Park, Orlando. Very walkable area with a train station that is very well kept compared to downtown Orlando.

Thanks to coming to our City! I work for Kimley-Horn, our office did the planning for the Sunner Runner BRT. I'm glad you focused on the urbanization we are trying to achieve in St Pete! Stop by the office next time you are in town!

My partner and I lived in the EDGE district from 2014 to 2019. To this day, we still look back on our time there and our walks up and down Central ave incredibly fondly. Of all the places I've lived in my life, this was my favorite one of them all.

This video is not just information about urbanism but also just good journalism

From St. Pete! I wanted to go to your talk at chamber of commerce meeting but figured I’d wait for the video instead of the $50 ticket. Glad the video is finally here!

Honestly, I wish there was a tram/train that ran from Tampa to St Pete, across the Gandy bridge, down to 4th street, to the beaches, up to clear water, etc. That would be a dream.

St. Pete really is a fabulous place to vacation in, and never need a car. We love it and visit often. To those thinking it would be a great place to live, be sure to check the real estate prices, to rent or buy. You need a solid six-figure income, while jobs that pay enough to afford the housing are pretty rare. There’s a reason for that private plane airport.