TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - Tallahassee city commissioners held their annual retreat today, discussing ways to improve quality of life.
A key issue brought up was development in the city's Southside.
City officials say this part of town needs more attention. That means more construction, beautification and working with the community to come up with plans to encourage economic growth.
Curtis Richardson, a Tallahassee city commissioner said, "Bringing the Southside up to speed with the rest of the community in terms of the growth and development that has been occurring all over this beautiful city."
With Cascades Park and FAMU Way complete, there's a push to revitalize roads through a program called "Complete Streets."
"For a lack of a better description is you put a street on a diet and that is you might narrow it from four lanes down to three or two," said Gil Ziffer, another city commissioner.
Scott Maddox, a city commissioner said, "We can have complete streets with sidewalks with cafes and sidewalks, places for pedestrians, for bike riders."
"You create an amenity so people want to go there," said Ziffer. "People want to develop there, people want to live there."
Visions for Orange Avenue, South Monroe, South Adams and Meridian streets.
"I'm real encouraged by what I see now, because at least we have plans in place, and there are timelines for accomplishing this development and revitalization," said Richardson.
That includes the Orange Avenue Apartments. The city has plans to develop the site to include commercial and retail use with existing affordable housing.
"So, you create an opportunity for people to live there, but also shop there and enjoy life there," said Ziffer. "so that's probably going to have the most substantial impact."
While some of these projects are funded through a partnership with the state, several are paid for by the penny sales tax. Local dollars you spend, helping develop areas around town.
