InVision Welcomes Public Into Design Workshops

InVision Tampa will enter the next phase of its plan to involve community feedback in the development of downtown Tampa and the Nebraska Avenue corridor with design workshops that use community input gained in previous stages.

Through neighborhood charrettes, three meetings and a for area residents, InVision Tampa has gathered a wealth of knowledge about what Tampans want from the city and will now work with residents once again to develop a plan going forward. Two workshops  on Monday and Thursday of next week will outline the feedback that InVision Tampa has received so far and where it plans to go from here.

"Monday night will be a summary of what we've heard at all the different meetings and in the more than 1,000 different comments we've received through social media and I-Town Hall meetings," City of Tampa strategist Randy Goers said. "After reviewing the comments, certain themes starting to reveal themselves and it's great for our consultants because now they are seeing the city the way the community sees it."

According to Goers, Tampa residents want a downtown that is more liveable, entertaining and pedestrian oriented. 

"People want areas where they can congregate and enjoy the area along the water," Goers said. "It's really more about creating a multipurpose downtown area that is good for people that work and live there. We've heard it from all the different age groups that downtown needs to have more of a variety of things to do.

The design workshops will challenge participants to define those themes residents have outlined a bit more and to come up with ideas and objectives for the future. After Monday's workshop, an Orlando based consultant group will then go to work at the InVision Tampa office for the next three days on what they hear at Monday's meetings and will present boards, graphics and illustrations on plans for the city that are under development.

Neighborhood charrettes in the downtown area have been completed and will play a part in what in the discussion next week. More charrettes are planned as the conversation moves up the Nebraska corridor and into Seminole Heights.

"As we move north for the second part of the plan, we expect to hear more about transit connections," Goers said. "The geography is a little different in those charrettes and people really want to be able to connect to the corridor easily and see a lot of business development."

InVision Tampa's goal of community involvement has been achieved thus far and Goers feels that the perspective gained by city planners has been priceless.

"We haven't engaged the public to this extent before," Goers said. "We're getting ideas from all different types of people which will allow us to move forward with a more balanced approach in developing the plan."

InVision Tampa meetings are open to the public. Anyone with who lives, works or has any sort of vested interest in downtown Tampa and the Nebraska corridor is encouraged to attend and make their voice heard. Next week's meetings will take place on July 23 and 26 from 6-8 p.m. at the . For more information, visit the InVision Tampa website.