It seems as though when the traffic around town lessens, the activities of our City Commission and of the various City Departments increases.

Watching Downtown Improve right before our eyes! So much of downtown is undergoing renovation and upgrades that if you blink you might just miss something. 

Of course, as all of you know by now, improvements to our Downtown area are proceeding and will continue in an active phase right up to mid-December. Construction of the Palm Avenue Garage is under way after many false starts, and I must tell you, we were all extremely pleased to see the coming together of so many of the residents of our Downtown Associations in promoting ideas and concepts that will improve the downtown experience for you and our visitors.

New water, sewer, electrical and other infrastructure upgrades, new sidewalks that in some places are being expanded and landscaped to improve pedestrian accessibility and accommodate the needs of the merchants without whom we wouldn’t have a chance to have a vibrant downtown; and a general cleanup and refurbishing of sidewalks, irrigation systems and the like will make you proud.

The DSCA, through its greenspace subcommittee (Carol Reynolds and Barbara Campo) and its Board, maintained an active dialogue with other organizations such as the Downtown Improvement District (DID), the Downtown Sarasota Alliance (DSA), Chamber of Commerce and others to present the Sarasota City Commission with recommendations and advice that went through a thorough public vetting process representing our member associations and their residents’ best common interests. The DSCA volunteers spent hundreds of hours over the past year making sure our members’ points of view were taken seriously. What a bargain for dues that total only $100 a year for full membership! 

August 23rd, 2010