DOWNTOWN TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) — Tallahassee’s Southside Action Plan delivers new housing, infrastructure, and business investment to neighborhoods long left behind.
- This is the second year of the City of Tallahassee's Five-Year Strategic Plan, and one of the main focuses is the Southside.
- 35 new commercial permits, nearly 500 residential units, and $30 million invested in infrastructure upgrades were approved in 2025.
- Watch the video below to see how local business owners say the renewed focus is creating new opportunities and hope for growth.
South side businesses see new opportunities through Tallahassee’s Southside Action Plan
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
The City of Tallahassee's Five-Year Strategic Plan highlights the progress the city is making, and those efforts were front and center Wednesday morning at the city's annual retreat, specifically in the Southside.
I'm Lyric Sloan, your neighborhood reporter, in Downtown Tallahassee, with what initiatives are set to continue in 2026 with a major impact on the Southside.
In 2025, the City of Tallahassee began turning attention into investment on the Southside.
Thirty-five new commercial permits issued, nearly five hundred residential units, and $30 million poured into long-needed infrastructure upgrades, all part of the Southside action plan, a city-led effort aimed at reducing poverty, improving quality of life, and strengthening public safety.
"Its middle name is action, and that's what we've been doing a lot of action with the Southside Action Plan," Dianne Williams-Cox, Commissioner Seat 5, said.
The plan stretches from Southwest Tallahassee to the Southeast side, touching neighborhoods that, for years, leaders say were overlooked.
Commissioner Williams-Cox says the city is now being intentional, ensuring infrastructure, housing, businesses, and public spaces all see meaningful investment.
"We've improved housing in the Southside, transit facilities there. We have a park at Orange in Meridian. We have housing, just overall, making sure that the quality of life, the impact on poverty, public safety, infrastructure, all those things are also happening in that area of town," Commissioner Williams-Cox said.
And for local business owners, that attention is long overdue.
I spoke with Daniel Jackson, owner of SnackzOndDeck on South Adams Street, who says he sees good things coming.
"There's hope for the Southside. For a while, you know, it kind of got a bad rap at times," Daniel Jackson, SnackzonDeck Owner, said.
A reputation Commissioner Williams-Cox says has persisted.
"For too, far too long, that area town has gone without the necessary funding to bring it up to par with other parts of town. And so what we're doing now is intentionally doing those things to improve the quality of life," Commissioner Williams-Cox said.
And those intentional changes are already sparking optimism in the South.
"Once they make certain areas more attractive, and once they revamp certain businesses and plazas that are either halfway dead or all the way dead, which is great because it creates opportunities for other small business owners," Jackson said.
Commissioner Williams Cox says within the year, Southside residents can expect to see increased and improved access to facilities being built and opportunities in the area.
In Downtown Tallahassee, Lyric Sloan, ABC 27.
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