THE POSSIBILITIES

SCENARIO A: 

“Business as Usual”

This forecast continues current and past growth patterns. Most newcomers would move into more and more subdivisions of single-family homes.

Those suburbs would consume 781 square miles (three times of size of Pinellas County) and impact 312 square miles of wetlands and wildlife habitat. Most likely, the new residents would make long commutes to their jobs.

Of the four scenarios, this one would require the most land, put the most cars on the road, create the highest demands for water and electricity and impact the most wetlands and agricultural lands.

SCENARIO B: 

Urban redevelopment

Instead of continuing suburban sprawl, growth would focus on redeveloping areas within existing cities.

Roughly 60 percent of the housing would be town houses, apartment complexes, apartments atop new retail centers and mid-rise and high-rise condominiums.

Vehicle trips could be reduced by 25 percent and transit options, such as light rail or express buses, would be more viable.

Compared with Scenario A, this growth pattern would preserve two-thirds more open space and agricultural land, protect 75 percent more wetlands and 80 percent more wildlife habitat.

SCENARIO C:

Transit-oriented development

This option calls for even more dense development within the cities, putting people closer to their jobs and making mass transit such as commuter rail more feasible.

Of the four scenarios, this requires the least water and electricity, puts the fewest vehicles on the road and preserves the most open space.

SCENARIO D:

Environmental protection

Of the four scenarios, this one has the greatest emphasis on wetland and wildlife habitat protection.

It foresees about 37.5 square miles of new mixed-use communities near existing downtowns. The residential development would be similar to that described in Scenario B.

Across the region, less than 500 acres of wetlands and wildlife habitat would be impacted.

INTERESTED?

One Bay, a partnership of several planning agencies, is asking residents throughout the Tampa Bay region to take a survey about what growth patterns they would prefer to see as more people move here.

To take the survey and read information the questions are based on, go to myonebay.com.

One Bay will start compiling the results after Sept. 30.

Key Documents: