TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) — Where your taxpayer dollars get invested in Downtown Tallahassee over the next decade is being decided now.
You have a chance to say where you want it prioritized.
The Tallahassee Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) asks you to complete this surveyby Tuesday, April 30.
The survey takes about five to ten minutes to complete and they say it will help prioritize implementation strategies for the CRA Downtown District.
"We want to create a 10-year strategic investment plan on how do we utilize the funds to help do that," Sheila Thompson Williams the CRA Community Redevelopment Coordinator said. "Is it arts culture or is it pedestrian safety?
We've previously told you about the CRA Downtown District in our investigation into how city and county leaders use your tax dollars to create an 18-hour downtown.
CRA dollars have contributed vastly to this goal.
The CRA recently approved $134,000 to go toward Hayward House, a new downtown business, for improvements.
"I think that it's a great use of CRA funds, you know," Chaney said in early April. "Like we are first-floor retail, and we're really glad that it went through, we will look to continue to kind of improve some of our exterior and the patio space at Hayward House."
CRA funds that go towards downtown are part of the Downtown District Community Redevelopment. It's an area that consists of approximately 440 acres located in downtown Tallahassee. The Downtown District is comprised of five sub-areas.
One of the stated goals of the DCR is to assist in achieving an 18-hour downtown.
The term "18-hour city" represents a category of cities that operate with a vibrant economic and lifestyle pulse from dawn to midnight.
I wanted to know where else CRA money gone in the last year—and what’s its impact on making tangible change downtown.
I looked through years of data and here’s the topline:
In 2023 :
- Most went to increasing housing with a $7 million price tag
- Next business assistance at $2.1 million
- And then $330,000 on infrastructure
The CRA has given grants, and loans and recruited private dollars for places like Amicus Brewing, the local art studio Lemoyne.
One of its biggest commitments is the 4Fourty North Project.
Its purpose--to bring a workforce housing complex to our neighborhood with 300 units of affordable housing on its top floors and retail space at the bottom.
