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Our region’s future should be a matter of choice – not chance.

The future of the Tampa Bay doesn’t belong to any one entity.  Rather, it is the responsibility of all of us to guide the type of future we want.

With this spirit of inclusiveness, the ONE BAY effort was formed last year to reach out to the many separate planning efforts across the seven county Tampa Bay region and provide a forum to work collectively toward a better future.

ONE BAY is a diverse partnership of private and public leaders from environmental, planning, business and economic development all aligned to facilitate a regional visioning process with the goal to achieve a sustainable, high-quality community now and into the future.

The leadership behind the ONE BAY effort is an equal partnership of five regional organizations: Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council, Tampa Bay Estuary Program, Southwest Florida Water Management District, Tampa Bay Partnership Regional Research & Education Foundation and Urban Land Institute Tampa Bay District Council.

A process was established to collect input through a series of “Reality Check” workshops.  The next phase will be to compile all the data and input received into alternative scenarios - alternatives for our existing cities and communities to handle projected future growth in population and jobs over the next 50 years while preserving the quality of life which makes this region attractive. Starting May 22, 2008, ONE BAY will present these alternative scenarios to the public for input and feedback.  ONE BAY wants as many citizens of the seven-county Tampa Bay region as possible to add their voices to this process so as to allow them to choose the future they wish for their communities. 

ONE BAY recognizes the unique diversity of each of our communities and neighborhoods.  The scenarios will incorporate the feedback that has been received from thousands of citizens from across the region based on informed choices.  The outcome data and research will be offered to counties, planning commissions and government bodies to be used in a manner that each community deems appropriate.

One Bay has made great progress to date and much of this is due to the hard work of our project manager. However in light of perceived conflicts that have arisen, our project manager has chosen to tender her resignation in order to ensure that the One Bay process can continue without further question. We regretfully accept her resignation and thank her for her tremendous efforts on behalf of our community.

As we move forward, we feel strongly that the process we’ve established gives an equal voice to all segments of our community to become actively involved in how we plan for our future.  We are excited as a coalition that this process continues to engage citizens and move us toward a shared regional vision. 

What the future of Tampa Bay looks like is the responsibility of each and every one of us.  By coming together and working collectively, we assure that the future we achieve is one we can all support.

Signed:

ONE BAY Executive Committee
Holly Greening, Tampa Bay Estuary Program
Daniel Mahurin, Tampa Bay Partnership Regional Research and Education Foundation
David Moore, Southwest Florida Water Management District
Manny Pumariega, Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council
Scott Shimberg, ULI Tampa Bay District Council

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Reality Check Tampa Bay is now One Bay!

On May 18, 2007, the Tampa Bay region hosted a growth visioning exercise called Reality Check Tampa Bay.  Reality Check was a one-day exercise designed to discuss, analyze and develop alternative growth scenarios for our rapidly growing region through 2050.  Reality Check was designed to accomplish four tasks:

• Promote a region wide awareness of the level of growth that is coming
• Allocate projected housing and employment growth between and among jurisdictions
• Recognize the legitimate points of view of different stakeholders
• Lay the foundation for the development of a concrete list of next steps to assure quality growth to meet the region’s needs over the next two decades

One Bay is the follow-through effort from Reality Check Tampa Bay. ONE BAY is a diverse network of leaders, community and economic development experts and resources, all aligned to help the community address the opportunities and challenges of growth and development.

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The marquee partners from Reality Check (The Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council, Tampa Bay Estuary Program, Southwest Florida Water Management District, Tampa Bay Partnership, and the Urban Land Institute Tampa Bay District Council) will continue to provide the leadership for ONE BAY.  The ONE BAY project will be housed under the Tampa Bay Partnership’s Regional Research & Education Foundation directed by leadership of the Vision21 Steering Committee.

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