The Accidental Evolution of Clearwater
The population of Clearwater in 1950 was 15,581, and things were pretty simple. Great expanses of Clearwater consisted of citrus groves, and trucks and train cars helped move ripe oranges and grapefruit to market.
By 1960, the City population had grown to 34,653, an increase of 122% in just 10 years. Citrus continued to be a primary driver of the economy, and life was good.
Things have changed quite a bit since 1960. Clearwater — and the majority of Pinellas County — was primarily agricultural back then.
Today, we have virtually no commercially viable agricultural operations, no citrus groves, and a very limited supply of developable property.
Our transportation infrastructure in Clearwater is extremely constrained by capacity issues in the off-season, and almost impossible during the peak tourist season. We are almost fully reliant on single-occupancy motor vehicles, yet our roads, bridges and highways are grossly inadequate, and public parking is archaic at best.
The City of Clearwater – particularly Clearwater Beach – has become a world-class vacation destination, despite scant evidence of any real “planning” by officials in the City of Clearwater.
The explosive growth and redevelopment on the Beach was enabled by a 2-dimensional written plan “Beach by Design” created in the late 1990’s as a response to growing concerns that Clearwater Beach was out of sync with other competing vacation and leisure destinations.
Clearwater Pier Mid 1950’s
Clearwater Pier 60 2019
People sometimes say, “It’s different here”.
Yes, we have different zip codes and area codes than other places. Our primary language is English, though many other languages are spoken as well.
Other than those differences, people who live in or visit Clearwater have about the same needs, wants and desires as people everywhere.
Despite a wealth of great examples of good and bad land use decisions across the U.S. — even internationally – it appears that City staff has historically and currently been unable or unwilling to learn from history. If asked about various outcomes, professional city staff will likely say, “It’s different here. You just don’t understand.”
Punching Above Its Weight, or Operating Way Out of Its League?
The City of Clearwater apparently relies on outside developers and their paid experts to propose new projects and ideas, and those projects and ideas then often become the foundation of the next generation of ‘the plan’. Beach by Design seems to help illustrate and define that approach.
Better Planning yields better results.
The intent of this website is not to cast blame, it is to use a series of photos and case studies to help illustrate how bad outcomes often result from bad planning, and to offer constructive ideas to proactively address past mistakes while encouraging better future planning to achieve better future results.
“There are a thousand hacking at the branches, to one who is striking at the root.”
“May you always find time to listen to the song of the sparrows,
Gaze into the eyes of a deep blue sky, and
Dance to the music of the meadow, and
May you discover the keys to your every dream!”
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