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Tale of the Tape:
St. Petersburg Population 2007: 246,407 (City); 2,723,949 (Tampa Metro) - (incorporated in 1892)
Jacksonville Pop. 2007: 805,605 (City); 1,300,823 (Metro) - (incorporated in 1832)
City population 1950: Jacksonville (204,517); St. Petersburg (96,738)
Metropolitan Area Growth rate (2000-2007)
St. Petersburg (Tampa): +13.69%
Jacksonville: +15.86%
County Population (2007 estimate)
Pinellas County: 917,437
Duval County: 837,964
Urban Area Population (2000 census)
St. Petersburg (Tampa): 2,062,339 (ranked 19 nationwide)
Jacksonville: 882,295 (ranked 43 nationwide)
Urban Area Population Density (2000 census)
St. Petersburg (Tampa): 2,570.6
Jacksonville: 2,149.2
City Population Growth from 2000 to 2007
St. Petersburg: -1,825
Jacksonville: +69,988
Convention Center Exhibition Space:
St. Petersburg: Pinellas County is the largest county in Florida without a convention center.
Jacksonville: Prime F. Osborn III Convention Center (1986) - 78,500 square feet
Tallest Building:
St. Petersburg: Bank of America Tower - 386 feet
Jacksonville: Bank of America Tower - 617 feet
Downtown-Based Fortune 500 companies:
St. Petersburg: Jabil Circuit (219)
Jacksonville: CSX (261), Fidelity National Financial (435), Fidelity National Information Services (481)
Urban infill obstacles:
St. Petersburg: A large number of surface parking lots limit the walkability of downtown.
Jacksonville: State & Union Streets cut off Downtown Jacksonville from Springfield.
Downtown Nightlife:
St. Petersburg: Downtown contains several popular pockets of nightlife. These include Beach Drive, Baywalk, Jannus Landing and Central Avenue.
Jacksonville: East Bay Street, located between Main Street and Liberty Street. This four block stretch is home to four bars and clubs.
Common Downtown Albatross:
Too many surface parking lots
Who's Downtown is more walkable?
St. Petersburg: 91 out of 100, according to walkscore.com
Jacksonville: 88 out of 100, according to walkscore.com
Downtown Waterfront
Downtown St. Petersburg's waterfront is dominated by public park space, the largest public marina in the Southeast, and a number of museums and cultural attractions.
The downtown waterfront is anchored by the St. Petersburg Pier. The pyramid shaped structure is a popular location for fishing, boat rentals, festivals, shopping and dining.
The inverted pyramid pier that stands today has become a landmark in itself. Owned by the City of St. Petersburg, The Pier opened its doors in January 1973. Today it continues its legacy as a centerpiece of St. Petersburg’s downtown waterfront with five stories of shopping, dining and adventure. Visitors can find 16 specialty shops, galleries and boutiques, four sit-down waterfront restaurants, the Dockside Eatery food court, The Pier Aquarium, as well as a variety of outdoor water and land adventures to enjoy.The Pier still holds community dances, has an observation deck for viewing the stars, and visitors still fish and feed the pelicans – just like in the early days of the Municipal Pier. The Pier is open 365 days a year, rain or shine, and holds over 300 events annually.
www.stpete-pier.com
Beach Drive
Facing a string of linear waterfront parks, Beach Drive is home to a large collection of condominium towers with restaurants, galleries and retailers at street level.
Bay Walk Entertainment Complex
BayWalk is an open-air entertainment complex and a prominent landmark in downtown. Designed by Sembler, the developer of Jacksonville's Riverside Square, BayWalk contains an IMAX Muvico theatre, along with several restaurants and retailers. According to a recent Bay News 9 report, the plaza is currently struggling to fight its reputation of being a hangout for teenagers.
The Urban Downtown Core 
Unique St. Petersburg
- Ron Barton was the Director of Economic Development for the City of St. Petersburg before joining the JEDC in 2005.
- St. Petersburg is the fourth largest city in Florida and largest city that is not a county seat.
- St. Petersburg boasts the largest dedicated public waterfront park system of any city in North America.
- The city was co-founded by John C. Williams, formerly of Detroit, Michigan, who purchased the land in 1876, and by Peter Demens, who was instrumental in bringing the terminus of a railroad there in 1888. It was named after Saint Petersburg, Russia, where Peter Demens had spent half of his youth. A local legend says that John C. Williams and Peter Demens flipped a coin to see who would have the honor of naming the city. Needless to say, Demens won.
- Downtown St. Petersburg has 15,700 residents (8,400 units) and 28,000 employees.
- Downtown is the home of the largest public marina in the Southeast.
St. Petersburg's downtown Publix was constructed on the former site of a Dew Cadillac dealership. Although the retail center features surface parking, it is designed in a manner that does not take away from the area's walkability.
Central Avenue
Central Avenue is the home of Downtown's largest concentration of specialty shops and restaurants.
