TAMPA, Fla. — In a city where it’s hard for the average person to find a place to live that fits their budget, the Tampa Housing Authority and the Related Urban Development group’s announcement of nearly 200 affordable units coming to a rapidly changing West Tampa was welcomed by many.
“We really need housing at every single level,” Tampa Mayor Jane Castor said.
The second phase of The Canopy at West River continues a gargantuan effort that started years ago to demolish dilapidated public housing and rebuild an all-new, mixed-income community anchored by the Hillsborough River.
“This is a 17-phase development,” Leroy Moore, chief operating officer of the Tampa Housing Authority, said. "In just six years, you've got over 800 units completed and occupied, another 800 under construction, and more to come."
For years, the city has been working to transform a section of West Tampa near the Hillsborough River that has long been burdened by blight.
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"We're talking about gunfire, murders, killing, poverty, drugs. All that,” Joe Robinson said.
Robinson is a long-time West Tampa neighbor, and chair of the area’s Community Advisory Council, which provides recommendations to the city. He’s been pushing for and supporting change in his neighborhood since the city began taking steps toward redeveloping the area nearly a decade ago.
As those changes began taking place in the mostly Hispanic and Black neighborhoods, fears of gentrification began to rise.
"I know about displacement...I know about moving Black people out. I know about gentrification. My goal in life is to ungentrify gentrification,” Robinson said.
But some, like Tina Young of Project LINK, fear that's already taking place. For years, Young worked alongside several other social service agencies in a small portable next to Just Elementary on Spruce Street in West Tampa. It was called the Just Full Service Center, and it provided students and families with easy access to support.
However, plans for the $300 million Rome Yard development next to the school forced the portable to close, despite a lease that doesn’t expire for another 10 years.
“The families, they're running around trying to find the services. I think that the Full Service Center -- it was a one-stop shop. You could come there and find some type of services or get a referral to what you were looking for,” she said. “Now, the families are, you know, getting a runaround.”
There have also been other shifts, like a 4-3 school board vote to close Just Elementary and moving a little league team to make room for the Rome Yard development.
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The shifting of this community over the years has left as many people dejected as there are people excited about the progress.
Robinson is among the latter, saying as he looks down Main Street at the construction cranes in the sky, “That's a remarkable renaissance. A complete makeover.”
Emerald Morrow is an investigative reporter with 10 Tampa Bay. Like her on Facebook and follow her on X. You can also email her at emorrow@10tampabay.com