There are a variety of interest groups in our city. These include the St. Petersburg Area Chamber of Commerce, St. Petersburg Downtown Partnership, Pinellas Realtor Organization, Sierra Club, NAACP, Waterfront Parks Foundation and Preserve the ’Burg. Another important group is the Council of Neighborhood Associations, commonly known by its acronym ‘CONA.’

CONA’s mission is “to maintain its stature as a leading community organization for building a safe, high quality, and seamless city in order to meet the current and future needs of our diverse community. The vital role CONA plays in strengthening and advocating for neighborhoods through our many initiatives and activities contributes to a city of neighborhoods offering quality of life, and embracing mutual respect and appreciation among all people.”… Read More

The US has long been a beacon of hope to people who wish to make new lives for themselves. But moving to and adjusting to a new country can be difficult without some friendly help. That’s where the Sew Much Hope Project, founded by a mother and daughter team – Janet Meyer, a resident of the Old Northeast, and her daughter Courtney Erickson – comes in.

Sew Much Hope Project is a collaborative social enterprise based in St. Pete that gives women who are legally settled refugees the chance to learn how to sew and earn supplemental income to help their families.… Read More

Imagine getting paid for your hobby. Shore Acres resident John Satino does just that. He’s a car guy from way back in his childhood, hanging out in his stepdad’s garage, and later fixing cars needing a lot of work, which he bought from the ‘back lot’ of the local Chevy dealership and then sold for a profit. He was changing out engines and transmissions even before he had his driver’s license in his original state of Ohio. Since 1984, his car collection has been featured in numerous television and movie productions, sometimes generating a nice daily stipend, though clearly John would collect cars with or without the added attention.… Read More

Take a stroll around the Mirror Lake neighborhood and soak in the beauty and history of the area, as well as the unique architecture of the buildings. The neighborhood is rich in 1920s-era architecture and a feast for the eyes. Styles include Beaux Arts, Masonry Vernacular, Mediterranean Revival, Modern, and Moorish. More recent buildings include the modernist Judicial Building, the Sebring State Offices, and Wannemacher-Jensen Architects.

Mirror Lake itself is the only lake downtown and believed to be part of a string of ancient lakes that also includes Crescent Lake. The lakes offered Native Americans a source of fresh water long before Europeans arrived.… Read More

Sometimes a simple synchronicity can be life-changing in ways we couldn’t dream of at the time. That’s what happened for Barbara Rhode, a St. Petersburg licensed marriage and family therapist and founder of the Red Tent Women’s Initiative.

Barbara had just finished reading Anita Diamant’s book, The Red Tent – a compelling fiction about the ancient tradition of women seeking comfort in each other’s company while they spent time in the “red tent.” The book reinforced Barbara’s belief that for many women, having a safe space to share their feelings and experiences was very much missing in today’s society.

At an estate sale a few months later, she had the odd sensation that something was wrong from the minute she walked into the house.… Read More

My mom went to work at the CIA in the late 1950s, beginning her career in what was commonly referred to as the secretarial pool. After a few years, she left to start a family, then returned to work at the CIA about 10 years later. By then, she had my brother, three sisters, and me. I was two years old. With five little ones to feed and clothe, both she and my dad worked.

Growing up, the best part for me was being able to reply to the near daily jibes I got regarding my family last name, Bond. Good jibes to be sure, as my response became the fun part.… Read More

Looking back at our own personal history can help us reflect on where we’ve been in order to see how far we’ve come. Architectural preservation can do the same for a community, allowing us to look back and appreciate a different time in history. It gives us a visible connection to the past while we forge ahead to the future. Since the early ’90s, Old Northeast resident Maureen Stafford has made it her mission to save and restore well over 30 homes in St. Petersburg – an impressive achievement in helping preserve the city’s unique history.

A self-made architectural preservationist with an innate passion, relentless perseverance and an undeniable vision, Maureen has done a remarkable job making sure that run-down old treasures are transformed with new life.… Read More

StPete2050 is a city-government-initiated visioning process to explore and create a picture of what St. Pete should look like 30 years from now. It’s an update of the 2020 visioning process that took place 20 years ago. StPete2050 will result in significant revisions to the city’s Comprehensive Plan and Land Development Regulations (LDRs). They are two of the city’s most important ordinances.

The Comprehensive Plan establishes policies related to growth management and preservation of the city’s character. Specific sections of the plan address future land use, conservation, coastal management, transportation, housing, recreation and open-space, infrastructure, historic preservation, and public school facilities.… Read More

In rural upstate New York where they live six months out of the year, Jim and Eva Tomlinson have an apple grove with 100 trees; a field with raspberries, strawberries, and blackberries; two large vegetable gardens, and a big pond. It’s peaceful. They can sit on the front porch of their 100-year-old cottage and see the fireflies and stars at night. Wildflowers like Queen Anne’s lace and day lilies grow everywhere. Oaks, maples, and other hardwood trees cover most of their 50-acre homestead.

But, they also have no electricity… which means no computer, no TV, no dishwasher, and no automatic coffee makers.… Read More

Not long after I arrived at Michelle Passoff and Andre Kupfermunz’s home in the Old Northeast, Andre informed me that although he was born in 1943, he’d just received the first copy of his actual birth certificate. The reason that Andre was born with a false birth record and the harrowing circumstances of his birth were just one of the many reasons I was there to talk to this fascinating, creative couple. 

Both Andre and Michelle see obstacles as opportunities. And in Andre’s case, it might just be in his genes. He was born in Nazi-occupied France during World War II to Polish-Jewish parents who were Resistance fighters in the French “M.O.I.”… Read More