traffic with cars and bicycles

Goal 1: Corridor Planning

Prioritize locating affordable housing, jobs, educational opportunities, and workforce development resources along corridors (within ½ mile) planned for high-quality transit service as identified in the Advantage Pinellas Plan.

  1. Evaluate the Countywide Plan, local comprehensive plans, land development codes, and internal processes that inhibit the development of affordable housing, missing middle housing, and mixed-use/transit-supportive development. (1-3 years)
  2. Adopt comprehensive plan policy and land development code updates to remedy barriers and incentivize affordable housing, missing middle housing, and mixed-use/transit-supportive development. (1-3 years)
  3. Adopt local density housing bonus options consistent with the Countywide Plan and Florida Statutes. (1-3 years)
  4. Implement funding programs, such as the creation of a revolving loan fund, to offer developers loans to promote the development of affordable and workforce housing near transit corridors. (1-3 years)
  5. Develop multijurisdictional corridor plans with transit supportive density and design solutions. (10 years)
  6. Plan for enhanced transit services along priority corridors (e.g.: Alternate U.S. 19; Roosevelt Boulevard/East Bay Drive; and US 19/34th Street – south of SR 60). (10 years)

Housing and Transportation

Housing and transportation tend to be the largest expenditures for a household.2 According to the Center for Neighborhood Technology, U.S. neighborhoods are considered unaffordable for the typical household if the cost of housing and transportation is more than 45% of area median household income.3

There is a fairly consistent average cost of housing and transportation as a percent of income across Pinellas, Manatee, Pasco and Hillsborough counties, ranging between 51% and 55%.

In Pinellas County it takes an average of 53% of household income to pay for housing and transportation costs. 5

TABLE 1: Average Cost of Housing and Transportation by County4 (2022)

County
Average Cost of Housing
(% of Income)
Average Cost of Transportation
(% of Income)
Average Cost of Housing and Transportation
(% of Income)
Pinellas
31%
22%
53%
Manatee
29%
22%
51%
Pasco
27%
25%
52%
Hillsborough
31%
24%
55%

Chart 1, Mean Commuting Time For Workers (5 Year Estimates) in Tampa Bay Counties 2010-2021, shows a gradual increase of commuting time for workers in Pinellas County. The mean commuting time increased by 1.26 minutes (5.5%) over a 10-year period in Pinellas County. Comparably, Hillsborough County increased 2.69 minutes (10.5%), Manatee increased 2.75 minutes (11.7%), and Pasco increased 1.77 minutes (6.1%) during the 10-year period. Pinellas County has the lowest mean commuting time, and slowest rate of increase over the 10-year period. Strategic planning of development along transit-supported corridors has the potential to further reduce the rate of growth in the future.

Prioritizing affordable housing near employment, education, and workforce development opportunities will contribute to lowering the transportation cost, and potentially commute times. As of 2019, approximately 67% of workers in Pinellas County have a commute time between 10 to 34 minutes.7 Comparatively, Manatee, Pasco and Hillsborough Counties had 65%, 53% and 63% of workers respectively in this same time range.

CHART 1: MEAN COMMUTING TIME FOR WORKERS (5 YEAR ESTIMATES) IN TAMPA BAY COUNTIES 2010-20216

chart showing rise in commuting time for workers in Pinellas, Manatee, Hillsborough, and Pasco counties.

Table 2: Total travel time to Work by County (2019)

Total Travel Time
to work
Pinellas Workers*
  Percentage
Manatee   Workers*
Percentage
Pasco Workers*
  Percentage
Hillsborough Workers*
Percentage
less than 5
9,606
2.32%
2,028
1.23%
4,936
2.33%
8,513
1.27%
5 to 9 min
38,005
9.18%
12,673
8.27%
14,571
6.90%
42,457
6.34%
10 to 14 min
54,125
13.08%
18,527
12.09%
24,926
11.80%
74,498
11.13%
15 to 19 min
72,944
17.63%
25,393
16.57%
19,027
9.01%
89,404
13.35%
20 to 24 min
64,644
15.62%
25,147
16.41%
27,663
13.10%
103,761
15.50%
25 to 29 min
30,027
7.26%
8,780
5.67%
11,291
5.34%
42,565
6.35%
30 to 34 min
56,561
13.67%
22,460
14.66%
28,988
13.73%
108,198
16.16%
35 to 39 min
13,275
3.20%
7,151
4.66%
8,591
4.06%
27,110
4.05%
40 to 44 min
13,444
3.25%
7,085
4.62%
9,587
4.54%
37,085
5.54%
45 to 59 min
33,712
8.15%
14,382
9.38%
29,503
13.97%
74,439
11.12%
60 to 89 min
18,655
4.51%
7,427
4.87%
25,026
11.85%
46,213
6.90%
90 or more min
8,594
2.07%
2,145
1.40%
6,994
3.31%
14,646
2.19%

*Note: Workers represent those workers who are 16 years and over who did not work at home

Approximately 67% of workers in Pinellas County have a commute between 10 to 34 minutes to work.

city bus, intersection with many lanes, highway traffic

__________

2 The Center for Neighborhood and Technology (2022). About the Index. Retrieved from https://htaindex.cnt.org/about/

3 Ibid, Correspondence from Preeti Shankar Director of Urban Analytics, The Center for Neighborhood and Technology

4 The Center for Neighborhood and Technology (2022). H & T Fact Sheet True Affordability and Location Efficiency, Pinellas County. https://htaindex.cnt.org/fact-sheets/, The Center for Neighborhood and Technology (2022). H+T Affordability Index October 2022 Update.  Retrieved from https://cnt.org/blog/handt-affordability-index-october-2022-update

5 The Center for Neighborhood and Technology (2022). H & T Fact Sheet True Affordability and Location Efficiency, Pinellas County. Retrieved from https://htaindex.cnt.org/fact-sheets/?lat=27.91&lng=-82.35&focus=county&gid=3203#fs, https://htaindex.cnt.org/fact-sheets/?lat=27.48&lng=-82.36&focus=county&gid=714#fs, https://htaindex.cnt.org/fact-sheets/?lat=28.3&lng=-82.44&focus=county&gid=1014#fs, and https://htaindex.cnt.org/fact-sheets/?lat=27.9&lng=-82.74&focus=county&gid=930#fs

6 Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Economic Data (2022). Mean Commuting Time for Workers (5-year estimate) in Pinellas County, FL Retrieved from https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/B080ACS012103. For example, multiyear estimates released in consecutive years consist mostly of overlapping years and shared data.

7 U.S Census Bureau (2019). Travel Time to Work. Retrieved from https://data.census.gov/table?q=Travel+time+to+work&g=0400000US12_0500000US12057,12081,12101,12103&tid=ACSDT1Y2019.B08303

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