Why the Water Street Project Can Lead to Less Traffic
Bryan Skorczewski
Mixed use buildings offer many advantages to Hillsborough County residents, so a greater focus needs to be placed on creating these spaces.
A more urbanized “city feel,” combined with shorter commute times, can help the region and its residents reach their full potential in this rapidly changing world. A good example of mixed use projects is the proposed Water Street Project in the Channelside District, which is due to add 836,000 sq m (9,000,000 sq ft) of mixed use real estate. The first phase is aiming for a 2020 completion.
Mixed use development offers may functions and often incorporates a ground floor use, such as a retail store, office, or restaurant, and the floors above it are of a different use, such as apartments and condos.
Why is this beneficial for areas in Hillsborough County? Different uses tend to complement each other. Those that work and live nearby are more likely to frequent or live in buildings, businesses, and services nearby. Mixed use also reduces the need for travel for many types of trips. Why drive ten minutes away to the large chain grocery store when there is a family owned corner market beneath you?
Water Street renderings show the proposed 9 million square feet. Courtesy of www.bizjournals.com/tampabay.
Bus Rapid Transit and trains are not the only ingredients necessary to bring the region into a walkable and rideable future, free from the confines of cars. Tampa is built around the car. Our roads are wide, our sidewalks are small, bike trails occupy tiny shoulders and often suddenly disappear from one block to the next. And Florida summers are not friendly to pedestrians for long trips on foot or bike.
Since Tampa is built around the car, residents feel the need to shorten distances of travel. So much of Tampa is separated by use, be it residential, retail, office, industrial, or large campuses. Traveling from one type of building to another is generally at least five minutes by car, which can mean thirty minutes or more on foot.
By building vertically, mixed use allows for a sustainable increase of both residences (apartments and condos) and commercial businesses (retail, grocery, restaurants, and offices), without the need for large parking lots, wide roads, or large tracts of land. Furthermore, increasing the density of residents and businesses can create a loop of attracting more people and businesses, due to availability of both housing and services in a small area.
Streets with mixed use buildings tend to create the sort of “downtown” feel that many cities try to achieve. By keeping buildings to 4 – 6 stories, neighborhoods are kept at human scale, helping to ensure people do not feel overwhelmed, as can happen with high-rise buildings. This sort of downtown is part of what attracts visitors to a city, so by expanding it throughout a region, more people are apt to spend their time and dollars in the area, and when those dollars are spent in small businesses, rather than corporate chains, those dollars tend to stay in the region.
The Water Street project aims to add 186,000 sq m (2,000,000 sq ft) of office space, 93,000 sq m (1,000,000 sq ft) of retail and cultural space, and 3,500 residential units. Two hotels and numerous amenities will be added to Downtown Tampa, which hasn’t seen any substantial increase in office space or residences in 25 years. As the majority of Tampa’s development since then has been mainly suburban style horizontal build-up, Tampa has grown outward, increasing distance between home, work, and play for the majority of its residents. Water Street, by introducing mixed use development on a large and very public scale, may be able to provide the incentive for a reconsideration of future development. It should be noted, however, that the project, with multiple buildings at or exceeding 20 stories, is a mixed use development style best suited for the urban core. As buildings move away from the downtown area, they should fall in height to reach human scale, which, as stated previously, is limited to 4-6 story mid-rises. The Water Street project also has many resident-only amenities in its larger buildings, such as pools and exercise facilities, which are not necessary, and can prove detrimental in smaller scale projects.
As development has multiple uses, there are more reasons for people to be in an area at any given time. As pointed out by Jane Jacobs’ The Death and Life of Great American Cities, crimes of opportunity can be reduced since more residents and visitors will place an area under more consistent observation.
Finally, encouraging mixed use development alongside the transit revamp plans can potentially lead to fewer people needing to own vehicles. According to AAA, the average cost of a vehicle per year is approximately $6,000. By allowing people to live without a personal vehicle, there is an effective higher amount of household income. A healthier household due to walking and biking for short trips is also a benefit which leads to less congestion on our roads.