Ybor City is stepping back in time, quite literally, with bricks being laid down starting today on 7th Avenue. The aim is straightforward—slow down the traffic on a street teeming with foot traffic year-round.
According to an official announcement from the City of Tampa, the bricking project, funded by the Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA), is being deployed in phases. The first phase between North 15th and 17th Streets should take about two weeks to complete and will proceed a block at a time. Once done, the project will span fourteen blocks from Nick Nuccio Parkway to 26th Street—an ambitious endeavor to say the least.
By restoring the historic aesthetic with genuine bricks, Ybor’s rich past is being tapped into once more. Moreover, encouraging alternative means of transport fits squarely into a broader vision for the district. Economic growth, business vitality, and new job opportunities are all checkmarked by this project. It's urban planning with an eye towards the past and a foot in the future—stepping on bricks of heritage and progress.
