Photo credits for all photographs: Bob Howard. You can find program details online HERE. See yourself in a picture, want to tag or untag yourself? (Leave a comment under the photo and we’ll go back through them and make corrections!)
From the Tallahassee Democrat on May 8, 2012: “With numerous projects nearing completion and others in the works with the city of Tallahassee and Leon County, taking an opportunity to recap isn’t a bad idea.
“The Village Square created an outlet for that during its first Our Town forum highlighting growth and change in Tallahassee on Tuesday at St. John’s Episcopal Church downtown. The standing-room crowd of more than 250 heard brief summaries on priority projects, such as Gaines Street revitalization. Residents were eager to pose questions ranging from whether Cascades Park will have a dog park and when more parking and sidewalks would come to Midtown…” Read it all here.
Like it or not, the deep ditch dividing Franklin Blvd. is currently being buried to alleviate flooding risks and to make this roadway more friendly to pedestrians and bicyclists, too. The ditch has a much more pleasant history as a stream, the St. Augustine Branch, but its more recent past has come to define it as more of a hazard, eyesore and great inconvenience. The construction currently underway on Franklin is part of the “Capital Cascade Trail” project led by the city-county collaborative Blueprint 2000. This is phase 1, and phase 2 is Cascades Park. The renovation of Franklin will reduce it down to 2 lanes and add both sidewalks and bike lanes. It certainly sounds more pedestrian/bike-friendly, but perhaps less appealing to drivers during rush hour. Some area residents say this is a good thing because they’re tired of it being a dangerous speedway. Others say the old stream could have been spared and revitalized with a different approach. The ultimate decision appears to be that the safest options just didn’t include the ditch/stream and drivers coexisting. So, as early as this August, we will drive over top the ditch instead of navigating around it. We still have Cascades Park to look forward to, which is where the former stream flowed to in its heyday.
Check out The Village Square‘s discussion on the topic in our “Get Local” Tallahassee section of our We the Wiki website. Feel free to add to it, too — additional sources, 
fact checks, even write an op-ed. Remember, the content of our Wiki is made greater by factual, civil, diverse contributions from people like you. So, go ahead — check it out. And if you’re a first-time user, be sure to check out the Tools & Tips page, too. If you have trouble with the site using Internet Explorer, try switching over to Google Chrome, Firefox or Safari.
If you haven’t made a reservation yet for Our Town: Fast Forward (next Monday night – one week – from 5:30 to 7pm), you should know that time is a wastin’. You should also know (and this is the really important part) that as part of our program, we’re treating everyone to Paisley Cafe’s Nutella Bread Pudding, which apparently is quite spectacular. We’ll have three food trucks outside the event where you can grab dinner to enjoy during the program. Paisley Cafe is a new restaurant in town located in Midtown, so we chose them in keeping with our theme of everything new. CLICK HERE to get more information about the program and make your reservation.
(Click here to reserve your seat)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 23, 2012
STATE EXPERTS ADDRESS FLORIDA’S ECONOMIC CRISIS AND RECOVERY
Former Florida CFO Alex Sink and Florida Chamber of Commerce’s Mark Wilson to Headline Panel
(TALLAHASSEE, FL) – April 23, 2012 – There are few places the economic crisis hit home harder than in the Sunshine State. On Tuesday, April 24, two leaders in Florida’s business and economic landscape will join The Village Square for an important conversation about how our state has responded and what still needs to be done.
Former Florida CFO Alex Sink and Florida Chamber of Commerce President & CEO Mark Wilson will share their perspectives on how the crisis is playing out in Florida, what innovations are still needed to ensure Florida’s economic future, and what roles government and private business play in tackling the challenges ahead.
Sink, the 2010 Democratic nominee for Florida governor, is the founding chair of the board of the FloridaNEXT Foundation, a non-profit and non-partisan organization, dedicated to empowering young people, entrepreneurs and small businesses so they can drive the innovation needed to enhance Florida’s economy and quality of life. Find FloridaNEXT online at www.floridanext.org.
