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Walking in Pinellas County is enjoyable, but not highly rated by some

It’s funny; before we moved to Florida we lived in Bath, Maine, a quaint and attractive small city on the Kennebec River. While Bath was scenic and pleasant, I almost never walked anywhere when I lived there.

There were two reasons: (1) Much of the time it was REALLY cold, and (2) it was very hilly. Walking down the hills wasn’t so bad, but walking back UP was no picnic.

When we moved to Florida, I was delighted to be able to increase my walking. It was always warm (okay, maybe TOO warm in the summer, but you can always walk in the early mornings, before the toasty factor gets too high), and the nearly flat terrain means none of those challenging grades.

Since I find walking to be much more enjoyable here than up north, I was a bit surprised to find a website devoted to the “walkability” of various communities, and to note that our area of Florida, Pinellas County, and more specifically Dunedin, Palm Harbor and Tarpon Springs, were rated pretty low on the walking scale.

Even more surprising was that cold, hilly Bath, Maine was rated very highly by this website, www.walkscore.com. Here are the scores:

Bath, Maine: 78 (out of a hundred), “very walkable”

Palm Harbor: 37, car-dependent

Dunedin: 45, car-dependent

Tarpon Springs: 38: Car-dependent

Okay, I actually get this. Our Florida communities are relatively young and they are spread out all over the place. Many lack a real central downtown, and you do need a car to get around and run errands. Bath, Maine (and other up-north older cities) are old, and many were established on the banks of rivers. They were centrally laid-out, as automobiles weren’t even around when they were founded.

Still, if you want my opinion, I’d rather walk right here in Florida. Walking in Maine? No, thanks — especially in January.

By the way, Walkscore.com says it ”helps you find a walkable place to live. Walk Score is a number between 0 and 100 that measures the walkability of any address.”

Tags: Dunedin, Palm Harbor, real estate, Tarpon Springs, things to do, walking

Tampa Theater is a Tampa Bay treasure

If you have seen the movie Casablanca, chances are you’ve seen it on TV. Nothing wrong with that, it’s a terrific movie and it comes across great no matter how or where you see it. But next weekend is a true treat for movie buffs — you get to see Casablanca at the Tampa Theater.
If you are not familiar with the Tampa Theater, it is a true gem of a movie theater that was built in 1926 and then lovingly restored in the 1980s to its original splendor.  The detail inside the lobby and theater itself are breathtaking. It is a true local treasure, and if you live in Pinellas County it is a fairly short hop across the Courtney Campbell Causeway or over Hillsborough Avenue to Tampa to take advantage of what it has to offer.
The Tampa Theater is home to many concerts and events, but it is still a great place to see a movie, especially on old black-and-white classic. We saw Keb Mo in concert there a few years ago, and we’ve attended everything from cocktail parties to receptions in the tiled lobby.
Oh, yeah — back to Casablanca.  It is being shown next Saturday (June 27) at 3 p.m., and then it is being shown again the following day at the same time.  If you’ve never been to the Tampa Theater, it’s a great time to go and admire it. It is on Franklin Street in Downtown Tampa — learn more at http://www.tampatheatre.org

Tags: Pinellas County real estate, Tampa Bay, things to do

Clearwater’s Pier 60: The place for sunsets

I spent a very enjoyable day yesterday with a client from out of town, someone who has really fallen in love with Dunedin. I think we’ve found her and her family the perfect townhouse. In fact, they spent so much time on the Internet that they had a pretty good idea what property they wanted before they ever came to Pinellas County and got down to some serious looking.

Anyway, once we got done with our real estate business, she went off on her own to do some more exploring of the area. She ended up forgoing dinner, opting instead for some ice cream and a visit to Clearwater Beach to watch the sunset. This picture is one she took of Pier 60, the pier at Clearwater Beach where locals and tourists gather to watch the sunset. It’s a tradition that has been going on for the past 10 or 12 years, and it’s loosely based on the nightly sunset salute that’s been taking place at Key West for years.

As you can see by the picture, the sunsets are spectacular. But you will also enjoy the local musicians, the buskers (street performers) as well as the food vendors that set up every night. There’s plenty to do and see around here, and the Pier 60 sunsets are up at the top of the list.

Tags: Clearwater, Pier 60, sunset, things to do