Catalyze 2020: Mayor Rick Kriseman

This holiday season, we asked some of St. Pete’s best and brightest citizens to share one catalyzing idea for making St. Pete a better place to live. We asked not for lists of problems, but for meaty, actionable and impactful solutions, no matter how big or how small. 

My idea for 2020 is actually a wish, and that is that everyone who cares about the future of our beloved Burg participate in our generational visioning process by visiting www.StPete2050.com, taking the survey, and attending a future StPete2050 event. For all our recent growth and success, I recognize that there is no shortage of catalyzing ideas for how to make our city even better. That’s the way it should be, for cities are laboratories and much of what makes St. Pete unique is that it is truly people-powered.

 While StPete2050 is about looking 30 years ahead, the exciting year ahead should also command our attention. I believe 2020 will be the ‘Year of the Burg’ in Tampa Bay. 

The new St. Pete Pier and Pier District will open, as will the much-anticipated Museum of the American Arts and Craft Movement. Residents and visitors will see continued progress throughout our city as we spark additional economic development in areas like 22nd Street South and the Skyway Marina District and continue to nurture all that makes St. Pete shine, including the arts, our entrepreneurial spirit, and our natural environment. And we will double down on preparing our city for a future of extreme weather and rising tides, doing our small part to mitigate a changing climate while implementing adaptation measures.

There will be much to celebrate this year, and much to do. Let’s do it together and take another collective step toward attaining our vision of being a “city of opportunity where the sun shines on all who come to live, work, and play.”