The Redevelopment Summit Series

When the Pinellas by Design effort began in 2000, redevelopment projects were relatively few and far between. Only some communities were beginning to see them, and few were planning for them. Pinellas by Design began working with the twenty-five local governments to build a greater understanding of the redevelopment process, and its potential impact, through workshops, surveys and reports.

The culmination of this effort was the Redevelopment Summit series. Representatives of all local governments, the business community, and the general public were invited to three high-profile, countywide events to discuss redevelopment and economic development issues. The summits were designed to be community-wide workshops, in which participants would present, debate, and reach general consensus on strategies and policies for addressing the impacts of buildout. Through presentations, panel discussions, and visioning exercises, hundreds of participants at each summit were provided information and encouraged to share their views.

The summits clearly indicated the need for quality, planned redevelopment. In follow-up surveys, participants expressed greater understanding of the issues and increased support for countywide initiatives. The local media has also begun to recognize and cover the issues, helping to make redevelopment part of the general conversation in Pinellas County.

Following are links to information from each summit. Each summit includes links to handouts, slideshow presentations, and other documents.