PlaceMattersSP - From the Bay to the Beach: A Pedestrian's Journey Down Central Ave

PlaceMattersSP

From the Bay to the Beach: A Pedestrian's Journey Down Central Avenue 

Rebecca Liebson

Thursday, November 12, 2026, 6 PM

In sprawling central Florida, getting around without a car can be a daunting endeavor. Public transportation is scarce and most roads were not designed with pedestrians or cyclists in mind.

Certain sections of St. Petersburg's Central Avenue provide a glimpse into what a less car-centric city could look like. Through downtown, the EGE District and the Grand Central District, wide sidewalks, slower vehicle traffic and quaint local businesses lining each block encourage visitors to ditch the car and explore their surroundings on foot.

But just how walkable is Central Avenue? Tampa Bay Times reporter Rebecca Liebson set out to answer that question when she walked the entire length of the street, starting at the bayfront and ending at the beach. The nine-mile journey was filled with pedestrian hazards and unexpected delights.

Liebson will share observations from her walk and reflect on how the experience changed the way she thinks about development, transportation, and urban planning.

Rebecca Liebson covers real estate for the Tampa Bay Times. She's written about the bureaucratic red tape surrounding hurricane recovery efforts, how new condo safety rules have priced Florida seniors out of their homes and the impact that Wall Street investment firms have had on Tampa Bay's housing market. Before joining the Times in 2022, she covered affordable housing for The State Newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina. She also spent a year at the New York Times working on several short documentaries including the Emmy-nominated film "Framing Britney Spears."

PlaceMattersSP is presented by Preserve the ‘Burg and USF's Nelson Poynter Memorial Library.