Residents near Leisure Lane and Van Doren Avenue in New Port Richey have described a neighborhood plagued by drugs, prostitution and crumbling housing. Donna Rao said she was afraid to walk in the neighborhood. Now, new homes are reshaping the same blocks, while sidewalks, streetlights and a park are part of the agreed improvement work, though officials say the work is far from finished.
The Leisure Lane and Van Doren Avenue area sits in unincorporated Pasco County but is surrounded by the city of New Port Richey, according to Tampa Bay 28. That geographic split has long complicated efforts to fix the area, but Pasco County and New Port Richey have agreed to work together on infrastructure and other neighborhood improvements, the station reports.
Much of the visible change traces back to the Town and Country Villas community, where the transformation began when Habitat for Humanity started buying up properties, tearing down old homes and building new ones in their place. The station's report notes the area had been plagued by drugs and prostitution, with homes that were literally falling apart. Kim Bogart said back in 2019 that the mobile homes there were unfit for habitation.
Neighbors Describe a Different Street
Residents who lived through the worst of it say the shift is real and visible day to day. Donna Rao said she used to be afraid to walk in the neighborhood, and now there are no more homeless people in the area, according to the same report. Rao also said women involved in prostitution are no longer walking around the area.
Rocco Tripepi offered a similar before-and-after: he said he would not have walked in the area three to four years ago, but now he walks throughout the neighborhood without hesitation. Pasco County Commissioner Kathryn Starkey, who said she once saw young girls passed out on a sofa with needles in their arms in the neighborhood, said she is encouraged by the collaboration between Pasco County and New Port Richey on the turnaround, per the same account.
Streetlights, Sidewalks and a Park on the List
The neighborhood improvements tied to the joint city-county effort include streetlights, road repairs, a new park, water and sewer upgrades, and sidewalks, the report notes. Those projects follow an earlier annexation plan in which New Port Richey and Pasco County agreed to funding commitments for sewer work and other neighborhood upgrades.
Community cleanup is continuing alongside those infrastructure projects, and code enforcement has already targeted dilapidated properties in the area. Habitat for Humanity, which led the redevelopment push in Town and Country Villas, describes neighborhood revitalization broadly as a long-term, holistic strategy meant to support residents in improving quality of life in under-resourced communities, according to Habitat for Humanity. Other Habitat affiliates in Florida, including Habitat for Humanity of Lakeland, have listed demolishing unsalvageable properties as one tool for combating blight, while programs like the City of Winter Garden's revitalization effort focus on smaller-scale repairs, exterior painting and yard cleanup for existing homeowners.
More Enforcement and a Cleanup Day Ahead
The next phase of the New Port Richey effort arrives after October 5. Code enforcement will begin issuing property-maintenance violations after that date, according to the report. On the same day, residents will be able to place unwanted items at the curb for pickup by the city.
Even with the visible progress, officials quoted in the report acknowledge more work remains before the neighborhood's transformation is complete. The reporter who covered the story has tracked the troubles surrounding Leisure Lane and Van Doren Avenue for close to a decade, underscoring how long residents have waited to see streets they once feared become ones they now walk freely.