Grand Central District
Just west of downtown and I-275, this area straddling Central Avenue was once the premier shopping district in the city. The area fell into decline with the rise of suburbanism in the 1970s. Today, the district has establishing itself as one of the cultural centers of St. Petersburg with a large number of non-chain dining and retail options available. Grand Central also struggles with a disproportionate number of social services agencies and shelters. The district was voted St. Petersburg's Neighborhood of the Year in 2007.
USF Saint Petersburg
The University of South Florida St. Petersburg (USFSP), commonly known as USF St. Pete, is an autonomous campus in the University of South Florida system. Opened in 1965 as a satellite campus of the University of South Florida, the USFSP gained accreditation as a separate entity starting in the 2006-2007 school year. In 2006, USF St. Petersburg was accredited as a separate entity from the University of South Florida. In that same year, the University of South Florida St. Petersburg opened its new student dormitory, Residence Hall One, to house future and returning students. With 3,400 students, USF St. Petersburg is the only public university in Pinellas County.
www.stpt.usf.edu
Article by Ennis Davis
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UglyBilly
December 17, 2008, 10:46:25 AMWow for a city that's 1/4 the size of Jacksonville, They have Great concerts AND a Dali exhibit?!
Makes me sad.
Beloki
December 17, 2008, 11:21:29 AMWhy doesn't Jax hire one of their city planners???
copperfiend
December 17, 2008, 11:52:12 AMBaywalk has had its share of problems. Many of the stores have closed and the movie theater may be next.
aj_fresh
December 17, 2008, 02:29:02 PMNice pic!!!
ProjectMaximus
December 17, 2008, 04:06:56 PMMakes me sad.
It's a Dali museum, not just an exhibit. But to be fair, both Jannus and Dali serve the Tampa metro, not just the city of St. Pete.
thelakelander
December 17, 2008, 04:20:25 PMTo be fair, Dali was an attraction St. Pete leaders went out an convinced to locate in their downtown years ago. They saw the collection as not only something to serve their city and metro, but also an attraction that would pull people from all over the world to visit their city.
Ten years later, they began the search for a new, permanent home for their collection. After seeing an article in the Wall Street Journal, "U.S. Art World Dillydallies over DalĂ," St. Petersburg attorney James W. Martin persuaded local leaders to approach the Morses to choose St. Petersburg. With the financial support of the City of St. Petersburg and the State of Florida, the collection moved to Florida in 1980.
The Museum opened its doors in St. Petersburg Florida, in March 1982, with the Morse bequest - the most comprehensive private collection of Dali's work in the world. The Raymond James Community Room, a two-story, 11,000 square foot addition, opened in January 1989 to accommodate the museum's many programs and activities. In April 1995, major renovations to the original gallery space consisted of several interior walls, which provided additional space to display special exhibits and more of the museum's collection
With the expanded facility the Museum began a program of loaning works and having changing exhibitions. The Young DalĂ opened first in 1995, with works from the Museum's collection traveling to London, New York and Spain. Some highlights of the Museum's exhibition history are: Andy Warhol at the DalĂ; Contemporary Artists from Zaragoza; AndrĂ© Masson: the 1930's; Masterpieces of Surrealism; A Disarming Beauty, The Venus de Milo; Forms of Cubism, and Joan MirĂł Painted Sculpture.
http://www.salvadordalimuseum.org/about_us/museum_history.html
What St. Pete's leaders did is no different then Charlotte leaders going out to attract a college and the new NASCAR museum to Uptown or Greenville with BMW. What they did years ago is what we should have done with Florida Coastal, UNF, the Art Institute or the Farmer's market.
Jason
December 17, 2008, 07:07:22 PMEnnis definitely has an eye for nice scenery...
Never been to St. Pete, but it is definitely on my list.
Doesn't Pinellas County have the highest population density in the State?
thelakelander
December 17, 2008, 07:21:32 PMYes, Pinellas County is built out. As for the scenery, I had no idea of what was walking down the sidewalk until I had already snapped the picture.
Kathryn
December 17, 2008, 10:45:22 PMWe went through there a couple of years ago on Spring Break on a Saturday and got to enjoy their AWESOME farmers market. It reminded me of something you would see in a much larger city--great variety of food, cool stuff to buy. We were very impressed. One thing also about St.Pete and Tampa--no vagrants at all hanging around the downtown and waterfront. Their downtown areas don't seem to be home to as many churches and other "do gooder" organizations--maybe that's one reason why they are free of litter and vagrants.
thelakelander
December 17, 2008, 11:32:23 PMNo that you mention it, they don't have as many churches located in their CBDs. However, they do have their share of vagrants. They just aren't on the waterfront. In St. Pete, Williams Park serves as the downtown bus terminal. Compared to the rest of downtown, its a pretty unpleasant place. It feels like a green version of Hemming Plaza.
In Tampa, vagrants used to hang out along Franklin Street on the north end of downtown. The city has been cleaning this area up so now it appears activity has moved to Franklin, north of I-275, and the Marion Street Transitway (BRT only street).