Wilson spearheads the Florida Chamber’s efforts to lead Florida to a new and sustainable economy. As the voice of business, the Florida Chamber’s efforts to secure Florida’s future include solutions, action and leadership centering around the Florida Chamber Foundation, the Florida Chamber’s Political Operations and the Florida Chamber’s advocacy efforts. The Florida Chamber of Commerce can be found online at www.floridachamber.com.
Also joining the conversation is Don Winstead, a public policy expert who was responsible for overseeing and tracking the distribution of Florida’s federal stimulus dollars for Governor Charlie Crist. Dr. Carol Weissert, Director of Florida State University’s LeRoy Collins Institute, will moderate.
“Wall Street, Main Street (and whatever happened to) Easy Street” will be held at St. John’s Episcopal Church, at 211 North Monroe in downtown Tallahassee from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. A limited number of scholarship tickets are available. For more information or to purchase tickets, go online to www.tothevillagesquare.org or call 850-590-6646.
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(Click here for more information about the program or to reserve your seat.) Most of us would agree that America’s fiscal crisis has been difficult, anxiety provoking and way too long. It’s also been confusing.
Economics has become so politicized that it’s hard for the average citizen to know what to believe. Is the answer intervention by the government as the spender of last resort? Or is it all the spending that’s damaging the economy, with taxation creating a burden for the businesses that would otherwise drive a recovery? Each argument has its own think tanks, its own facts, and its own version of American history.
Former Florida Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and 2010 Democratic Gubernatorial Nominee Alex Sink and Florida Chamber of Commerce President & CEO Mark Wilson will join The Village Square on Tuesday, April 24, for an important conversation about the crisis — specifically how it’s playing out in Florida. What innovations do we need to make in our state to adjust to changing circumstances and what is the role of government and private business in a recovery? We’ll discuss how well our state has responded and what still needs to be done. Read the article online at Tallahassee.com.
It seems virtually impossible these days to drive around Tallahassee and not see some evidence of major construction or development in the works. Surely the downtown area would be in your Top 5 list if you were asked to name the areas of town currently besieged by those bright orange road signs and heavy equipment. But the Gaines Street project isn’t the only major development downtown. FSU (or the Seminole Boosters to be exact) has a major project in the works right on the pathway from downtown to the south end of campus. They’re calling it “College Town,” and their hope is that, along with direct benefits to the university, this new pedestrian-friendly entertainment and housing complex will also help better connect the university with the local community. This vision includes images of business professionals, students and families all coming together to shop, dine and be entertained in College Town.
So this begs the question, if you aren’t already directly connected to the university on a daily basis in some way as a student, staff/faculty member, etc., would a multi-use development like this situated near downtown attract you enough to check it out? And if so, do you think it would help you feel connected to the university any more than shopping or dining in other areas of town where you’re likely to be among students or “university-types” as well? Isn’t Tallahassee in general already a “college town?” Maybe the mere proximity to campus will help foster the connection. Or maybe this idea of connecting the university to the community was needed to help seal the deal in discussions about this project with the City.
Check out The Village Square‘s discussion on the topic in our “Get Local” Tallahassee section of our We the Wiki website. Feel free to add to it, too — additional sources, fact checks, even write an op-ed. Remember, the content of our Wiki is made greater by factual, civil, diverse contributions from people like you. So, go ahead — check it out. And if you’re a first-time user, be sure to check out the Tools & Tips page, too. If you have trouble with the site using Internet Explorer, try switching over to Google Chrome, Firefox or Safari.
If you haven’t bought your ticket yet for Tuesday night’s dinner, it’s time! Early bird price good through Thursday. Click here to read all the latest news online!
Be sure to join us one week from today for “Wall Street, Main Street, Easy Street” a discussion about how we’ve responded to the financial crisis and what innovations and transformations our state still needs to make to recover. We’re delighted that former Florida CFO Alex Sink and President & CEO of the Florida Chamber of Commerce Mark Wilson will be joining us as featured guests, along with Don Winstead (who tracked stimulus dollars for Governor Charlie Crist) and Dr. Carol Weissert who will moderate. Get all the info on the program and make your reservation HERE.
