St Petersburg Florida

by Arhur Jackson
(Palmetto, Florida)

It is Thursday afternoon, 300pm on September 30, 2010. I am sitting in a Starbucks in downtown St Petersburg Florida having a cup of coffee and just caught up on my e-mail.

I've been in Tampa Florida for a business meeting, and just stopped by for a few minutes here in St Pete on my way home across the Sunshine Skyway.

Downtown St Pete has become one of the greatest walkable urban areas in Florida. The streets are wide and clean and tree lined, and the University of South Florida branch campus is nearby.

This Starbucks has a nice eclectic mix of young academic types, professionals, and a very few older retired looking people.

It is also close to the St Pete Municpal marina and the Harbourage Marina, so it looks like a few liveaboards are in this place enjoying the free wireless internet and their cup of overpriced coffee.

Although I am in the heart of downtown, there is not the huge din of vehicle traffic like you would here in downtown Orlando, Tampa or Miami

I rarely have ever been caught in a traffic jam in St Pete. Once traffic was pretty heavy after a Tampa Bay Devil Ray baseball game, but not too bad. Their stadium is right downtown.

This looks like it would be a good downtown area to live in.