Florida's 'great place' for 2022 is Naples' Bayshore district, despite Ian
Walloped by Hurricane Ian, Bayshore Drive is still The Greatest, and that's official.
The neighborhood around the south suburban Naples boulevard has won this year's Great Places in Florida competition sponsored by the American Planning Association (APA) Florida. Officials will present the award Dec. 13 at a Collier County Board of Commissioners meeting.
“The improvements made to Bayshore Drive have paid off,” said Wiatt Bowers, AICP, President of APA Florida, in a news release announcing the award Thursday.
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He praised “updating and enhancing this popular corridor by implementing Complete Streets, installing green bike lanes and significant beautification amenities and advancing safety for pedestrians." Bowers called Bayshore Drive "a strong example of healthy planning and sustainability that other communities should aim to replicate."
The theme by which the finalists were selected this year was Florida's Healthy Places. Those were determined from nominations submitted to the APA Florida. The winner is by popular vote.
"I was pleasantly surprised," said Debrah Forester, Collier County Community Redevelopment Agency director. "I'm grateful for everyone who took the time to vote, locally and across the U.S."
The award is strictly honorary, as far as she knows.
"But I'm sure it's something we can use in our future branding and tagline — '2022 Quality Place Florida' — so I'm certain we'll encourage that in our marketing," she said.
Bayshore is anchored by the 170-acre Naples Botanical Garden to the southwest and Celebration Park, a food truck/entertainment venue, close to U.S. 41 East on the north. It has become known for its independent businesses, such as Green Door Nursery, Bean 2 Cup coffee house, Things I Like Gallery, the Ankrolab Brewing Co. and Three60 Market & Wine.
Rebecca Maddox, who developed Three60 and Celebration Park, is about to open a third, a blend of fine dining and a private wine/social club.
The neighborhood has its own arts advocacy group, the Bayshore Arts District. It sets up street events that call attention to its artists.
The award is a tribute to the casual life that has become a trademark of the Bayshore neighborhood, said Jim Bixler. Bixler is a six-year resident who has been involved in landscaping for its businesses, and for a time served on the committee that developed its landscaped medians.
"They experiment a little bit more — they're not confined to a little box that we’re supposed to be in," he said of the district.
Bayshore births independent ideas
That independent spirit has had outsize effects. It prodded the entire county to set up a device for approving and encouraging public art. Bayshore's murals, primarily Diane Sullivan's floral wall on her longtime Naples Beach and Bay Realty and the mermaid lolling on the wall of Amanda Jaron's jewelry boutique, drew the admiration of passersby. But there were complaints that called them back-door advertising.
The two won the approval of the CRA advisory committee, which then sent a plea to the county to address public art formally. It resulted in a countywide arts and culture strategic plan.
There have been other growing pains. The al fresco Celebration Park's neighbors, angry with its music volume, and the park's businesses faced off in front of a county magistrate this year. The magistrate tasked the park with stringent monitoring noise limits and reconfiguring its sound system.
Something for each: County brokers concessions for neighbors, Celebration Park
The next move, Bixler said will be to give the neighborhood a more walkable feel. The connector bridge being built between it and Sugden Park, with its playground, picnic areas, amphitheater and 60-acre lake, will help that, he believes.
"It's been years of planning, and now we're starting to see things," he said.
Hurricane Ian strikes a blow
Ironically, the neighborhood just named Florida's Healthy Place one of the hardest hit in Collier County when Hurricane Ian sideswiped it on its way to landfall in Lee County. The accompanying storm surge flooded some streets up to U.S. 41 and beyond. The bottom floors of homes that had not been elevated took on as much as 4 feet of water and more.
Forester acknowledged that the area suffered, "but every day something improves and something gets better. Every day we just look for one step forward and for people to return to their homes.
"I think we’re a very resilient community," she said. The district is going ahead with its plans for its first "tree" lighting at 5 p.m. Nov. 18. The roundabout at Thomasson and Bayshore drives was decorated with a tree-shaped display of lights last year, and this year there will be a public ceremony, with crafts and a cookies and an early visit from Santa.
She's hoping the APA officials will take a tour of the Bayshore district after the award is presented.
"A lot of our restaurants are back open," she said. "They should have lunch down here."
This award aligns with the kinds of work being done that won it its last accolade. The Florida Redevelopment Asociation honored it in 2010 for collaborative funding for a CRA and Municipal Service Taxing Unit (MSTU) project being done in the neighborhood.
Harriet Howard Heithaus covers arts and entertainment for the Naples Daily News/naplesnews.com. Reach her at 239-213-6091.
This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Top places in Florida: Bayshore tops in state 'healthy places,' says APA
