Where is the elusive sense of place?
It's got to be around here somewhere. It sure gets talked about a lot.
Sit in a government meeting where there is a rezoning, a site plan or some other discussion about development, and at some point, someone will say their intention is to create a sense of place.
Two years ago, consultants from the Urban Land Institute recommended that Pasco kill the idea of an elevated highway running along the State Road 54/56 corridor. The highway would be counterproductive, the consultants said, to the county goal of establishing a sense of place along its southern corridor, where people would live, work and play in close proximity.
Last week, Pasco County, in a variation of the sense-of-place theme, unveiled its new branding initiative to promote itself under the tagline of "Open spaces. Vibrant places."
"What does that mean?" asked Commissioner Ted Schrader, whose district includes both the charm of downtown Dade City and the rolling hills and wide open vistas on the eastern side of the county.
Put simply, it means different things to different people. Some might say it involves geography or some other characteristic to which people become connected. Or it might be as simple as a spot where an individual feels comfortable.
In that regard, a sense of place could include your backyard lanai, a neighborhood cul-de-sac, a bar stool (in a place where everybody knows your name?), a soccer field, a walking trail, a mall elbowing other shoppers for the Black Friday bargains, the beach, the 50-yard line, under a shade tree, a village square, a library or someplace else in which you feel ties to your community.
The locations are limitless. A recent New York Times travel article carried the headline "Spas with a sense of place."
A half-day of pampering should make anyone feel comfortable. In that regard, aren't all spas a sense of place? (Disclaimer: I have never been to a spa.)
Earlier this month, WalletHub graded out a few sense of places. Actually, it rated 1,268 locations across the country according to affordability, local economy, education, health and quality of life. Quality-of-life indicators included crime rates, commute times, walkability and more esoteric measures, such as the number of bars, restaurants and coffee shops per capita.
WalletHub called it the best and worst small cities of 2015, but it measured geographic areas with populations between 25,000 and 100,000 people. It means none of Pasco's six municipal governments — its actual cities — were considered. But sprawling locations like Wesley Chapel, Land O'Lakes and Spring Hill did make the list.
Wesley Chapel cracked the top 15 percent. WalletHub ranked it 186th with high scores for its economy and affordability but a poor quality of life.
Land O'Lakes was in the bottom half of the rankings at No. 752. It scored best on affordability and education/health but near the bottom on quality of life. Its economic outlook also scored poorly.
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Explore all your optionsBut we finished ahead of such notable locales as Lakeland; Niagara Falls, N.Y.; and, get this, Pasco, Wash.
Spring Hill is harder to define since its postal address has been assigned to a region beginning northwest of U.S. 41 and State Road 52 in central Pasco and stretching to the massive Deltona Corp. development in western Hernando County that popularized the Spring Hill name nearly a half-century ago. It scored well on the affordability factor but near the bottom in the remaining categories.
Interestingly, Spring Hill, in Hernando County, is going through its own place-making exercise. Like Pasco County hopes to do with its massive Harbors redevelopment plan, Hernando is focusing on bringing new urbanism to old Spring Hill.
The Kass Circle neighborhood, 2 miles east of U.S. 19 along Spring Hill Drive, is one of the original town centers platted in the 1960s. At the outset of the effort 18 months ago, the area lacked sidewalks, safe traffic patterns, open spaces and a local commitment to code enforcement. In time, business owners and county planners hope a redevelopment district will help rescue this relic of Florida's auto-centric development.
Sense of place, incidentally, seems to have become a more common part of the vernacular in the digital age, as people gained the ability to connect via the Internet instead of in a physical location. Likewise, sense of place also became a euphemism for creating or preserving a spot to congregate amid suburban sprawl.
Then, consider this from the people worrying about turning Pasco County into a place to live, work and play.
Just two months ago, citing "some recent difficulties in hiring department heads," the county changed the residency requirement in its personnel policy. People serving as department heads or higher on the flowchart no longer must live in Pasco County to work for Pasco County.
Their sense of place?
It's someplace else.