Kathryn
December 18, 2008, 09:03:19 PMWell, at least we weren't as aware of them as we are in downtown Jax. We even made a big deal when we actually spotted one in St. Pete since we had been talking about that we hadn't seen a single vagrant all day. Nothing like the swarms of them that are constantly in Hemming Plaza every time we take the kids to the Main Library (and in the library also). It looks just like the Depression from the 1930's at that place.
DemocraticNole
December 19, 2008, 09:37:12 PMI live down here in Pinellas County now after living in Jax and to be honest St. Pete is very unimpressive. I know no one who lives outside of St. Pete that likes to venture down there except to maybe a Rays game. The rest of Pinellas County is essentially 1970's strip malls EVERYWHERE, except maybe the beaches. It also takes forever to get anywhere because there is essentially zero public transit and only one freeway (I-275). Most people go to Tampa for entertainment, shopping, etc.
thelakelander
December 19, 2008, 10:53:52 PMI guess you're not liking those drives down US 19?
People may travel to Tampa for more entertainment and employment options but for years, DT St. Pete has seemed to be the more livable of the two. It really functions like an urban neighborhood instead of a highly commercial oriented downtown.
DemocraticNole
December 20, 2008, 12:21:38 PMPeople may travel to Tampa for more entertainment and employment options but for years, DT St. Pete has seemed to be the more livable of the two. It really functions like an urban neighborhood instead of a highly commercial oriented downtown.
You are right that as of right now downtown St. Petersburg is the more livable of the two downtowns. However, downtown Tampa is improving rapidly. There are many condos that are already downtown with some more being built in the Channelside area. South Tampa is already a flourishing area with lots of infill and refurbished buildings, great nighlife and restaurants, and is extremely walkable.
My point about St. Pete is that while yes people do live downtown, it seems to be that they are kind of isolated from the rest of the Bay Area. There aren't a whole lot of people who do not live downtown who are rushing to go down there, unless it is for a Rays game. Even then, people want to build a waterfront stadium, which is a waste of money and stupid because the current design proposal has it outdoors. That is a brilliant move with all the rain and heat in the summer.
thelakelander
December 20, 2008, 01:49:33 PMDT Tampa (north/west of Lee Roy Selmon, east of Hillsborough River, south of I-275) and DT Jax are about the same to me. Both are pretty far behind the DTs of Florida's other major cities, in terms of vibrancy. However, DT Tampa benefits more from the nearby neighborhoods around it (Channel District, Ybor, SoHo, Davis Island, Harbour Island, Univ. of Tampa, Hyde Park, etc.). For various reasons, DT Jax is still disconnected from spots like Five Points and San Marco Square, etc.).
Nevertheless, DT Tampa is coming along. Even though I'm still pissed they tore the flagship Maas Brothers store down, North Franklin is turning around and it should get a boost when the Floridian Hotel reopens.
seaside1991
December 21, 2008, 11:57:12 AMI'm in Tampa and I agree that DT St. Pete seems to be more livable and active. However, like others have indicated, it's an mainly "Island". The surrounding neighborhoods except perhaps Old Northeast(Coffeepot Bayou) are no place to hang out and not very interesting. I also agree that DT Tampa is moving along very well. Completed light rail systems would be great, but maybe I'm expecting too much.
As far as the Rays stadium( assuming they don't move out of the metro), I think it would be great to have them Between DT and Ybor at the old Central Park Projects. Just think of how Ybor would be and to have the DT backdrop would be cool. That won't happen so I think the best place is the St. Pete Gateway district. Near Ulmerton and I-275. That site would be more central to the whole Metro .
SuburbanArmada
July 19, 2009, 04:23:00 AMFollowed your link here Lakelander, nice article. I am not much of an expert on St. Pete so I do not have much to add this time. I do love the area though, and am glad you mentioned the Grand Central/Kenwood district. Old Northeast was left out though.
For the people who said Pinellas has nothing else, actually there are lots of landmarks. Dunedin (Scottish roots), Palm Harbor (Old South vibe), Gulfport (eclectic/artsy theme and beachfront), and Tarpon Springs (Largest Greek community in America) are small cities that have walkable cores and good downtown vibrancy. The one downside is they are all a bit spread out from one another. However, DT St. Pete and Gulfport are near each other. And, Dunedin/Tarpon/Palm Harbor are near one another in northern Pinellas.
heights unknown
July 19, 2009, 11:02:48 AMBeing that I live about 30 miles south of St. Petersburg, I either visit, pass through, or have business ties there so I interface with this City often. For a moderate sized city, St. Pete is laid back, but downtown looks and acts like a downtown and is filled with restaurants, night clubs, businesses, and other type of venues relative to entertainment and recreation. The City is compact and dense being that the Peninsula which contains most or all of Pinellas County is pretty much built out; you would think there would be more skyscrapers in St. Pete but that is quickly changing as more highrises and towers have in fact been approved and are being constructed downtown. Nice City to visit.